Please Don't Share Your Swine H1N1 Flu!

It's that lovely time of year... the time for fall leaves to fall, pretty colors to soon change, the weather becoming colder, and the best part of all ~ everyone sharing their germs and sickness since they are so kind and generous! Aw yes, that lovely time of year when everyone becomes sick, and I do mean EVERYONE.

I am just about banking our schools have had the highest rate of absence this year in a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if a new record is set for the number of absent children and how often they are absent this year. It seems that swine flu, oh wait let me rephrase that... H1N1 flu is making it's way around the world and so happens to be in my area at the moment. Since people don't like that term "swine" flu, we must not say that now. I personally call it swine flu because that was the term introduced to the world and had everyone in a frenzied panic a few months ago.

It was abundantly awful to come home last Friday to my oldest daughter who had a fever of nearly 103. I felt so incredibly sorry for her. There is absolutely no worst feeling in the world when your child is sick and you can do nothing for your baby. Or, should I rephrase that to when your children are sick and you can do nothing for your babies. Yes, that has been my life these past few days! I knew my oldest would share with my youngest and sure enough within 48 hours I had both babies sick with high fevers. After much ibuprofen, taking temps every couple of hours, lots of gatorade, and many prayers, they are finally fever free. I am sure there is still more sickness to deal with but I hope and pray that the worst is over!

As for me, I have luckily avoided the fever so far but I have the yucky cough and sore throat coming on. And for some reason it comes out like the big bad ugly monster when I'm trying to go to sleep at night! Not fun for me =(. But I will handle it like a big girl because that is all that I can do. Ever heard that phrase that mommies aren't allowed to be sick? Well, I may feeling that before this is all said and done. Let's just hope and pray that doesn't happen (if you are listening oh wonderful Lord)!

Back to the term swine flu, I think it's funny myself. The doctors and rumors around the local town are that they are not confirming that the ugly pig headed virus H1N1 flu is here. Well, I have a big news flash for these people ~ just pick 1 out of every 2 households and go make a visit. Most of the people I know from around here have been sick so that ratio is probably low! I was cracking up last week after a 6 minute phonecall of a message from the head of local health department (or some fancy title like that). Anyway, he called to reassure parents that no known cases of the H1N1 flu are going around and not to fret just yet. After about 2 minutes of listening to this monotone voice, the voice stopped and he started coughing and hacking. Then he would pause, uh.... um.... and repeat himself over and over for 6 minutes. 6 minutes just to get that information out to the public! Wow. Then the jokes that started flying around on Facebook and emails to friends, it was great. So here is a phonecall from someone assuring us parents not to worry when the guy can't even make it through the phonecall without hacking and coughing through half of it himself! Very reassuring, let me tell ya.

On a serious note, if your kids or you have accrued this awful swine flu (and yes I will call it what I wish), please stay at home and indoors until you are better. Most of the doctors don't even want to see people unless they are at high risk because the more people that get out and share their germs, the more this terrible thing is going to stick around. And if your kids have it, keep them home! Some people may have to miss work or school, but it's better to get over it then spread the germs. I hope and pray mine are over the worst of it, and that I don't get any more of a cough then I already have! Remember to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer. My daughter carries that stuff around like it's candy; she is great about using it! Ok, I'm off to grab another cough drop now...

No More Monkeys Hanging on the Bars

Let's just start by saying I have had my share of medical encounters for the year! I'm done. Over dealing with sickness, coughs, runny noses, kids bumping heads, toothache pain, scabs, bug bites, bumps and bruises! And considering the year isn't only half over, I know I am not done with all the boo-boos we all have to deal with on an annual basis. But for my sanity's sake, I can pretend I won't have to put up with any more medical issues!




