My baby boy has been sick. Last monday, on Valentine's Day, I got a call from his preschool to come and get him. He was feverish and "off"--not his normal chipper, playful self. By the time I got to the school, he was like a glowing ember. His cheeks and ears were bright red--but he was in a good mood. He wanted to eat Valentine's candy and he wanted to play. I called the pediatrician's office but they couldn't see him until the following morning. So I took him to Urgent Care. By the time we got there, he was not as jovial and just wanted to be held. The diagnosis: Strep throat (Daddy had it a week earlier) and an ear infection in his right ear. They gave him Motrin, put him on antibiotics and said he should start feeling better in 24 to 48 hours. Sawyer had a restless night and no one got much sleep.
Ken left early the next morning for a business trip and I went to work at my new job. Grandma stayed home with Sawyer to wait for the miracle of antibiotics (the doctor said 24 hours on it and he was free to go to school). That night when I came home he was not much better. He didn't eat all day and was still very feverish. I made a trip to the pharmacy to load up on Motrin and then back to buy a working thermometer (which ended up NOT working). That night he slept even worse then the night before. He was up every half hour crying and miserable and feverish. I kept wondering when the antibiotics were going to work their magic.
The next morning Sawyer stayed home again and when I came home from work he seemed even worse off then past two days. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink and just whimpered to be held. He seemed warm even though Grandma had given him Motrin earlier. I went to put him in the tub and noticed a bizarre mottling of his skin--it looked like his veins were spider webs criss-crossing under his skin. He started shaking and seemed suddenly sleepy. The urgent care nurse from Monday night called to follow up on him and when I told her what was going on, she said we needed to take him to the hospital.
So off he and I went to Children's Hospital. Liam stayed with Grandma and Ken was sitting on a plane somewhere, unaware of what was going on. By the time I got to the hospital, Sawyer was out--either asleep or slightly unconscious (now that I look back, I am not sure which). His fever was 104 and he was a miserable little mess. The doctor tested him for bladder/kidney infection and tested him again for a resistant strain of Strep. When both came back negative she concluded that he had the full blown flu on top of the strep and on top of the ear infection. She said it was quite possibly Swine flu but she wasn't going to test to confirm since treatment was the same either way--5 to 7 days of misery, followed by one to two weeks of generalized discomfort and fatigue.
Hooray.
So here we are, a week later and Sawyer is finally, FINALLY fever and Motrin free for the first time since last Sunday. He actually ate a little bit and only woke up 3 times last night (progress!). He is still a bit whiny and congested, but he is hopefully rounding the bend. Like I said, a very long 7 days of sleepless nights, tight work deadlines and a house of chaos.
It is times like this that I am once again reminded how fortunate we are to have very healthy, active kids the majority of the time. Seven days of miserable, feverish, lethargy is really not so bad in the grand scheme of things.
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