My Living Room a.k.a The TB Ward

With the coming of Christmas, we also had the coming of sickness in multiple forms.

I got a touch of food poisoning Christmas evening, Robbie and Joel and I are still getting over our 2 week old coughs, Padyn started coughing on Tuesday and Katelyn came down with a fever Christmas night. Here she is two days ago...relaxing (ie sleeping) outside after her snack.
Now all 4 of us are (Joel is working) are sitting around watching Phineas and Ferb, coughing. Quite a pleasant experience.

Here's to a healthy New Year.

Here's Where We're At

We've been back from Hawaii for 5 days now, and so far we have:
*3 days of fevers (Kate)
*2 coughs (Kate and Robbie)
*1 runny nose (Robbie)
*1 pair bloodshot eyes (Kate)
*daily complaints of headaches, leg pains, and foot aches (Padyn and Kate)
*1 potential tooth cutting (Robbie)
*2 kids up in the night (Kate and Robbie)
*attempts at crawling (I think you know)
*lots of drool (you can probably guess this one, too)
*tired kids who want to sleep in larger than I will allow in the morning (all)
*a mommy who is still unpacking, doing laundry and sorting through mail...

As soon as we get it all sorted out, Daylight Savings will start on Sunday and we'll be messed up again.

Sigh...

Still Sick...

...but you wouldn't know it by these pictures. This is what happens when Motrin kicks in. Before this he was a whiny, snotty, feverish mess who didn't want to sleep well without being held. And who still doesn't want to eat anything. I don't think I have much time left...I better get to being productive. I don't think it's going to last long today.

BandAids Make Everything Better...

...especially if they are Dora bandaids.

Today I brought Kate in for her wart treatment. (Officially, she has Molluscum Contagiosum and if you watch this newstory about it, it might make you sick to your stomach like it did to me.) Anyway, they are warts that have been rapidly spreading down the back of her leg. Excuse me...legs. Today we saw some on her other leg. They are contagious only in children and there is no solid "cure" for this virus.

So, the dermatologist put this ointment on them that is from a blister beetle (yes, a beetle) that will probably get rid of them. They will literally blister up and eventually fall off. They might leave a pox-like scar, but it's the back of her legs, so it won't keep her from looking beautiful from the front. No leg modeling for her, I guess.

The poor girl made her way through two lollipops while lying on her stomach across my lap as the doctor put the ointment on. Then we came home and took a bath to wash it off. They are supposed to start blistering in a day or two. They looked the same as before the treatment when Kate got out of the bath, so I thought it would be a while before they bothered her.

Nope. Twenty minutes later she was scratching at her legs and getting grouchy. Great. So, I took a look, and sure enough, the little warts are starting to blister. Poor thing. All we can do is follow the doctor's orders-neosporin and BandAids.

Thank goodness we just got a new supply of Dora BandAids or I think Kate would be having a hissy fit until next Tuesday. She didn't want me to touch her at all, but once I showed her the Dora bandaids, she immediately calmed down and let me cover the back of her leg with them.

I'll have to take a picture because it is a sight too amusing to let pass by. Kate's chubby little let covered with at least 12 Dora BandAids. But hey...she isn't complaining anymore.

What a Difference Antibiotics Make

Here's what Kate looked like on Christmas Day...when we didn't know she had double ear infections. Can you see why I thought she might have pink eye?And here's what she looks like after just a couple days on Amoxicillin. Big difference.Thank goodness for drugs.

Should Have Known Better

I should have known. It should have been the first thing I thought of. All those months we spent last year on antibiotics should have triggered my memory.

But no.

When Kate started getting sick last Friday, I didn't think much of it. Then Saturday and Sunday, as she progressively got worse, as she complained about her eyes, as snot started pouring forth from her nose...I still didn't consider the possibility.

On Monday, Christmas Eve, when she had a fever and super red, puffy eyes that she was constantly rubbing and complaining about, I contemplated the possibility that she had pink eye. Of course, Tuesday was Christmas, so there wasn't much I could do about it then. She still had a fever, super snot, cough and red eyes. She went to Papa and BonBon's with us in the morning, but she and Daddy stayed home from Grammie's in the afternoon. No point in contaminating everyone.

Yesterday morning I called the clinic and managed to get her in right away. I wasn't convinced she had pink eye due to the fact that her eyes weren't goopy, but she looked HORRIBLE and was SUPER CRANKY and had been awake almost EVERY HOUR during the night, so I was desperate.

Double ear infections. Didn't even cross my mind that she had an ear infection, which is fairly ridiculous since she had them all winter and spring last year.

So, lots of videos this week. Fortunately, due to the holidays, we aren't missing any of our normal stuff. Just Momma's exercise. I guess I should be disciplined in my eating this week.

Next time I'll think of that first. Hopefully. Maybe we'll sleep more.

