For the past two weeks my family has been overcome with an incurable case of the crud. First, Kai Baby got it--she fought fever and a snotty nose for three days before we tapped out and took her to the pediatrician to be told "It's viral." Thanks. Next, Caeden's nose began running, and she got a cough. By Friday Peerless was hocking and coughing all over the place, and I was just pleased that I had escaped healthy and unscathed.
Monday afternoon I started getting an eerily familiar scratching in my throat. I began a regimen of airborne, Emergen-C, and juice and water. Tuesday I woke up feeling ten times worse. I REFUSED to give into the illness, and pressed on. (Especially when I came home from dropping Caeden off at school and Peerless had gotten third row seats to the John Legend concert for that night). So, we went, and it was good, but I felt like a big bundle of EEEW!!!
By Wednesday morning, when Peerless and I were headed to Caeden's school luncheon I felt like I was going to pass out and die walking. The fact that my temperature had gotten to 102 didn't help, either. I still, however, fulfilled my maternal duties and showed up for the luncheon. Immediately thereafter, I made a beeline to Mimi's couch, where Kai and I remained until the husband and the oldest daughter came to pick us up.
Pretty boring, and uneventful in the land of illness, huh? Yeah right!!! Wednesday night Caeden and Kai had a resurgence of their fever. Then yesterday morning Caeden was DETERMINED to go to school, so she could present her book report (she was super cute dressed up like Sacagawea). She left home, and she just didn't seem like herself. (I didn't notice, because I was still asleep in a Nyquil/sudafed/motrin induced stupor--Mimi had spent the night to help us out, and she told me the state Caeden was in when she left). I emailed Caeden's teacher to tell her to PLEASE watch out for Caeden because she was ill, and if she needed to come home to feel free to call us. No sooner than I sent the message was she contacting me to tell me Caeden was lying down in the nurse's office and needed to be picked up. When her daddy went to get her, she came home, and sure enough was boasting a 102 temperature. She kept the temperature on and off throughout the night, and when she woke up this morning, she just still wasn't herself.
After finally realizing the Caeden was NOT getting any better, I picked up the phone to make an appointment at the pediatrician. At this EXACT time she got a nose bleed, and went in the bathroom with Mimi to take care of it. As I sat on the phone with the appointment maker at her peds office, I heard Caeden let out a frustrated scream, then heard Mimi tell her to go and lay back down. My 8 year old came staggering out of the bathroom with the most bewildered look on her face and then suddenly, BAM. SHE PASSED OUT!!!! I began screaming into the telephone at the appointment setter, who got a USELESS nurse, Mimi began screaming for Peerless, and poor Kai Baby is looking at all of us like we are total idiot. Peerless and I jumped into some kind of clothes, and were two steps from out the door when I remembered that one of Caeden's basketball team mates' mother is an ER doctor at a local hospital. I called her, gave her a brief rundown of the sitch, and she told us to head to the hospital and she'd call them and tell them we were coming. We got to the ER, and got back into the treatment area in a matter of seconds.
The doctor (who was AMAZING--I've never had an ER doctor who was actually nice and interested in helping! Kudos to the Northeast Georgia ER staff, and a special thanks to Dr. Sherry Brock!!) Caeden was going to need an IV to get some fluids going in her body, because she was dehydrated, and a chest xray, because the doctor was concerned she may have pneumonia. Well, the BIG GIRL took the IV needle stick like a CHAMPION, took her fluids, and did her chest xray with NO problems!!! The xray came back, and the doctor determined she had bronchitis--not pneumonia--and she would get to go home.
So, now here we are. At home. Being harrassed by the 2 year old who thinks she is the boss of EVERYONE, and trying to get Caeden to drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, and eat a bit. Luckily we have Mimi, because although the husband has been really good with getting us whatever we need it gets to a point where I can tell his patience is running a little thin, and he needs his "him" time. So, Mimi is here to relieve him of his nursing responsibilities...and she's cooking...and she washed and folded all the laundry...and she holds Kai aka McBad aka B.A.A. aka Badness aka Little Miss Naughty.... It's a really interesting situation over here. It's one of those times where I wish the world could see the dynamic at our house, because it is crazy....but it works for us.