Let's back up to a few weeks ago. We were out at a fun event with the girl scout troop. All the girls were excited and geared up for a blast of go karting and arcade games that evening. Well we were there maybe 10 minutes and then BAM, someone decided to get hurt. Not just someone, my very own daughter! Now I thought I would have trouble with my young busy body child, but oh no, it was the oldest bar climbing monkey of a child very well behaved child that decided to get hurt that night. All of the girls were in a couple different lines together to ride on the go karts. All was well and swell so I decided to take my little one on a go kart so she could enjoy the ride. After arguing with my know-it-all 4 year old daughter trying to explain to my littlest angel that she couldn't drive the go kart because she was too small, we finally got to take a ride. She actually planted herself down in the driver seat while loading up in the go kart and refused to let me in the driver seat for a moment. Then when she was forced into the passenger seat with the seat belt keeping her down while kicking and screaming holding her in the safety position, we finally got to take off after the other children moved their go karts out of the way. One lap around the track and she went from screaming and crying over the fact she didn't get to drive to having huge fun on her first go kart ride experience! So all was good and dandy until she and I got off the go kart.



Bad News ~ the other girl scouts approached me and said my daughter had hit her head while waiting in line. I thought no big deal, kids hit their head all the time. Well.... little did I know what was just a bump on the head turned into 2 days of pure hell trauma. By the time I reached her sitting on the table, my boyfriend had gotten an ice pack on her head while she sat there bawling her eyes out. They told me she had been hanging like the little monkey she is from the divider bar in line and lost her grip on the bar, fell and hit her head on the concrete floor. I looked at her head and there was a knot the size of China coming out of the back of her noggin! My initial reaction was to freak out until I saw my bf's face that I must remain calm or things would be worse than they already were. So after calming my daughter down and then calming down myself, the next thought was at least she was conscious and she knew who everyone was. I thought maybe she had a minor concussion but wasn't really sure at that point.



Then came the trip to the ER. Since this was a girl scout trip, I believe I was required to take her to get checked out even though she appeared to be fine. Upon arrival at the hospital, we were escorted into a bed in the emergency room. My daughter did put up a fight until I told her there was no argument about going to the hospital; if she had been responsible and not playing around, we wouldn't have to make an ER trip. But that was the case and she accepted it pretty quickly. While waiting for the doctors to take her back for the CT scan, we were not short of entertainment by any means. My youngest who is a clown herself performed her act that she does on a daily basis. She informed every doctor or nurse that entered the room that her sissy was sick and they needed to make her better. Then she became friends with one male nurse whom she would not leave alone. She told him that she got hurt too and hiked her jeans up to her knee and showed him her scab she had gotten a week before. Well her new found friend had the perfect solution - a Diego band-aid did just the trick and she was instantly healed! Then after bugging him to death and refusing to leave him alone talking his ear off for a few minutes, he decided to find her something to do. She grabbed his hand and went right with him to get a drink, a coloring book, crayons, and a little teddy bear. That worked for a few minutes until Granny was able to come and pick her up and get her out of big sissy's hair.



So after a 3 hour wait in the ER the end result was determined. She had more than a minor concussion, she had a hairline fracture on her skull. Yikes! It wasn't as bad as it sounded but it scared the jeebies out of me when I heard those words. Head injuries can be traumatic and that wasn't something I was prepared to deal with then. So she was sent home and after a long exhausting day we strolled in about midnight. I had to wake up every 2-3 hours and make sure she was still coherent and knew who and where she was. All was fine and dandy until the next morning. She woke up vomiting and they had warned me to get her back to the doctor if she started losing her wheaties. Well after a few times of that, I was extremely worried. Vomiting in a head trauma patient is not good, it could indicate internal bleeding. So I took her to the doc again that afternoon and they did another CT scan to be sure there had been no internal bleeding started overnight. Thank God that came back fine, but there was still the problem of her not being able to keep anything down. So the only alternative was to admit her to the hospital and give her an IV to keep her becoming even more dehydrated.



