9.13.13 Perplexing Patterns

Confused and worn down me cannot process this past 18 days. Several ups and too many downs later, Aimee is still sick. This is simply not normal. I am afraid that our life is warping around it and these coming months will shift our patterns of interaction with the world outside our door. Perhaps I will have to let go completely of attempting to keep up with the typical world.

Aside from the perplexing pattern of sickness, another oddity that has us confused is Aimee's temperature. We have been diligently tracking throughout this last month. While nearly always low, her temperature graph shows it ping pong around throughout the day. In Washington, we have had, and are still having, a lovely summer. It has been consistently sunny and warm. Our house has been, on average, 76 degrees during the afternoon/evening and 71 by the morning. Quite often through the afternoon we would get body temperature readings in the 95-97 degree range. By first thing in the morning and through most of this sickness, her temperature is in the 93-95 range. Occasionally, her temperature flies up into a mild fever. Yet, I have not seen any shivering or sweating on either end throughout.

This is a picture of Aimee the other day. 80 degrees in the house and sick Aimee was bundled up in layers of fleece clothing and blankets to keep her temperature up.

This has me throwing random ideas around. Is she not getting enough fats, does she require movement to keep up her temperature, is it typical for low toned kids? Is her nervous system's inefficient communication affecting her body temperature? And how in the world can I regulate it? Sometimes it changes 3-4 degrees without any external adjustments at all. Perhaps, after we all recover and get some sleep, my brain will be able to better sort it out. 

Ps. Thank you to my generous parents who came over Monday and gave me an opportunity to take a nap, read a book, and even provided dinner. What a refreshment! Thank you to Kathy for coming this afternoon so that I can get groceries. Thank you to Shari for always supporting us. And thank you to each of you who in different ways are gracious towards us, listen to our challenges, befriend us from afar, and remember us in your prayers. We are grateful for such a wonderful crowd of friends and family.