Hunter’s Story

Site created on November 22, 2011

Update: 9/8/2017 Hunter is now 17 years old and starting his senior year of high school. I am still in awe every day of this young man. The hurdles he had to climb over physically and mentally to get to where he is today and to become the man he is today.   I tell him often that he beat this disease, he can accomplish anything he puts his mind to.

This page is dedicated to my brave little 11 yr old son.  Hunter is a funny, quick witted, loving, normally energetic 11 yr old red head who enjoys outings, video games, his pets, legos & baseball.

Hunters story: We moved from Keizer to Portland in Sept 2011 so that I could be closer to work & not have a 2 hr commute every day. Hunter started his new school & made friends quickly.  On Oct 27 Hunter came home excited & tired from outdoor school, went to school Oct 28 and had a sore throat.   Oct 31 came and Hunter was running a fever & had a sore throat still, so he did not go trick or treating that night. 



I took the next few days off (if I remember right) and kept Hunter home.  On Thursday I went to work & left Hunter at home, a few hours went by and I got a text from him saying he was shivering & that his temp was 101.  I instructed Hunter to take Tylenol which he did, I received a call from him a few minutes later & he was crying "Mom I threw up on the living room floor I'm sorry" I told him it was ok & that I was on my way home.  My co workers told me where the closest UC clinic was & I took him there.  The UC Dr. didn't see indications of any Strep throat but since Hunter had a sore throat for 4 days and a fever he decided to treat the symptoms and put him on Amoxacilin.

Since Hunter goes to his dads on Thursdays I asked Tim if he would take Friday off so that I could go to work.  He's a good father & I am fortunate that we co-parent well together.  Friday morning I received a text from Tim stating he had to take Hunter to UC as he was having a sever stomach ache.  By the time the UC Dr. saw Hunter his stomach ache was gone & the Dr. stated that Hunter had a viral infection & didn't need to be on antibiotics.

So based on that we quit giving Hunter the antibiotics & I got Hunter back that night.

Feb 5th came & along with it a rash small red dots under both arms & on his knee's, at first I thought it was just a heat rash. Hunter is a fair skined, red headed child who turns red easily. So I decided to wait to see if the rash went away on it's own before contacting the a Dr. again.

Since most of the daily updates were done on Facebook, I will copy and paste them here & add to them.

FB Nov 5: Thank you to Kelly Hansen (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=632804227) for going to the store for me so that I didn't have to leave Hunter alone. Love you

On Nov 6th I decided enough is enough & established care w/Dr. Gillespie of The Childrens Clinic.

FB Nov 6: Dr. says it is viral and has to run it's course. They did a strep test, tested for mono & other things. Dr. says his white blood cell count is high which indicates infection (duhh) but to keep him hydrated, rested & tylenol. If he isn't better by Friday I have to take him in again. Doc also said he had another case with the same symptoms so far the little girl has been running a fever for 2wks. :(

FB Nov 8: Not a praying individual but I pray that Hunter wakes up with no fever and doesn't need any Tylenol tomorrow. I'm so frustrated and just want him better. Night everyone.

FB Nov 9: Another Dr appt at 10 for Hunter, today I documented times, temp, Rx & how much he ate. Not sure if it will help the Doctor out or not.

Nov 10: We met w/Dr. Gillespie again on this day & he re ran a mono test & this time did an Xray.  The mono test was negative & the xray showed a small mass in his lungs. He was then Diagnosed w/pneumonia & put on 2 different antibiotics for 5 days.

Nov 11: I took Hunter to my dads so that I could attend & photography Jake & Debbie's wedding. It was hard to leave him but this was my present for Jake & Debbies wedding & Jake is one of my dearest friends. After the wedding I took Hunter home & like the previous days he had his temps and slept on & off.

FB Nov 12 mid nightish: Going to try & sleep, Hunter's fever hit 103.9 today. When are these meds going to kick in???? I can hear him coughing now, something he hasn't really done till tonight.

FB Nov 12 11am: Call into the Dr., Hunter threw up again this morning & his fever is 103.7. Half tempted to take him to the hospital, his new meds are not working.

FB Nov 12 9:39pm: Just got home from the ER, they ran a gambit of tests and the only thing they could come up with is no pneumonia in the lungs, high WBC count & high sed rate. Most of the test results wont be available till Monday. Tomorrow if his fever doesn't go away they will be admitting him to Emmanuel Childrens Hospital for the ID Specialists to take a stab at what is wrong.  

Nov 13: Hunter did not wake up w/a fever so we didn't admit till later that evening when his fever had hit 105.1. Hunter was admitted this night at 7:30 to Legacy Emmanuel Childrens Hospital.

 

 

 

Newest Update

Journal entry by Trisha Weltz

I hope this entry finds your families are healthy and happy. 

Hunter had prom this past weekend and today he is out with his best friend for Senior Skip Day. In just 19 days I will be watching him close one chapter by graduating High School & start another by heading off into adulthood and college.

I remember like it was yesterday the struggles of daily life for him during middle school with SoJIA and worrying that he would not graduate on time.  I had him tested at one point and he was 3 grades behind on several subjects, I was crushed because I did not have the financial means to afford a tutor.

He plowed through, focused and perservered. He has his 2 year plan and 4 year plan and is starting college in the fall for computer engineering. 

I am in awe of this child that has grown into a man. I am so very very thankful for everyone's prayers and support over the years. I don't think I would have my sanity if it wasn't for all of you.

I will probably post one more journal entry after graduation but after that I will turn this journal over to him to keep open or close.

I hope he keeps it open in hopes that those out there that are just starting the journey of SoJIA will find some help with in this journal, some guidance or support.

Thank you all for following Hunter's Journal and for your support.

It takes a village to raise a child and you are our village.

Much love and respect

Trisha & Hunter
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