Her initial response was to tell me and the doctor no, but she had no choice. It was either admit her at that point or be back in the ER at midnight again and I wasn't game for that! So after a long afternoon we finally received our fancy smancy hotel suite for the night lovely hospital room for the evening. Then my daughter's tune changed. She quickly realized that not only did she have her own bed that she could adjust, her own TV that she could watch whatever she wanted to on, but that she also had nurses that would wait on her hand and foot when she needed something. So she quickly went from being scared to laughing and giggling because it was cool to be in the hospital now! Oh, and the most important part of the evening ~ no annoying little sis to bother her!!! She enjoyed a night of a few visitors and balloons and little gifts since she was in so much turmoil. Lucky me had to run and get little sis from the baby-sitters and pick up some things from home since I would be sleeping in the most comfortable king size bed ever a wonderful recliner that didn't even recline very far. Lovely! I knew my neck, shoulders and back would be hurting the next day. So evening settled in and it was bedtime before we knew it...

I laid down in my comfy recliner (oh so comfy) and tried to get comfortable in every position available. Those choices of positions would be either a)on my back b)on my left side or c)on my right side so I had a humongous amount to choose from! Finally at midnight I had a wonderful idea ~ flip around so that my head was at the foot end and my feet were laying up on the chair. I am one of those people that cannot sleep sitting up, I must be flat on my back. So that idea worked great until I was rudely awoken woke up by a screaming daughter who had to PEEEEE. I looked at the clock and it was 3:30 a.m. The middle of the night is always the best time to be woken up by a screaming child. Sure. Yep.

So off to the bathroom. But this wasn't just any normal bathroom trip. I had to unplug the IV. Wrap the cord up. Then lift it over the beside table. Then help her get into the bathroom. Then get her back to bed. Then pull the IV stand over the beside table again. Then plug it back in behind the bed where the plug in was impossible to reach. Let me just say it was a long night of about every 30 minutes of going to the bathroom and repeating this process over and over and over and over... But at least my baby girl was feeling better and getting some fluids into her little body and that was the important part!

After the long night of not much sleep, she finally felt sorry for me at 6 a.m. on our 90,000th 6th trip to the bathroom so she let me crawl in bed with her for a bit. OMG I have never known that a hospital bed could be so comfortable! Amazing how each of the 3 times I've been in labor jail in the hospital to have each of my girls and the bed was absolutely terrible. But I quickly learned to appreciate any device that would allow me to lay flat on my back!

Then her doc strolled in that morning and said things were looking better and with any luck we'd be out of there by early afternoon. Well that IV must have REALLY worked because not only was she her little self again by noon; she was bouncing off the walls like a monkey on crack abundantly crazy and ready to go home. So after checking on her on lunch break, the doctor was quite convinced she was ready to be released from her cozy little hospital suite. So after a trip of getting ice cream for me! for the recovering little patient, we arrived safe and secure at home nearly 48 hours after the head trauma mishap.

Now while in the hospital my daughter and I had alot of time to talk about things. We had a long talk about why we shouldn't hang on bars like monkeys do. She swore she had learned her lesson. No more doing stupid and careless acts like she had done that landed her in the hospital. So I was very proud of her for realizing that she needed to actually listen to me and that I wasn't the crazy mom who didn't know what I was talking about. Usually when parents tell their kids to do something or to not do it, there is a good reason! So I was so proud of her for learning her lesson ~ the hard way for that matter. Well that whole idea was fine and dandy until I caught her 2 days later hanging from the top of the dog kennel... UGH KIDS!!!

Fast forward to the next week... poor little one was dealing with being sick with a cold she has fought off and on all winter. So lucky me took another sick day to stay at home with her while she recovered. Let's just say I dearly love my girls; but I was also very grateful to be back at work the next morning!

Now another week goes by... you know the old saying ~ when it rains, it POURS. So since both of my daughters had their medical issues, I guess it was my turn. So here we go again...

Well my tooth had been bothering me a couple weeks. I guess I should say, the pain fluctuated between the top and the bottom and I couldn't quite pinpoint the exact location of the asshole of a tooth that literally made a grown woman cry the pain. So during a trip to the dentist to have my daughter's teeth cleaned, I had my dentist take a look. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary so I received the lovely news to call him over the weekend if it still bothered me.

