Is there anything worse than a little one being sick? A couple of weeks ago my one and a half year old Mad Man came down with a fever around lunch time. The day before he had been a bit cranky, but I didn't think much of it. Thankfully my MIL had just gotten me a new thermometer - one that goes on the forehead and reads the temp digitally. 102.4. Oh my poor little guy. As the day progressed he was okay. He slept, he ate, he even played a little. I thought for sure that the Advil I had given him was working. I gave him a cool bath and his temp seemed to be under control. 99.1. Then I rocked him to sleep and sang to my T Bear. I was about to put him in his crib when I thought he felt warm. So, I took him downstairs and took his temp 104.3. Oh my God. In my panicked state I called Mima and she concurred that I should take him to the ER. Of course, Hubby was not home - he was coaching a softball game about an hour away. So, Poppi and Mima came right over so Poppi could stay with T while Mima and I took Mad Man to the ER.
This was my first experience with a little one going to the ER. When we arrived the front desk asked immediately what happened. I had one of those cool packs adhered to his forehead and I think they thought it was a bandage. Seriously, had they never seen one of these little kids fever relief packs? It had Disney characters printed on it for crying out loud. They took us right in. The male nurse was very comforting - you could tell he has little ones of his own. He explained that he would have to take a rectal temperature. I am clenching my butt cheeks as I write this. Mad was a trooper. He didn't even flinch which just emphasizes how sick he felt. 104.9. Holy crap. Then he put ice packs along his body and in his arm pits, and gave him a Tylenol suppository. The nurse also set up the IV port in his little arm, just in case they needed it. Ugh. It was awful to see and Mad was not feeling it. He was getting pretty miserable; I felt so bad for him.
Then the waiting began. The nurse brought us a few toys, but M was not at all interested. Who could blame him really? During this time we did get to witness some interesting ER action. We overheard a woman who seemed to be completely insane. She was arguing with the nurses and I believe they were trying to admit her. Lots of profanity. I think I was so overcome with stress that this scenario lightened the air in the room and caused me to fight back laughter. So, thank you crazy lady for fighting the staff. She seemed to be a regular in the ER. The doctor came in and let me say that bedside manner was not his strong suit. He could barely make eye contact or even speak loud enough to carry on a conversation. He managed to elicit enough information from me in spite of his less than stellar communication skill set. He left us to wait again. Finally, he returned and said that Mad Man had a virus and that within a day or so he should be feeling better. Blah blah blah. Treat the symptoms. The nurse removed the unnecessary apparatus from M's arm and we were free to go. I would like to say that I felt good or relieved, but I didn't. I was drained and frankly I was fearful that I wouldn't be able to control his fever. The poor little guy had been through such a harrowing night.
Thankfully it was not anything serious, but when you get a virus diagnosis you don't feel like you actually have an answer. Let's face it a virus could be just about anything as far as I'm concerned.
I have to say that I couldn't have hottest through the experience without my mom. She is super strong and was so helpful in keeping me as calm as possible through the whole ordeal. Thank God for mothers.
The next day Mad Man still had a fever but was getting better. The day after I headed with my kiddos and my parents to the Jersey shore. Let's just say we survived the drive there - M was not so interested in being strapped in a car seat. He just wanted to be held. The day after his face finally began to light up again and the fever was gone. Yikes. I am so thankful that he only had a virus, but geez was that a scary couple of days.
High: The night ended and Mad didn't have to endure anything too invasive; plus it was only a virus.
Low: The knowledge that M was so sick and I really couldn't do anything to help him.
No comments:
Post a Comment