Monday, January 5, 2009

latest news

As most of you know I had been planning on starting nursing school on Jan 12th. I was given some papers that had to be filled out to enter the program. Things like a having a physical, proof of vaccinations, and having two tb tests taken. Piece of cake right? Well it was gonna be until I had my first tb test. For anyone who doesn't know, a tb test tells you whether you have been exposed to the tuberculosis virus or not. Well, I got my test, which I have had in the past and of course expected to be negative. I had even been thinking to myself how stupid it was that I had to have two tb tests done when I knew I didn't have it! I mean I thought tuberculosis was for the pilgrims of something. Anywho, before the 48 hours were up I had a huge welt on my arm. I could have died! Of course it wasn't normal and it turns out my first tb test was positive. (this was christmas eve). I was pretty upset for a couple different reasons, not limited to: not being able to do school, worried about kenny and ella, not to mention all the other hundreds of people I have been around, and pretty mad that someone had it and was around me and didn't find it necessary to tell me. After I calmed down a bit I did some research. Apparently you can have tb and it be active or inactive. If it is inactive it just means you were around someone who had an active form, but you were healthy enough that your body fought the infection and "killed" it in your lungs where it still rests. If you are inactive you are not contagious... which is good. So, I had to have a chest xray to prove whether I had an active or inactive form of tb. If it is inactive I can continue with school, if active I cannot. The other stupid thing is my doctor thinks I got it in Thailand which means I have had it for years, including during my pregnancy. So, I very well could have passed it through the placenta to Ella. Thankfully every doctor I have seen says it has to be inactive. Plus, Ella's doctor says that if it would have been active I would have passed it to her and that would have been a very serious complication during the first few days of her lives. In other words we would have known by now if I had passed it on to her that way. If you are young and healthy it usually is inactive. Plus, I have never had any of the symptoms which include: high fevers, uncontrollable coughing, and major weight loss. So, as you read this please don't freak out thinking I contaminated you. I have decided to post all of this because I would like your prayers. Even though the tb is inactive, I have to go through 6 months of treatment. Anytime in my life the tb can decided to turn active if it chooses. This is why most people die when they are older of it. Once they are not that healthy anymore their body can't fight the bacteria anymore and it spreads to other parts of their body. I also would ask for prayers that I did indeed get tb from Thailand because if not then that means more than likely the person I was around who gave it to me also gave it to Kenny and Ella. I don't want Ella to have to go through such a rough treatment. I know this is a long post and kinda personal, but I need your prayers! Thanks!

2 comments:

Betsy said...

goodness! i will definitely pray! what treatment do you have to do? is kenny going to be tested? keep us posted.

Nicole said...

i think there are a few different treatments that range from 6 months to a year. they usually have you take antibiotics daily and sometimes a nose spray. kenny is going to be tested, but we won't have time until we get back from vacation. ella is going to be tested though. i'll let ya know when i know more. thanks for the prayers!