So after dealing with the antagonizing pain for three more days, I couldn't handle it. After a couple sleepless nights, I finally called him at home over the weekend. He was kind enough to call me in some wonderful drugs pain medication that helped me a little. But even with the pain meds, I walked around all weekend with a wet rag in my mouth. That was the only sense of relief I could get. Even at the family cookout, I looked like the idiot with the washrag hanging out of her mouth! But I am not the type to care what others think so I didn't care.

Well you can bet I rang up my dentist's phone the next morning. Thank God he was able to work me in that day so another sick day from work... and the great news was I had to have a root canal performed that day. Yay-Raw! Just what I wanted to have done instead of going to work that day. So after 4 shots, and several deep breaths of the moon gas that made me loony, he was working away in my mouth fixing that sucker. 2 1/2 hours later and I was ready to go home and crash because I was in P-A-I-N. Well, I take that back. The Pain didn't actually hit until the numbness started to wear off of my mouth and then OMG it was give me the vicadin, wet washrag, whatever! Just make the pain go away!!!!

Now I don't know if you have ever had a root canal or not, I have always heard they were painful. The procedure itself was a breeze. Now I guess it helped that I was talking alot (not that I ever do that or anything), and he turned up the loony gas on me. I started feeling really good, like I was floating in the air. And as much as I hated to, I had him pull the plug from my nose before I came too high on it. I still had to drive home so I needed to be totally coherent as to what I was doing!

Well after that long day, the pain had subsided a little bit a couple days later. But let's just say not being able to open my jaw all the way for a week killed me! I couldn't talk as well and that just doesn't cut it for me. It was really terrible when I had to call the phone company the same day I received my root canal and I couldn't sound out certain sounds!! I sounded like a toddler trying to make out sounds and could only be half understood. Oh the pity of the situation!! So a few days passed and I am happy to say I am finally back to normal. It took awhile but at least I can talk, chew, eat, drink, just be normal again! I know it sounds silly but it's so true. Try being able to open your jaw only halfway of its potential for a week. It's not fun. Nope!

So as this post began, I am done with the medical issues this year. I hope and pray I am done with the major things for the year. Lord knows I am not built to handle many things out of the ordinary. I have been known to flip out just a little if things aren't like they should be. Nobody wants to be presented with a difficult scenario. I know we must all go through something sometimes in life, but I have had my share for this year. I will pass it on to the lachness monster in the lake the next time around! So no more monkeys hanging from the bars, no more of my little angel being sick, and no more root canals for me this year. (Please God if you are listening...)

A Runny Funny Day

Today was an interesting day to say the least. My poor little daughter woke up 2 mornings ago and waltzed into my room to wake me up. Her exact eyes were "Mommy, I can't see. My eyes, my eyes!" So to my shock I wake up to see her - she wasn't lying! Her eyes were sealed shut from crusty mucus. So once I got her eyes that she couldn't see out of cleaned up, she thanked me! The poor little girl was pitiful and I melted when she thanked me for cleaning her eyes off so she could see. Even though she is a comedian, she also has a heart of gold and is my big little sweetheart!


I kept hoping the whole eye mucus thing would go away with over the counter medicine. No luck and obviously the doctor's office is closed on New Year's Day so today was the grand ole day to visit the pediatrician. So off to the doctor we went, the wonderful doctor of kids. (Sorry got the Wizard of Oz theme song in my head for a second there!)

Well Little Miss Personality was ready to see the doc. He walked in the room and she ran over and jumped on his lap. Then she grabbed his stethoscope and wanted to hear her heart. Then the doc was taking the light and looking at her eyes and nose. Then she piped up "AWW" really loud and already had her mouth wide open. Yep, she had the routine of the doctor visit down! Then she took his stethoscope from him and wanted to hear my heart. Then came the next popular question she asks everyone lately (even those who she sees everyday and knows exactly who they are), "What is your name?" So after the doctor told her his name, she introduced herself to him as well. How polite of her! So once the doc was done and ready to move on to the next patient, she kept chit chatting with him and wanted to play with the stethoscope. Her doctor also has a special talent. He can make a noise with his nose that sounds like a clown nose is squeaking. Well once she figured that out she kept touching his nose and refused to stop! I told the doc he had gotten something started but she was loving every minute of it and giggling like crazy when the squeaky nose would honk.

