I know it has been a long time since our last journal entry, and as most of you have probably assumed, no news is good news. Landon has had a wonderful, healthy, winter until now. Landon started vomiting on Friday night and on Saturday morning he had a fever of 104.3 degrees. Our doctor told us to take Landon to the emergency room so they could do blood work. We loaded Landon up and took him to the ER on Saturday morning. Dr. Resnick, (spelling?) the ER doctor on duty, told us there was no need to do the lab work because Landon seemed fine. We gave him Tylenol and his temp was down to 102 degrees. I told the doctor that Landon had CF and we wanted to be proactive to keep any “bugs” from getting into his lungs. The doctor ordered a flu screen which came back negative so Dr. Resnick said again that there was no need for blood work and sent us home. We got home at12:30pm, Landon ate a little lunch and laid down for a nap. He woke up at 3:30pm with a temperature of 106.1 degrees. I called Dr. Resnick in the ER and told him Landon had a fever of 106.1 degrees. He told me to give him some Tylenol and Motrin and call him in an hour. What? A two year old has a fever of 106.1 degrees and he wants me to wait an hour? Well, as you can imagine, I was not going to wait an hour. We went back to the ER and had a different doctor this time. Our primary doctor told us to get a blood culture and a CBC lab ran. When the lab results came back the doctor was worried that Landon was in the onset of septicemia (which is a systemic disease caused by the spread of microorganisms and their toxins through circulating blood; formerly called “blood poisoning.”), and Landon’s x-rays indicated that he had some fluid build up in his stomach. So, the doctor ordered Landon to be transferred to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City. Landon and Blythe went by ambulance to Children’s Mercy while grandma and I followed in the car. We arrived at Children’s Mercy at 12:15am on Sunday morning. By this time, Landon was severely dehydrated and he wanted something to drink really bad. However, the doctors would not let him have anything to drink in case they had to do surgery. They tried to get an IV started in Landon but he was so dehydrated that his veins kept blowing every time they would stick him. Finally at 5:00am and on the ninth try, they got an IV started and much needed fluids were started. The doctors ordered a battery of test, x-rays, and a CT scan. The x-rays showed that Landon had a blockage in his intestines. However, when the CT scan came back it showed that there was not a blockage. After several lab test and cultures, it was determined that Landon had Rotavirus. The Rotavirus can paralyze part of the intestine which caused fluid and air to become trapped in it, which would appear to be a blockage on an x-ray. If you are like me, I have never heard of the Rotavirus before so here is some information on it from www.webmd.com:

What is rotavirus?

Rotavirus is a virus that

• Causes severe diarrhea, mostly in infants and young children.

• Is often accompanied by vomiting, fever, and dehydration.

• Is the leading cause of diarrhea in infants and young children in the United States and worldwide.

• Infects almost all children in the United States before their 5th birthday.

Each year in the United States, rotavirus is responsible for

• More than 400,000 doctor visits.

• More than 200,000 emergency department visits.

• Between 55,000 and 70,000 hospitalizations.

• Between 20 and 60 deaths among children less than 5 years of age.

Worldwide, rotavirus

• Accounts for about 527,000 deaths annually among children less than 5 years of age.

• Causes about 1,600 deaths each day among children less than 5 years of age.

We are so thankful that it turned out to be just a virus instead of a blockage that would require another surgery. We are getting to go home tonight! Landon still has really bad diarrhea so we will have to keep him hydrated but it is better than setting around here in the hospital. It took four of us to put the NG tube down his nose on Sunday so he will be extremely happy to have it taken out before we leave! I posted some new pictures of Landon! These are a few that were taken when Landon turned two. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Aron. Blythe, and Landon