Oh, and no pink eye. Just a cold.

Final Word on Kate's Leg (Hopefully)

We made another trip back to the orthopedist this morning. After seeing Kate walk and feeling her leg, he declared her to be on the mend. No additional x-rays were needed and there are no more follow-up appointments required. Whew. Mommy's pretty thankful for that. (Waiting in the orthopedist section is not quite as easy as waiting in pediatrics. There are no fish and TV in ortho. There aren't even magazines until you get into the exam room!)

The doctor thinks that in another 3 or 4 weeks she'll be back to her normal running self. But he did tell me to keep her from strenuous activity for the next 6 weeks. I guess that means keeping her home from gymnastics. Because, really. How else do you tell a 20 month old she can't be strenuous? That should be interesting. And really. What is strenuous activity for a child this age? Jumping off the couch? Probably. And you know I can't stop her from doing that if she really gets an inkling to do it.

Seriously, I am very happy to know she's healing and that we did it without the cast. Next time we might not be as fortunate.

Update on Katelyn

We went back to the orthopedist today for a follow-up. It's been 12 days now since Kate injured her leg on the slide. I think the doctor was surprised to hear that Kate is still not walking. But after I told him I'm not giving her Motrin anymore, and she's pretty happy, he decided that she was healing. His diagnosis was supported when she didn't leap out of my lap as he pressed on her little shin today. She didn't like it, but her reaction was not as dramatic as last week. Getting better, it seems.

We also took another x-ray. Dr. F said there is a shadow on her tibia which might be bone growth. It would make sense that it was growing there over where he believes the fracture to be. So that was good news, too.

But, she still isn't walking. She absolutely refuses to. He thought it might be another week. I hope it's not too much longer. My back is getting tired from carrying her 26 pound frame around.

We go back next Friday again. I'll let you know.

Hallelujah! We Have a Diagnosis!

We went back to the clinic today. Our pediatrician called this morning and wanted to see Katelyn again. She must not have been happy that Kate wasn't walking yet either, because she convinced the on-call orthopedist to see her. It was quite fortuitous how it all happened. At the end of our visit with the pediatrician, Dr. A , she said she would try to get him to see her and I said I was going to call other clinics to see if anyone else would see her, and we agreed we would be in contact later in the day. As I was about to pull the car out of the parking space and go home to make a million phone calls, my cell phone rang. It was Dr. A. Good news! The on-call doc will squeeze her in now! Yippee!

So, after a not-too-long wait (you expect long when being squeezed, right?), Dr. F took a look at her. He poked and prodded, twisted and pulled. We made her stand and tried to make her walk, but she just stood there crying. He poked and prodded some more, then went to re-check her x-rays. He came back, poked yet again and declared that she had either a bone bruise or a slight crack in her shin bone. Actually, he was quite certain it was a crack. He thought he could make it out on the x-ray, but it's so hard to tell with baby bones.

It's on the inside of her leg, right in the middle between her foot and knee. That confirmed the suspicion I developed this morning as I watched her crawl around and play with her foot, but yelp when I pulled that leg up to change her diaper. I had thought all week it was her foot, but I realize this morning it could very well be her shin bone. (what is the name of that bone, anyway?)

The good news-both the doc and I are comfortable leaving it uncasted. She isn't walking on it, so chances of her injuring herself further are slim-ish. She's certainly feeling better and more active today, so it isn't making her miserable. And to me, a cast, even only up to her knee, just seems miserable.

We go back in a week, unless of course, she gets worse or seems to regress in her healing.

And me? Even though I know now that it's probably a fracture, I feel SO MUCH BETTER.

But, unfortunately, this does mean I have to cancel gymnastics for the next couple weeks. Better go make that phone call right now before I forget.

Still Fuzzy

Well, according to X-rays, Kate does not have a fracture in her foot or hip.

Are you tired of me talking about this yet?

I apologize if I've become boring, but it's hard to think of anything else to write about. I've been frustrated by it most of the day. I did talk to a few friends and relatives today to get their expert advice, and the general consensus is it's not unheard of for a kid to have an injury that is not a break that keeps them from walking for a week or more, but she should be seen by an orthopedist just to make sure it's nothing that won't heal on its own.

Since apparently the orthos in our group don't want to see her immediately without an x-ray that shows some type of fracture, I'll be making a bunch of phone calls tomorrow to try to find one that will see her immediately.

But hey, progress tonight. She is crawling! That's something, right? She stood a few times, but I think those were accidents. She was not happy about it. She'd get there, then look at me with this very worried expression and cry while trying to hold her left foot off the floor.

Poor baby.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Still Not Walking

Kate still refuses to walk or stand. I may try to get her an appointment with an orthopedist tomorrow. We can't x-ray it again until at least Friday, but it's not right that she still won't stand on it. Right?

Right?

