Sick Kiddo

Just a quick post to say I've been working on a couple of posts on and off again today, but I have a sick kiddo and that makes for a hard blog day. Gracie has had the sniffles for about two weeks now that have grown progressively worse. (She had an allergy runny nose when we had Flu Mist administered. Since then, we've been on a downhill slide.)

About five days ago, she started to complain that her throat hurt, but her complaints were always and only first thing in the morning when her hair hurt, and her toesnails hurt, and anything else she could think of that would buy her twenty minutes more in the bed. I took her throat complaint about as seriously as the others, and maybe slightly moreso. After all, she had been stuffy, so she'd been sleeping with drainage and her mouth all agape as she snored all night through this sniffly time of year. Whose throat wouldn't hurt? Drink some juice and get on the bus.

Today, though, she complained of pain, and as I feigned concern, I noticed a real fever that had not been there before. I pulled out the thermometer, and while the fever wasn't high enough to medicate (99.8), it was high enough to indulge. Some certain little miss would be missing school.

As soon as Bub was dropped off, she, for a moment, acted as though she felt better. By the time we returned home, though, she was clearly feeling worse. Her temperature climbed and climbed over the course of the morning until at lunchtime it was at 103.6. Time to involve the pediatrician.

We were squeezed in at 5:40 P.M., and didn't get to leave until 7:30 P.M. (I've never been in any doctor's office past dark. First time for everything, I guess.) They could see in one sinus cavity that she's been struggling with allergies, but noticed an infection in the other. In addition to that, she tested positive for strep throat (guess the juice didn't work -- poor baby), and her lungs indicate walking pneumonia. Holy cow!! She may also have a worse type of mucousy pneumonia, but we won't know that for sure until after a night of breathing treatments, two kinds of antibiotics, and a follow-up exam.

The crazy thing is that neither of my children really ever get sick. The first time Gracie got sick, she was two, and the situation was similar (she had everything under the sun crammed into her two little infected ears). This time, just as that time, when it rains, it pours.

Here's hoping for health and healing, and lots of good cartoons on T.V.!