Ghost of Midnight

… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum

Neighbors Rally for Sick Toddler

Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 by No comments yet

I studied engineering in school and therefore never had time for Philosophy 101, so grant me license to roam occasionally…

As most of us chug through our stress-filled days focused on the next several “to do”s on the list, tragedy hangs nearby, waiting to pay a visit. The oncoming car crossing the centerline, the phone call in the middle of the middle of the night. Sometimes, thankfully, it retreats before doing its worst, like the story below from one of our neighborhood forums in Burlington yesterday:

Thank you to all our new friends on Scarff Ave for their concern for our 15-month-old son who suffered a very high fever over the weekend. He is recovering, but still under the weather. We took him to the hospital on Sunday night after his fever spiked from 101.3 to a whopping 106.7 in just over an hour. After numerous tests the Drs could not pinpoint a source of the fever – no infections – but did discover that he was severly dehydrated. We had been giving him plenty of water and a little fruit juice… The important thing is to drink the right kinds of fluids – namely Pedialyte or another electrolyte drink (not Gatorade). Our son is still running a low-grade fever and today broke out in a rash, which we were told to expect. He is being closely monitored, but for now the source of his incredibly high fever remains a mystery.

I wanted to share our experience to help other parents whose little ones might go through the same thing. Thanks again for all of the well wishes.

As a father of similar-age kids… wow. My heart goes out to this young family. And what a wonderful response from these parents… to be able to turn to new neighbors for support, and then, with their little trooper still showing symptoms, to share their story as a lesson so that others may avoid the same hardship. That’s great.

Posted in: Community Building, Front Porch Forum, Local Online, Stories


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