Good News

Well, according to the x-ray of Kate's leg, she has no fracture. The doctor was very surprised. She was pretty positive that there was a break in there somewhere because of how Kate REFUSES to walk AT ALL.

She could still have a fracture somewhere that we didn't x-ray, like her foot or hip. But we'll wait until Friday and see if she improves any. If not, back on Friday for more x-rays.

But for now...HOORAY! No cast! Can you just imagine?

Sick Little Invalid

Poor little Kate. First, she came down with a slight fever sometime Sunday night or Monday morning. Then, Monday at the park, she caught her leg in a funny way going down the slide with me, and has refused to walk on it since. The fever and "off-ness" due to illness would be bad enough, but add not walking to it, and it makes for a highly pathetic little girl.

We are going to the doctor in a couple hours to get the leg checked out. We'll keep you posted. For now, Kate and I are sitting on the couch (where we've been for over an hour) playing with Mr. Potato Head and watching PBS. A fun, if not slow way, to spend the morning.

Clarification

So I mentioned that Kate has an inhaler in the last post, but I didn't explain why. See, I thought I had mentioned this a 6 or 7 months ago. But going back over all posts labeled "Kate," I realized I never EVER told you about Kate's inhaler and her hacking-like-she-is-dying cough. (Well, I may have mentioned the cough somewhere, probably with the ear infections. I DID mention the multiple ear infections last January through April, didn't I? I didn't I?)

Well, I'll just post about it now, 7 or so months after the fact. At least it will be here when I turn this blog into Kate's baby scrapbook.

You see, in the months between January and April of last year (so Kate was 9 months to 1 year) Kate had constant ear infections. We'd go through one round of antibiotics, just get everything cleared up, when the next month she'd get another one, usually in the other ear. At the same time, she had this persistent cough that was just horrible. It really really sounded like she was going to cough up a lung. People feared for her life when they heard it. Fortunately, it didn't occur 24/7. It usually came at night, or when she was clearly congested (as evidenced by the continuous stream of mucus falling from her nostrils.) But it hung around with the ear infections for months.

At some point, either in the end of April or the beginning of May (I know I should know when, but April was a bit...ummm...hectic here), Kate started vomiting every time she ate. She was so congested that eating would make her gag, then cough, then throw up. After a day of this, I had had enough. We went BACK to the doctor's office and I wasn't leaving until I had something to make the coughing stop.

Hence, the inhaler. We did an Albuterol treatment right there in the office, and we could hear the difference in Kate's breathing after 15 minutes. So, she was prescribed an inhaler that we were to use every 4 to 6 hours until the coughing had ceased. I think I used it 3 times a day for two weeks, then I was able to drop it to once or twice a day. After about a month, she was finally back to normal health. No coughing, no snotty nose, and no ear infections (though I don't know if the two were related. The ear infections were due to a steady supply of fluid in her canals.)

Dr. A and I decided that whenever Kate started coughing like this again, I was just going to start her on the inhaler. When she began coughing a few days ago, I pulled it out. Kate was not happy.

Every time she sees it, she screams, "No, Mommy! NO!" and tries to put it back in the bag. And no wonder. Have you ever seen an infant inhaler? It looks like this:

I have to hold it to her mouth and nose, making sure to keep the seal, squeeze the "normal" inhaler that is attached to the opposite end, and count to 10. Twice. I can't do it by myself right now. Kate just gets too crazy. One of us has to hold her and pin her arms down while the other holds the inhaler to her face and dispenses the medicine.

The bottom line is, she probably does not have asthma. She really doesn't have trouble breathing. She has trouble clearing her lungs. This helps. Unfortunately, it also jacks her up, so I have to time it right. Tonight I gave it to her too close to bedtime (since I had forgotten all day) and see was still awake and crying off and on 45 minutes after I put her to bed. I must remember to give it to her right when she wakes up or we are all going to be sad for the next few weeks.

Hopefully, this will do the trick. We had no puking today, but it was touch and go there a few times. I'll wrestle this thing to her face 5 times a day if it keeps the puking at bay. Nothing worse than smelling vomit the rest of the day.

Addendum

To add to my previous post...

Not only did we start the day with puking. We ended it.

And she isn't even sick.

Tonight Kate was just pissed off. She was screaming after my step-mom put her to bed. I went in moments after she was down to calm her, and I found she had vomited in her bed.

Lovely.

And all because she was crying with a chest full of mucus.

Must.Use.Inhaler.More.

You Know It's Going to Be a Long Day...

...when your child pukes in your hand at her gymnastics class.

Fortunately, the puking was due to her congestion and the racking cough she experiences when she is too active, rather than due to the flu.

Guess we won't be running or jumping for another couple of days.

