Oh Kat. That sucks.

As if my life weren't complicated enough... K has been diagnosed with eppstein-barr virus that is moving towards full blown mono.

Fuck. I'm not sure what to do. I called the NICU already since she was in yesterday afternoon, but now what? Do I need to get tested? What happens if I am asymptomatic and just test positive for the virus? What do I do with all of the fucking breastmilk I am pumping.

Oh Kat, I'm so sorry. I hope you don't have it. You have a ton of breast milk stored, right? Talk to the NICU doctors. Even if you test negative, they might want you to pump and dump for a while, and give Noah and Grace what's frozen, while they make sure you stay negative.

With Mono, the good news is that it's pretty darn hard to catch. I know people who got it and their partners never did. The bad news is that the incubation period is pretty long. Like a couple of months.

It's probable that I will be positive as according to the CDC " In the United States, as many as 95% of adults between 35 and 40 years of age have been infected."

So, I think it is a matter of symptoms then.

Really, I'd like to put my head down on and just cry. I've already called the NICU once this morning and spoke with both of the nurses who are caring for Noah and Grace respectively.

I'm not angry but I am generally overwhelmed. So in addition to sick children, pumping breastmilk, dealing with insurance/social security/my leave of absence paperwork, going back to work on monday, I now have one more thing to deal with. I kind of just want to sit here and cry. Or go back to sleep.

But you could have been infected in the past right? Just because you have the antibody, does not mean it's active in your system.

{{{Kat}}} I'm so sorry. How frustrating.

From the CDC:

Epstein-Barr virus, frequently referred to as EBV, is a member of the herpesvirus family and one of the most common human viruses. The virus occurs worldwide, and most people become infected with EBV sometime during their lives. In the United States, as many as 95% of adults between 35 and 40 years of age have been infected. Infants become susceptible to EBV as soon as maternal antibody protection (present at birth) disappears. Many children become infected with EBV, and these infections usually cause no symptoms or are indistinguishable from the other mild, brief illnesses of childhood. In the United States and in other developed countries, many persons are not infected with EBV in their childhood years. When infection with EBV occurs during adolescence or young adulthood, it causes infectious mononucleosis 35% to 50% of the time.

Seriously. I want someone else to take care of this or to tell me what to do. I can't do one more thing. I just can't.

I'm going back to bed.

I'd vote for going back to sleep, but I know if it was me, I'd be unable to sleep, for sure. I'm sure the doctors and nurses have dealt with this sort of situation before, so there'll be a protocol as to what to do!

I just can't figure out where it would be!

Buffista Island would be smack-dab in the Sea of Culture!

I got the garbage AND the recycling out this morning, so the most-important to-do of my day has been fulfilled.

Kat, you've been so impressive about not borrowing trouble for the five weeks since Noah and Grace were born. From how I'm reading the CDC explanation, you may have already had EBV at some point in your life. Go get some sleep, because there's nothing you can do about it at 5:45 in the morning, that you haven't already done.

When you wake up, call your own doctor, and ask how to get tested -- and explain you have two micro-preemies who have been drinking your breast milk, so you need this handled immediately. Ask if you can be tested at the hospital where Noah and Grace are, so you don't have to run around to any extra places.

We're going to all be busy wishing, hoping, vibing, and praying that you've already had EBV exposure at some time in your life, that you're immune, and that Noah and Grace have your immunities to it, because they've been receiving your breast milk.

I'm familiar with "journal" as a verb because it's used that way in computerese. I'm mildly startled (can you be that?) to not find any other usages of it that way. Hrrmph.

Would we get busted if I posted the encryption code here? It's so tempting.

No, it's not. It's heartburn you're mistaking for temptation.

ChiKat, you insert the one, and tap the other one (against a hand will do) and touch it to the one. The first one.

Kat! You are a person with a big plate, but that's not a good reason to ever have it full, much less this full. I'm hoping for as little contagion as possible. Aw, damn.

Does this mean she'll be off work the whole time? Just as you go back, but laid up? Shit.

I wish I could cope for you, but I had another ER visit last night, so I'm seriously in the Land of Barely Getting By.