Fifth’s Disease! No, not lymphoma (well, at least not at this time anyway). The doctor called this morning with the test results. I am Parvovirus 15 positive. At least it explains everything- the enlarged lymph nodes, the low grade fever, the all over rash, the red cheeks, and now the very swollen and very arthritic joints (especially, hands, wrists, and knees). And as a bonus, I can expect to enjoy the arthritis aspect for another 3 or so weeks. Fabulous! So thank you to everyone who sent good (non-lymphoma) vibes my way. It worked! I can honestly say that the whole thing scared the crap out of me. And where I picked up Fifths from….NO IDEA.

I did far, far too much today so I am going to be paying for it tommorrow. Three shoots coming up this weekend, not including the one from today. Took Timmy to the park twice today- once this morning with his best buddy, Jack, and once this afternoon while the big boys had soccer practice. The two of them are already wise to my tricks to try to get them to look at the camera. So they just won’t look. Some shots from the first park trip:

Then Timmy had Cats where HE played soccer:

And so it begins…soccer season has officially (almost) started.   The first practice today with a lot of out of shape boys! A few of the kids from their team dropped out over the winter, so they should be getting more field time this season. The official start is in two weeks. Baseball too. We’re gonna be busy! There are at least some hints of green now- not everything is completely brown and grey anymore. Spring might actually come. I wish I had brought my telephoto lens for some pictures of the boys on the field. These were as good as I could get. And while the big boys practiced, Timmy and I hit the playground (again). Done with pictures yet?? No? Me neither!

First, I am a lucky mommy. I had parent/teacher conferences today and the boys are doing soooooo great. Really excelling at school (some shameless bragging coming up- you’ve been warned- so stop reading now if you are not into that) in everyway. I was told that not only are they so super smart, but that they both have the market cornered on "thinking outside the box" which impressed their teachers to no end in 3rd grade. They have lots of friends in class and are just doing super overall. Jack’s teacher (my almost Aunt) has funny stories for me all the time about the things he said during the day, and Patrick’s teacher told me how upset she’s going to be next year when he leaves her. They both apparently keep their teachers on their toes and constantly surprise them with the "wise beyond their years" things they say. YEAH!!! A little brotherly love for ya. Jack was fatting out on the couch and didn’t want to be bothered with pictures.

As for my illness update…I have a new diagnosis for myself. I’m off the lymphoma kick (well, for the most part anyway) and now think I have Fifths Disease. Which is just a virus, ends eventually with no lasting issues. So that would be much better than lymphoma. I have all the symptoms and I’m thinking the rash wasn’t a reaction to the steroids, but the Fifths rash cause my cheeks got that crazy red. Went back to the doctor today and he really liked my diagnosis- he said that he was planning on testing me for that anyway. So he took another 4 big vials of blood (so I’ll have lymphoma, Fifths, and be anemic!!) and will test for Fifths among a few other inflamatory illnesses. The rash is totally gone now but my hands, wrists and knees are all kinds of swollen and arthritic feeling. They really hurt. So we’ll see on Saturday what it is I have. I am hoping for a concrete answer. He’s testing for Lupus and other auto immune diseases too, since I already have Raynaud’s syndrome. More medical fun…woohoo!