Friday, August 15, 2008

Please Pray For William

Please pray for my grandson. He fell in an ant pile yesterday and has many bites around his ear, neck, head, and back. My daughter just wrote,

"I just called Dr. because his ear is very swollen and almost all the bites have the white heads. He looks awful. His ear has about 25 bites."

Poor, poor baby.

31 comments:

  1. Gosh, I'm so sorry. Poor kid! They didn't get in his eyes or ears, I hope.

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  2. Lapin, no bites in the eyes, and the doctor checked last night to see if there were ants left in the ear canals, but there were none.

    He was miserable last night, and he sounds worse today, even after a steroid shot and powerful antihistamines. And now, with all the pustules, is the added concern about infection.

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  3. Poor little guy! Prayers ascending for William and all those who love and worry about him.

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  4. This puts me right back in touch with what I guess one calls my "little inner boy". Ow ow. And though the bites will heal, it's that sense of being violated by a world that is supposed to be friendly and fun and beautiful, etc. in a child's mind that really gets to me. My prayers for healing on both counts.

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  5. Thanks all, for the prayers. Last night he was in real danger from throat swelling and possible shock. The doctor told my daughter to let him sleep with her and watch him closely. I pray that danger has passed. I'm such a worrying mother hen about my children and grandchildren.

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  6. Oh Mimi, I know what you mean about worry- I think I'm a professional at it. I will definitely pray.. especially when I know so many are praying for me and Tim..
    I guess I should update you on him.. now they're thinking myelofibrosis because when they tried to do the bone marrow biopsy they couldn't because of scarring of the marrow which I guess occurrs in this disease. They had to take a sample of bone tissue instead. We're supposed to get results Monday or Tuesday.
    I should mention the little picture that should appear with this is a sketch I did the other day from a photo of my 2 grandsons who are actually members of Fr Scott's parish as are my son and daughter-in-law (their parents). After seeing the oil portrait Fr Scott had for a while on his profile I was thinking a little art therapy might be a good idea for me.. and people and portraits had always been my strong suit.
    Anyway I will be praying for your grandson and am thankful for the prayers that are being said for us.. it's what's keeping me afloat I think.

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  7. Fran, thanks for the update on Tim. I'll continue to pray. If you'd like, I'll put up a post requesting prayers. Today could be prayer request day.

    Your drawing of your grandsons is lovely - a wonderful choice for a gravatar. I'm getting tired of my picture for my gravatar, but it's trouble to change it.

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  8. Prayers for William. Our children are so dear and precious and when something like this happens we just feel helpless and more than a little overcome with worry.

    Fran a prayer note for you over on James' blog.

    And grandmere, unsolicited advice but maybe helpful. When I want to change my blogger picture I just drag the one I want out onto the desktop and when I get the blogger profile up, I just delete the picture that is on there and click "browse my computer", go to desktop and get the new one I want. I hope this might be helpful.

    I am one of your blog lurkers and enjoy your posts.

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  9. Oh Mimi!! I am praying for him... Oh dear. That just sounds so awful.

    He must deal with the physical but I can't imagine that the whole thing was not traumatic emotionally as well.

    ((((William))))
    ((((All of you!))))

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  10. Prayers here as well for your grandson, your whole family and for fran o'gorman and tim

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  11. Thank you all for your prayers for Sweet William. They are much appreciated.

    Bonnie, I shall make a copy of your instructions, and, one day when I'm not feeling so lazy, I'll try them out. Thanks.

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  12. I didn't realize they call it that- gravatar .. anyway thanks for the prayers- James did what you were saying on his blog- I'm just so thankful for the prayer- I'll keep praying for William and watch for those updates and when we know more I'll update you. I'm truly moved and amazed by the kindness I've experienced on my brief experience with blogs in general

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  13. O Sweet William --our prayers continue. Heal baby heal.

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  14. Yowza. Poor little fellow. Hopefully he will get some relief now. I'm sure the steroids have kicked in by now and it would be very unlikely he have any allergic effects at this point, now the problem is, as you say, the pustules. He doesn't need a secondary bacterial skin infection (like an impetigo) on top of it!

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  15. Kirke, thanks for the expert reassurance. He is still MISERABLE! He has at least 30 bites just on his ear, which is still quite swollen.

    Please continue to pray.

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  16. Oh Poor William! Prayers ascending!

    And for Fran's Tim too.

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  17. Ouch! I had the same experience when I was 5 and I remember it vividly. There's nothing more painful than ant stings. It sounds as though he might have an allergy to the stings. While in great pain for hours, I don't remember pustules, though I was very young and that was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

    Give William my best wishes.

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  18. Thanks all for the prayers. Last night, William was still in bad shape, still swollen, still itching. The danger now is from infection. The pustules indicate that these must have been fire ants.

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  19. Mimi, because of the pustules it sounds he encountered fire ants. Fire ant bites always result in the little white pustules. They're also very tender and itchy for a few days. Poor little guy. I hope he recovers quickly.

    I am highly allergic to fire ant bites and have gone into anaphylactic shock from them several times.

    The first time it happened to me I somehow drove myself to an emergency room. They took one look at me and the next thing I knew I was being wheeled off on a gurney. By that point I could not remember my address or even spell my name.

    To this day I can't believe how fortunate I was just to find the ER before causing an accident. It was a Sunday morning, so Ed was at work. We had just moved into a new house the previous day, and I didn't know anyone to ask for help. The phone wasn't turned on yet, so I couldn't call EMS.

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  20. He is in our prayers for a speedy recovery!

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  21. Mike! What a story. If you live in Texas or Louisiana, it's scary to be allergic to fire ants.

    William is 8 years old. He told his mom, "Stop looking at me like that. You make me think I have a DISEASE." Of course, my daughter's heart breaks each time she looks at him.

    I told her to tell him that many people are praying for him and sending him good wishes.

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  22. oh that is awful. fire ants are horrible. Lots of thoughts for him today.

    And for you. Being a worried grandmother must be hard. Lots of thoughts for you today.

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  23. Oh, Mimi! Poor William!! Prayers ascend from California.

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  24. I just keep muttering "Ow" as I read this.

    Nasty and uncomfortable.

    He's included in my prayers.

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  25. Oh... and me bellowing about Brother Rick... off to pray for little William. Quick healing.

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  26. Thank you all. It's a comfort to know of the prayers and good wishes of all you generous people.

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  27. Oh Mimi, that poor child. Fire ants are indeed mean to the bone. Uh ants? bones? hmmm something like that anyway. I don't know if William is still itching bad, but anytime I've stepped in a hill (seems like I do it once a season) the second day they just itch like mad, and of course I don't want to scratch and get them infected, so when I go to bed, I put socks on my hands so I don't scratch in my sleep. Tell him it looks stupid especially on someone my age, but it works.

    Prayers continuing until all the bites are gone.

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  28. Lots of prayers from Vermont where there are no fire ants (tbtg) but black flies that can be just as awful (voice of experience).

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