Happy...oh, Never Mind

I would have posted some fun Valentine's Day thing, but we had not much fun today. Padyn woke up at midnight last night to throw up and proceeded to throw up about every hour until 6am. Our day was not spent trading Valentines at the park with our friends as originally planned, but at home, on our couch, watching too much TV. Just when I thought we might be in the clear, she threw up again tonight. I can tell it's not going to be a fun few days.

Just wait until Kate gets it.

And Daddy. And me.

I hope your day was more fun than ours.

Really? Again? So Soon?

On Saturday night, Padyn threw up. While she was being babysat. While we were at a wedding. In a different town. At a friend's house...

We got the call just as we were sitting down to dinner. Fortunately, we were just 5 minutes away, so I went and Joel stayed. I figured if it was serious, someone could bring him home. Well, when Padyn threw up again after I had been there for 15 minutes, I sent the sitter to go get Joel. I wasn't going to be home with a pukey baby by myself. Not again. After a 3rd upchuck, she finally fell asleep. She had no fever and we really didn't know if it was something she ate or if she was really sick. We knew we had to wait and see.

Well, on Saturday, all looked good. Padyn was asking for food, eating and drinking mostly normally, and acting happy and chipper. We thought-great! It's over. But I waited. I knew I had to give it 24 hours.

And at 24 hours and 30 minutes? She threw up again. This time it was in our driveway. Thank God she held it until we drove into the driveway. At least it was only once this time. But still, no fever. We kept her up for another hour to be sure, but at 9pm, it was time for bed.

And today? Today I feel like I'm reliving our stomach flu episode from last March. No throwing up (yet) but she went back to bed at 8am for a nap, she lay on the couch all morning watching PBS, and she fell asleep on the couch at 11:30am. She claims to "feel better" but she is certainly not her normal self. She still has no fever and she is asking to eat, which I take as good signs, but I was fooled by that yesterday. Right now she is lying on the couch with her pacifiers in her mouth, surrounded by most of her books. I'd take a picture, but I think she's been tortured enough.

I have a few worries still. Will this develop into diarrhea like last time? How do I know if she's better enough to go to school? Will we still go on our vacation that we're supposed to leave for this Wednesday? What do I do if Kate gets this? How many more handwashings can my dry, chapped hands take before they fall off? When will it all end?

Dare we hope?

I wouldn't want to do anything that might jinx it, but I think we are finally over the stomach flu. Could it really be true? After a week of everyone having a turn at being sick, I'm making the decision today to take the towels off Padyn's bed, wash all the sheets, clean all the bathrooms and mop all the floors. Granted, we aren't 100% yet. Mommy and Daddy still can't eat much and Padyn gets extra cranky near her sleeping times. But she is back to one nap and a mostly regular meal schedule. We have been able to get out of the house for an hour at a stretch. The number of videos being asked for has lessened. We actually went to gymnastics yesterday and didn't have a total meltdown from being overly tired. I think we are there.

I don't believe in jinxing anyway.

Schedules

As an elementary school teacher, my daily schedule was essential to my survival. It was planned to the very last minute because we were always so concerned about fitting everything we needed to teach into the day. Now, as a stay at home mom, I still find myself driven by a schedule, but more so for my own sanity than to make sure we "fit everything in." When I am not scheduled I begin to feel disoriented and unproductive. So, it was a big shock this week to have our schedule completely blown up due to Padyn's illness. (Subsequently, mommy and daddy also got sick, but not as badly as Padyn. We didn't need all the towels.)

Just for fun, I thought I'd compare our normal daily schedule with the one dictated by the stomach flu.

Normal Routine
7:30am Wake-up happy, reading to herself
8am Eat breakfast
9am Get dressed, some PBS, read books
10am Out and about-shopping, mother's group playgroup, library, gymnastics, etc.
12pm Lunch
1pm Nap
3:30pm Snack
4-5:30pm Playing, mommy tutoring, visiting friends, park, etc.
6pm Video while mommy makes dinner
6:30-8pm Dinner, bath, books, bedtime


Flu Routine
7am (or earlier) Wake-up crying/screaming
7:15am Two bites of toast
7:30 Videos
9am Asking for a nap
11am Wake-up crying, demanding food she can't/won't eat
11:30 More videos, intermittent crying
2pm Asking for another nap
4pm Wake-up crying, demanding food she will take one bite of then demand something else
4:30pm More videos, half asleep on mommy
6:30pm Crying, asking to go nigh-nigh


Of course, the flu routine also includes such favorites as waking up screaming in the middle of the night, cleaning up vomit and diarrhea, doing lots of laundry, and a highly unhappy, unreasonable two year old.

There is one bonus to the flu routine that I don't normally get with the normal one-lots and lots of cuddling with my lovable two year old. I just wish it wasn't due to her feeling miserable.


Post Script
I do realize that the "New Baby Routine" will more closely resemble the "Flu Routine" than the "Normal Routine." I just would like a couple more weeks of "Normal Routine" before our world is turned upside down again.