Medical Mysteries Revealed

It's official. I am no longer waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. It's been 3 weeks since Zinabu was contagious, and I am not sick. Whoopie! I'm in the clear. And what is the mysterious virus he suffered from, you ask? The MUMPS! Most of our close friends knew what was going on, but I didn't want to post the diagnosis on my blog until things settled down. Zinabu was exposed to the mumps in Ethiopia, but we are so thankful to God he did not get sick until he was safe at our home, and under excellent medical care. He was very, very ill. Turns out the mumps can hit you in different ways: very little, horrible, or somewhere in between. Zinabu was in the "horrible" category. That's why he was such a big hit at the hospital. The staff there doesn't see mumps anymore. It's also why we were quarantined and treated like lepers. I understand, but it was a rough week. David had his booster shots before travel, Carver and Lily are all caught up on their vaccinations, but my mom and I were the lone rebels. We had to track down if we'd received at least one mumps shot (yes) and a booster (er...no). One shot kinda-sorta-maybe protects you. You really need the booster for full protection. We think I had some kind of booster in 1982... but that was pre-Michael Jackson's Thriller! Who can remember anything way back then? So it is with much celebrating that I can post we are all mumps free!

We are moving up in the medical world this week. We march on toward stool samples. Yes, that's right. Zinabu makes 'em and I collect 'em. Time to find out for sure if there are any unwanted guests residing in his intestines. I don't know if they'll find parasites, but I do know they will find pounds of strawberries. I cannot keep enough produce in this house. Especially strawberries. Today I bought this:


The photo makes it look small, but it's actually over 4 pounds of strawberries. I can guarantee they will be gone in 48 hours. But look at this sweet face. Who could say no to it?