Not a whole lot to report - I called the doctor's office this morning and her pediatrician called me back. I told him about the partial facial paralysis and he said he was convinced it was Lyme disease, and that he wanted to put her on another antibiotic for 28 days, and wanted her to have a blood test as well. And he wanted to see her, just to make sure there weren't any other neurological issues.
So we had an appointment this afternoon. Dr. S put Julia through a bunch of physical tests - had her make different faces, tapped her knees and checked other reflexes. It was sort of funny - I wonder, in particular, what she was thinking of all this when he had her stand in front of him, her eyes shut, arms out, and he poked her in the chest from various angles, I'm guessing to check her balance. She stayed upright. Then he had her walk across the exam room and back. She looked at him a little suspiciously, maybe wondering what annoying thing he was going to do next.
But she was a good sport, and he's a great doctor - I can't say enough about that - and then he told me that the reason he wanted her to come in was more to set his own mind at ease - there was a slim possibility that there was something else wrong (I can't remember what he called it) that could result in damage to her brain. "But she's way too healthy for that," he told me, while she and Alex were climbing around on the exam table, leaning over the side. I was trying to pay attention to Dr. S while wondering how much damage she'd do to her brain if she fell off and landed on her head. But she didn't fall.
I'll bring her in for the blood test at the lab tomorrow - it was temporarily closed when we went over there today.
So anyway, that's the scoop. She's finishing up her other antibiotic, and she started the amoxicillin at bedtime tonight.
I had a bout with Lyme disease a bunch of years ago - I think I was out of work for about a month - it was kind of like having Mono, which I have also had. I just felt achy all over, exhausted, I slept a lot, I just didn't feel well for a long time.
So I'm sure she's not feeling great either - she has frequent bouts of crying, she's much more sensitive, emotionally, and gets upset very easily, especially if Alex is teasing her (or merely annoying her in an older brotherly way). She's getting a dose of Tylenol in the morning, and a dose of Motrin before bed, and that seems to be enough. We play that by ear. And she gets a lot of hugs and snuggling. Whatever will work for her. Fortunately she's not miserable all the time. It's just that when she is, she really is.
I'll update again when there's something new to tell.
