Vaccines - 1, Ethan - 0

 Ethan had his "healthy kid" check up at his regular doctors office on Thursday.  After talking to the doctor, we agreed that we needed to get Ethan vaccinated prior to his immune system becoming severely taxed with a transplant.  Last year, Ethan had a VERY sore arm for about a week from the meningitis vaccine.  He had to get that boosted, along with the flu and pneumonia vaccine.  3 pokes.

Ethan isn't bothered by the pokes themselves.  We talked about how weird that was.  He said that the pokes didn't really hurt.  We then talked about everything he had been through in the past 6 months and how his pain tolerance is likely much higher at this point.  We talked about how the nurses had trouble putting in an IV catheter at both hospital visits.  He endured multiple pokes with that with a bigger gauge need I might add.  He was nervous he wouldn't feel well afterward and he had to start school the next day. First day of senior year. He also had to work on Saturday and was nervous his arm would hurt.

He agreed to all 3 pokes.  Brave. His arm was sore that night.  Luckily I had him take some acetaminophen (because NSAIDS bother his stomach) before his visit.  He had more before bed.  

He woke up in the morning with a fever and VERY sore arms. He didn't sleep well at all because his arms were so sore.  He was so tired.  He looked a little pale. His right arm was swollen and hot to the touch. He felt like crap.  He started his first day of senior year feeling like garbage.  He and Avery sat on the couch together and attended all their online classes.  Ethan is doing remote learning.  Avery will go to school 2 days a week.  Ethan said it was kind of nice because they were able to bond over the frustration of the process together.

I came home from work on Friday on my lunch break and medicated Ethan again.  He again got medications before bed.  We added some benadryl because he was complaining of post nasal drip.  I chose benadryl because I new it would allow him to sleep.  

Ethan slept well until about 4 am. He then got up and was in rough shape. He felt weak.  He felt tired. He felt anxious about his long day at work.  His arms were sore. I gave him some more medicine. He promptly vomited.  Poor kid.  He is kind of a puker though.

We talked about how it would be ok if he wasn’t feeling up to going to work. He said “that is not an option.  I am going.” He is a little too  much like me sometimes.

We rested his belly for a bit and started with some toast.  That stayed down. Let’s try a little acetaminophen.  That stayed down.  Yeah. He then started to feel a little better but his arms still hurt.  I told him that once he starts moving it around he might feel better.

30 minutes later he was up and getting ready for work.  His color was better. He said he felt much better.  He was off for his 11 hour day.  He came home and even sat out at the campfire with the rest of us for about an hour before heading to bed.  WOW! What a day.

Sunday he woke up tired and sore.  His arm was really red.  As the day progressed his mouth started bothering him.  He didn’t want to eat anything because his mouth hurt. Weird.

After some investigating, there was a reason  his mouth was sore. Poor guy had a little ulcer and canker sore.  After doing a little more research, a small number of people react to the flu vaccine that way. Hopefully in a few days he will be feeling better.

This kid is notorious for always throwing me a curve ball. The brightside, he doesn't need anymore vaccines for a year, and will never have to have the meningitis vaccine ever again.