Well the final verdict was that she had an ear infection. I never knew an ear infection could produce snot flowing like a river out of eyes, but then again, neither of my kids have ever had an ear infection before. So after our long 20 minute visit (record time there) at the pediatrician's office, it was off to fill the prescription and grab some lunch.

Since the prescription wait was triple the time we were at the doctor's office, we decided on Pizza King for lunch. Now this wasn't just any Pizza King, this was the Pizza King Train Station. And that is way cool when you are a child! The choo choo train brings your drinks on a little train on a track. So after we got our drinks off the coolest choo choo train ever, my little one kept asking when the train was coming. It's kind of like the famous "where is Santa Claus" question last month. I bet I heard the "when is the train coming" question 50 times! And what is even cooler about the train station is the fact that there is a TV with a video game built in at the table. Now where can you go at a restaurant and have pizza and TV at the same time? So the kids were all geared up to watch TV since they NEVER get to watch TV at our house and they are so deprived and play the video game. Well we put a quarter in for 15 minutes worth of tube enjoyment only to have the quarter fall into the return quarter slot. So after trying it 20,000 times because I couldn't convince my intelligent daughter that it was broke a couple more times, I had to break the bad news to the TV deprived children. We had to sit in silence of the TV built into our table and listen to our neighbor booths enjoy their working televisions. So we had some nice conversation about when the choo choo train was coming and how we shouldn't push the button to order food after the order has been placed. Not that my daughter did that or anything, but just in case that was to happen you know!

So next came the interesting question of the afternoon ~ "Where is the king?" WHAT?!?! Where is the king? What king? This is the United States of America and there is no king. So after the third time I heard the question from my little one I realized what she was asking. We were at PIZZA KING so where was the king? OH ok now I finally understood. Where was the king at Pizza King? So after a moment of chuckle and asking big sis where the king was, I told her the king wasn't there. I tried to explain how Pizza King was a restaurant and that the "king" was in the name. But little one still wanted to know where "the king" was. So we decided that the king was taking a nap and wasn't available to see at the moment. That settled the location of where the "king" was.

Now a trip to Pizza King wouldn't be fun without a ride on the choo choo train upon departure. Since the broken TV would not accept the quarters, we had some left over. So the girls took a ride on the train and enjoyed their minute or so on the jerky little train that goes choo choo!

So what started out as a day with runny snotty eyes turned out to be a fun funny day with the girls. It was nice to take a chill from the everyday routine of things and be able to enjoy time with them. So hopefully with any luck this whole eye/ear infection or whatever in the heck it may be clears up soon. And with more luck big sis and mommy will avoid it too...

Being a Sisterly Friend

It was such a lovely morning today. It's always nice when things are going as they should, the kids are cooperating and all is peaceful and calm. Until, until... the little one decides she needs to get sick. And not just in one room, but 3 at that... such a lovely morning it was. Now it wasn't as bad as it sounds for those of you who have had to clean up such a mess before. But I try to look at the positive side or find the humor in every situation. So when all was calm again and the older one is helping the little one get dressed, here is how the conversation flowed:

Lil Sis: "EEEWWWW! Yucky! Yucky! Get if off, get it off! EWWWW" SCREAM!
Big Sis: "Mommy, she has stuff on her shirt" (the second set of clothes)
My actions: It was nothing too terrible so I brush it off and Lil Sis is totally fine again.
Lil Sis (to big Sis): "Are you my friend?" (the ever popular question lately - no one is exempt from being asked this by Lil Sis, not even the strangers in Wal-Mart)
Big Sis: "Yes, I'm your friend even though you were puking."
Me: I lost it laughing, I mean I lost it.

What a bonding moment! They were still friends even though one was sick. How sweet. Even though my oldest is always friends with my youngest, she made it clear she would be friends with her even in the worst times. Now isn't that what being sisters is all about?