If I had super powers, I'd erase these last couple of weeks from my history book. My little guy has been SO sick. He was in and out of the doc's office about 5 times in less than 2 weeks. It all started in October with a cold... which turned into a sinus infection, which turned into an ear infection... which was resistant to the first round of antibiotics and thus got worse... which then spread into his lungs... and then he got the flu on top of it. The worst of it started last Wednesday (over a week ago) when he started getting diarrhea, and began to vomit every now and again. He had this heavy cough, which was relatively productive, but he would cough so hard he'd gag, and then throw up. Then Thursday night he lost his appetite. By Friday, night, he was throwing up a lot and wouldn't eat anything. So I took him to the doc on Saturday. His ears were almost clear, so the doc (not our primary care that day) just told us to take him off of the augmentin he was on for his ear infection because he thought it was doing more harm than good at that point. By Sunday morning, I was back on the phone with an acute nurse because he still wouldn't eat, had terrible diarrhea, vomitting everything... No fever, though. So, back to the doc on Monday. Thank God our primary care was the one looking after him. He ran some blood tests...
And can I just say that there is no pain greater than to see your little baby in such pain? It was just awful. I had to hold him in my lap while the nurse pricked his tiny finger to draw blood. She needed three little viles full, but he healed so quickly that she couldn't get that last one, so she had to prick another finger. I know when the ugly cry is coming when there is a long silence, his face is all red, and his mouth is wide open. I just kep whispering that I love him and I'm so sorry.
And then we had to wait for the results. That was the longest 15 minutes. I just sat in the examination room with Jeffrey on my lap praying over him that it was nothing serious. We just cried together.
The doc came in and said all the tests came back normal, except his white cells were a bit elevated, which is good as it shows he is fighting the infection. He said that the next thing would be to give him a shot of antibiotics. He said it would work really well, but it "isn't a fun one"... that is... it hurts a lot. Hey, if the alternative is to let my baby suffer, I'll take the shot for 10 seconds of discomfort. So, off his pants come so the nurse can shoot him in the thigh. Once again, I had to hold him down while we administered a shot of pain.
The doc said that he should be feeling better by that evening, and his appetite should be back the following day. If he continues to vomit, there is something "more serious" happening. He asked me to call in the morning for an update.
Great! So... by that night, he was indeed feeling better. And he was definitely hungry. I just let him nurse whenever, and in the middle of the night he ate about 3 ounces (about half of his normal meel). By the morning, he was wiggling and smiling. The most beautiful thing I had seen.
I called the doc and left the message that all seemed to be better.
And then 15 minutes later, Jeffrey threw up. So, I called the doc and left the message. The nurse said he'd call me back.
I decided that I would just bring Jeffrey into work with me (since I had been staying home with him), and we'd just leave for the doc's from there if we needed to. I was getting Jeffrey ready, when he threw up again on the changing table. And then again in the car (within 15 minutes). All I kept hearing running through my mind was the doc saying, "If he continues to vomit, there's something more serious..." So, I called and left another message for the doc. On top of my mild panic, the nurse was a snag and said in a completely snotty tone, "He's with patients. He will call you back." I decided to call the acute nurse, but she, too, was busy and would need to call me back. I was at work by this time. Instead of going inside, I jumped in back and just held Jeffrey while I called Scott, who didn't answer his cell. I called the front desk and he wouldn't answer his office phone either. Kathy (the receptionist) came back on the line and said she wasn't sure where he was. I fell apart. I barely could speak, but managed to say that Jeffrey was very sick and I needed to find Scott. She paged him, then went looking for him. By this time, I took Jeffrey inside to wait, when all the ladies in that wing came over to us. It was really sweet... They told me to take him in and just wait to see a doc. A friend offered to come with me, while everyone else tries to find Scott.
So off we go.... About 10 minutes later my cell phone rang with the caller ID from Scott's boss. It was Scott who said he would meet us at the doc's office.
He arrived just a moment after we did. And they got us in right away. The doc immediately came to see him. (He had lost a pound by this time, which is quite a lot when you're only 20 pounds.) The doc examined him... said his ears were pussy again, and that because his appetite is back, we should just give him frequent VERY small meals (even if he wants more), and prescribed a couple of aerator meds (one to take the inflammation from his lungs, and not sure what the other does). I asked if this was serious. He said no. I could have killed him for saying that to me the other day. (Ya know, when a doc says, "there could be something more serious" I'm thinking "serious" as in Leukemia. Com'on doc.)
So... back to work to drop off my friend... and back home to watch Jeffrey.
Jeffrey HATES that aerator thing. It's this little tube with a face mask, fitting over his nose and mouth. He has to breathe in the meds that get squirted into it. At first he didn't mind. But after the 3rd dose, he was just scream and try to wiggle out of it. It takes two of us to hold him still, which really just makes it worse. We stopped giving it to him. It wasn't worth forcing him to stay still and breathe in something that he's just screaming into, and it took us over 20 minutes to quiet him down after the fact.
By Wednesday, he was feeling MUCH better. Took him to the doc for a follow up, who said his ears are clear and we just needed to watch him the rest of the week and through the weekend (keeping him home from daycare cuz he's probably contagious). Scott and I decided to work shifts so we both take turns watching Jeffrey and working. That evening I went into work for the first time that week. Got about 4 hours in.
Thursday morning, I woke up feeling completely crappy. The good news is that Jeffrey was feeling really good. Completely back to his happy self (only with a wheeze and a productive cough). I went into work for about 2 hours until I felt like I would throw up. (I figured I was probably just exhausted after staying up all day and all night with my little guy.)
I was on the couch all day Thursday. Scott had a Christmas party for his department at his boss' that night. I wasn't sure I'd make it, but decided to go (against my better judgement). I didn't eat... just sat on the couch with Jeffrey the entire evening. We left around 10:15 or so... and about half-way home, I had Scott pull over so I could throw up ("feeding the squirrels" as Scott's boss put it).
F.
So, now I have the flu... which is probably what Jeffrey had.
I had all the same symptoms, except the cough and wheeze. Vomitting. Diarrhea. No appetite.
I finally got a tad of sleep last night and I'm feeling a bit better this morning.
Jeffrey is crying for breakfast. I'm hungry. We still haven't put up our Christmas tree or sent out Christmas cards. If I could just wave my magic wand, these last two weeks would just disappear.
