Sick, Sick and More Sick

Tyler is recovering nicely from his concussion although I cringe every time he wrestles with James or goes running across the living room at 90 mph. Just when I thought I was getting ahead, BOOM! Last Saturday night Katie woke up sick, with varying symptoms which made for a confusing Dr. Mom diagnosis. Was it strep? Stomach Virus? The Black Plague? She basically laid on the couch for days without eating and only drinking as I coaxed her every 15 minutes. I was pretty sure it was strep and carried her poor little sick self to the Fast Clinic. First mistake. The sign says: Fast Care without the wait. Hahahaaaaaaaaaaaa. We waited, and waited, and waited some more. After an hour, I finally asked how long it would be before we would get in. (Katie was in my lap, crying and telling me how she just wanted to go home and lay down) We were told another 30 minutes. What?! It was an hour and half before we got in. At that point, the nurse questioned why I would think she had strep, and said they don't treat stomach issues. It was at this point that I had to reign in my Mama Bear instincts and told her politely that HER THROAT HURTS HER REALLY BAD and I want to have her checked. Oh, she said, we will check. She then looked in Katie's mouth and gasped "OH!! DOES THAT HURT?!" Um, yes, I believe that is what we just discussed. She did the swab and it came back negative. What?! We were both surprised and then, in an act that I can only surmise was an act of CYA, she diagnosed Katie with an ear infection and sent us off with the antibiotic. I will spare you the gory details of how long we had to wait at the pharmacy but needless to say I came home on my last nerve. I put her on the antibiotic, and the next day she was only a tiny bit better. Not what I was expecting. Later that morning, she came down with a rash all over which I thought was the antibiotic but turns out the STREP was so bad she got a strep rash. That required another visit to the regular doctor who diagnosed it immediately by looking at her throat and gasping 'That must be so painful!' It was really bad. Turns out the dose of antibiotics for an ear infection is lower than for strep, so she increased the dose and sent us home. Getting Katie to take the medicine is like trying to coax a wild monkey to wear a top hat and sing 'Oh, Susanna'. Nearly impossible. But! It is working! After missing 4 days of school, she was back today and happy to be in school.

If you made it to the end, yay! I think this post might cure your insomnia, anyway. I will post the rest of my Christmas pictures, Lord willing and the kids stay healthy. Maybe then I can get caught up after having them home for Christmas too. A girl can dream, right? :)