Illness 101

Why Illness 101? Because it's all stuff I should know, especially considering my profession. However, as a Mom, it's sometimes difficult to bring the personal and the professional together.

The beginning of this week the girls seemed fine and both went to school on Monday. On Tuesday Sam was a bit sniffy and warm, so I debated what to do. Then she had a half hour throwing up jag in the bathroom and it became clear, she would stay home from school. Riley felt a bit warm, so to be on the safe side she stayed home too. Afterall, she was bound to get sick too, right?

Wednesday dawned bright and early, and I figured that my girls who are rarely sick would be ready for school. Not so. Sam was up for 2 hours and went back to bed for 4. Riley seemed fine so off she went, a little sad without her sister, but went anyway. So went the rest of the week. Sam stayed home, Roo went to school.

Finally, Sam seemed a lot better though still a bit sniffily. We thought Riley had dodged the bullet this time. We couldn't have been more wrong. She seemed a little tired, but the week had been busy. At dinner she said her ear hurt, asked to leave the table, and GO TO BED! Yep, you heard me right. My little non-sleeper actually requested a date with her pillow. We knew something was wrong then, but had no idea how tough my little one really was. Finally about an hour later she started howling that her ear hurt, she was holding it, her nose was running significantly more than before, and she had a low grade temp, so we called the after hours clinic. They were able to get us in right away, and it was a good thing. The doc said that this was about the worst ear infection she's ever seen. Who knew how long it had been brewing. I'm told there's a good chance her eardrum will burst, but that will actually relieve the pain because it will release the pressure. There's nothing they can do to either prevent or treat it, so we wait. In the meantime my poor baby fell asleep in the car on the way to the pharmacy, in the shopping cart at the pharmacy, and again in the car on the way home which is so not like her. She kept repeating, "Can we just get home and to bed fast? I'm tired."

After loading her up on antibiotics, ear drops, and acetaminophen she is now sleeping quietly. Let's hope for a better day for her tomorrow.