A Very Serious Game Called Rabbit

Have you ever played Rabbit?  I don't know if it's a game indigenous to Wisconsin, or -- perhaps even more specifically -- a game limited to Flynns and Perlmans.  I just remember playing this game with my friends Amy and Angus, the two younger children of that oft-mentioned Mrs. Flynn. 

Here is how you play Rabbit:  All players sit in a circle. The more players, the better.  One person says, "We are about to play a Very Serious Game called Rabbit.  If anyone laughs, smiles, hesitates, or talks out of turn, we have to start all over again."   Then the leader turns to the person on her right and says, "Jen, do you know how to play Rabbit?"  This must be said in an extremely somber tone, with no smiling. 

That person is supposed to respond, "No, Amy (feel free to substitute your own names), I do not know how to play Rabbit."  Then second person turns to the third person and says, "Angus, do you know how to play Rabbit?"  The players continue in this manner all the way around the circle.  Assuming you're all children and are in a silly mood to begin with, it is nearly impossible to get through even two players without someone laughing.  And when someone laughs, you have to start back at the beginning.  When someone smiles, you have to start back at the beginning.  If someone hesitates because he or she is trying to suppress a laugh or smile, you have to go back to the beginning. 

I had a limited tolerance for the game of Rabbit.  Once the first few outbursts of laughter had come and gone, what started out as fun became pure frustration.  There was always one child (in our group, usually Angus) who simply could not or would not restrain himself from laughing.  The game could not end until we made it all the way around the circle so that the leader could say, "Well, if no one knows how to play a Very Serious Game Called Rabbit, then what are we doing here?"  

On the few occasions we succeed in going once around, there was no laughter at the end, not even a smile.  We were done, thank God, and could now continue with our ongoing project of growing into OCD adults.

When I was sick with Crohn's at the age of twenty-two, I thought about the Game Called Rabbit a lot.  At that time, Prednisone was pretty much the only treatment option for Crohn's and this was my experience with the drug: I would be put on 60 mg per day to arrest the flare-up.  For the first several days I felt great, amazing, full of new-found appetite and a sense of well-being.  After perhaps two weeks at that dose, I would gradually begin tapering off the prednisone, about 5mg at a time, going a week at each dose. At 50 mg, I felt fine.  At 40, I was fine.  At 30, I was still fine.  And at 25 mg, the pain would return.  

Crohn's is different for everyone, but I quickly learned that going back up to 30 or even 35 mg would not stop the re-awakened flare.  I had to go all the way up to 60 mg per day, and begin the process of tapering all over again.  Sometimes I might have a day or two at 25 mg where it looked as if I might actually make it, but by the third day the ache in my gut was impossible to ignore.  So with tears -- and no small amount of rage -- I would start all over again.

I was lucky.  I only had to play A Very Serious Game Called Prednisone for six months.  By that time, it was determined that if 25 mg a day was not enough to inhibit symptoms, there was probably more going on than just inflammation and I had exploratory surgery.  They ended up removing 50 cm of ileum, and an abcess the size of a man's fist filled with all kinds of nasty.  The Prednisone never had a chance against an abcess.  When my Crohn's came out of remission after Sabina was born, there were other drugs avaiable, and I've been -- knock wood -- in pretty good shape since 1995.

But now Olive has diarrhea.  As I've mentioned before here, she has been sent home from school repeatedly for exceeding the daily diarrhea limit.  It's been going on, intermittently, for about six months, increasing very gradually until we got where we are now: Olive is sent home on average 2 days a week with diarrhea.

They tell you that when you hear hoof beats, you should look for horses.  But when your Mommy has Crohn's Disease and your late uncle had Crohn's, you tend to skip the horse search and instead look for Monty Python characters galloping through the forest, banging empty coconut shells together. 

Yesterday Olive went to the pediatrician who ordered a battery of tests.  Her CBC, white count, sed. rate and CRP test were all normal, which is very good news.  Next week we hear about the genetic test more specific to Crohn's, and giardia. 

I'm trying to make all kinds of backroom deals with God.  Dear God, please let it be giardia and I will not buy yarn until 2013.  Or, if it has to be something chronic, please let it be celiac disease.  If it's celiac, I'll buy Elisabeth's Hasselbeck's book and never mock her again.   But, please, God:  Olive has enough tsuris.  Please don't make her have to learn a Very Serious Game Called Rabbit.

Comments

[leslie]

Sending love...

[Tamara]

Oh dear. I'll be thinking of you and Olive.

[Glenna]

Oh, dear. Fingers crossed that it's a simple food allergy. A simple allergy to a food she doesn't even like and wouldn't miss.

[kmkat]

Remember how life isn't fair? Let's all hope Olive gets a pass on this one.

[Meredith]

Oh my. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Olive that it's not Crohn's.

[Heather P]

Will be praying for very good results for Miss Olive's testing. Can't help but wonder could it be a reaction to the stronger meds that she had to start taking...

[Hildie]

Oh dear Olive........joining your Mom's backroom deal with God.....let it be something else.

[Gail]

I,too,hope it's not Crohn's. All digits crossed and I've got her on my prayer list.

[Kathy]

Argh! Crossing my fingers for an easily evicted parasite. (H had cryptosporidiosis at < 1 year old. Awful, but treatable.)

[Debbie]

Keeping you and Miss NP in my thoughts and prayers!

[Karyn]

You guys are always in my heart, but extra prayers are going out now. Wishing for the best possible results.

[Kat]

Allergy/intolerance??? Maybe the root of some of this past year's behaviors? If I was having diarrhea 2x a week I'd probably want to pull some hair and cause some mayhem.

[Dixie]

I add my Ditto to everyone else above me. I hope it's something very treatable and can be fixed by merely excluding broccoli from her diet.