Queen of the Snots

We have been in a funk lately.  It has been filled with cries, moans, sleepless nights and just general unhappiness from all of us.  Miss M has been sick and it has sent ripples of despair throughout the house.  OK, not despair exactly, but crabbiness for sure.

It all started last Monday night when she didn’t sleep.  She kept moaning and crying out to us and then at one point I was in her bed and she was in mine.  It is all a big blur.  The next day was supposed to be her first day back at school after winter break, but she was a mess.  By the time the afternoon rolled around, she told me she needed a doctor.  When your kid tells you they need a doctor, you take them.  Of course, this happened to be the day that I needed to sign C up for preschool for the fall.  And yes, I did fit it in because I am crazy like that.  Get M to the doctor and it turns out she has an ear infection.  She is allergic to amoxicillin (horrible reaction “worse case they have ever seen” when she was 2) so the doctor prescribed her a similar but sometimes not as effective/fast as amoxicillin.

Day 3/Wednesday: Still sick.  Another bad night.  Stays home again.  On Thursday she starts to act more like herself but her voice is kinda funny.  I am not sure what is going on.  Her appetite is a little bit better and so we are hopeful.

Day 5/Friday: Goes to school.  She is not a 100% but she is wanting to go and she had a good night’s rest so she goes.  When she comes home, the poor thing starts to cry.  School just utterly and completely wiped her out.  I feel bad that I had her go but she did.

Day 6/Saturday: Is back to where we started.  Not sleeping well.  Not eating well.  Voice is still “funny.”  She doesn’t want to go back to the doctor but the antibiotic has now ran out and our intuition is telling us you better get her in there (to the doctor) because tomorrow is Sunday.  We promise her a side trip to the library if she agrees to the doctor.  So J takes her to the doctor while I take C to the library.  Doctor says that ears are now clear but her tonsils are enlarged – hence the funny voice.  Could be a virus.  The antibiotic is still in her system but gives a new prescription in case she gets worse tomorrow.

Day 7/Sunday:  Still tired but getting a tiny bit more appetite.  Decide to hold off on filling the new prescription.  For dinner, I had the idea to give her tomato soup which she did eat.  This was such a great sign.  Also thought of putting vapor rub on her back/neck since she complained that that was hurting her.

Day 8/Monday:  Stays home from school again but there are signs of hope.  She takes it easy but does her homework and even practices her keyboard (something she doesn’t like to do).  Appetite is much better.  Voice sounds better.

Day 9/Tuesday..today!  She is back in school!  Hooray!

This has been the longest stretch that M has ever been ill.  I feel like I have been put through the ringer. When M would cry out for us at night, she would then yell at us for coming to her.  She didn’t know what she wanted and was just as frustrated as we were.  We all just wanted her to feel better and felt hopeless that we couldn’t just give her a pill and make it go away.  It is one of the worst feelings of being a parent.

So now we just hope and pray that with M feeling better, the rest of us will stay well, as well!