Sometimes it's not just a phase

Late this summer, my 4 year old's demeanor changed. He's long had some anxiety issues, especially with participating in group activities, but he has been in a gymnastics class for more than a year, and he's loved every minute of it. He has also been going to various school and camp programs since he was about 18 months old, and while he hasn't always participated with the class, he was always happy to go and never showed any problems with separating from his parents.About 2 months ago, he stopped wanting to go to camp. He didn't want us to leave him there alone, and he would cry and scream, begging us not to leave. He would cling to us and refuse to let go. Most days when we finally got him inside he would calm down after a few minutes, but at least twice, he cried for over an hour until we came to get him.Worse, he stopped enjoying gymnastics. He refused to participate like he had before, and even though we were always right outside the gym room watching, he didn't want to be separated from us. He even stopped wanting to go to his grandma's house or other fun places. He turned refused to let his grandma take him to Toys R Us to get anything he wanted--until he was sure that I was going to go with them.It was clear that he was scared of something, but he couldn't tell us what. It was heartbreaking. He stopped playing with other kids, even his life-long friends. We talked many times with him about someone hurting or touching him. Not that we suspected anyone had, but if there was a chance, we wanted him to feel safe in telling us.Then we started noticing the fevers. They were almost always pretty mild, rarely over 100.5F, and the only other symptom was a couple hours laying on the couch instead of bouncing and jumping on it. If he had one in the evening, it would be gone by morning.Fevers are to be expected in kids. They're a sign of a normally functioning immune system, especially since he's in a group of a dozen or so other kids with their hands in their mouths. But we started to be concerned after 4 of these fevers. By the 5th, we set an appointment with his pediatrician. That afternoon, the fever spiked, so we took him to the local urgent care. They didn't find any cause, and with ibuprofen, the fever went away. Because the strep test was negative, they guessed it was probably viral, so didn't prescribe anything--not that we would even want to give him antibiotics without a known reason.We followed up with the pediatrician appointment, and she couldn't find anything. He didn't have any symptoms at that time, and she said if the fevers continue, let her know for more invasive testing.Well the next school day, he went--reluctantly, but at least without crying. When we picked him up, he had no fever, but also no energy, and he had even taken a nap in the middle of class, something he had never done in 3 years of going to school. We called the pediatrician, and she had us go to the ER for all the test. She speculated that it could be lyme or mono.After 5 hours, 5 vials of blood, 1 cup of pee, and a chest x-ray later, we got a diagnosis: urinary tract infection. They prescribed antibiotics, and sent us home.The next day, since we knew he wasn't contagious, we sent him to school. And for the first time in months, he voluntarily walked up to the school and joined his class. It's been a week now, and he hasn't had a problem. It's not like all his anxieties are suddenly gone, but just being able to go to school feels like a big victory.He still says he doesn't want to go to gymnastics, but he may come around.I'm still astonished that he never once complained about any sort of pain. I'm glad he isn't one to whine about every little scrape or bump, but if he had said anything, we could have saved ourselves weeks of emotional agony.tl;dr My 4 year old had a UTI for 2 months or longer, and it changed his demeanor drastically. Immediately after starting antibiotics, he was back to his old self. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2xokJUH