Wow, Where Have I Been?

Where have I been? Let me see if I can fill you in (or at least start to fill you in).

It all started shortly after back to school night at Phillip's school. Soon there after, Phillip developed the first official cold of the season. I expected the other two wouldn't be far behind. But, on Tuesday of that week, Sam surprised me and woke up with pink eye. Oh joy.

We still had an inventory of eye drops left over from last year's on again/off again love affair with pink eye. I thought, no need to call the doctor. Pink eye is pink eye. We started treating with the drops. It almost immediately went away. But by bedtime that day, Andrew had it too. More drops (oh, he is fun with drops). Still no call to the doctor, what is the use? We know they have pink eye and she will just prescribe the drops.

We swear sometimes that the doctor's office is a racket. Now, she says she likes to see pink eye victims this young because at this age, they often simultaneously get ear infections. Well, I maintain, until someone complains about their ears, we are not going. More drops.

The next day, Phillip wakes up with pink eye. More dro..p...s....oh...no, the we are running out of drops. I send Jeff scamming to the pharmacy because I think we have a refill left on at least one. None. "I will fax the doctor," the pharmacists tells him. Oh no, I am dead. He told Jeff to check back later. She is going to kill me.

Sure enough, about two hours later, I get a phone call from the doctors office. I knew I was in for it. Here is how the conversation went--or really went, if we both would have said what we wanted to say. Name are changed to protect the innocent, of course.

Hello...

Hi this is "Mona" from Dr. Smith's office. We received a fax from the pharmacy that you need a refill on eye drops. What the f*#& is going on? You think you can just go to the pharmacy and try and get scrips filled without notifying us?

Well, I...uhm...we knew it was pink eye...and...um...the drops...we just...

Yeah, bi-atch. You just nothin. You think you can get treatment without paying your $30 per child co-pay?

But, it's pink eye and she said...

If they are sick, she wants to see 'em. You don't need to be guessing what is going on with anyone. What about their ears, hu? You gonna look in their ears too?

No..but, see...they are not "sick," they just have pink eye. They are fine, everyone is acting fine, they just have pink and crusty eyes, but they are fine. No one is complaining about their ears. No one is acting sick, I just thought...could she maybe refill some drops and we can see what happens? One is already better, really! Just three doses of drops and his eyes are clear. We were just going to give some things some time before we scheduled...

...See what happens? Is that what you do? See what happens? Wait until it is the weekend, they are running a fever and then take them to an immediate care center?

Okay. Never mind.

Damn straight, never mind. Good luck to you and your freaky family.


So, we didn't get more drops and now they know they are sick...er, uh have pink eye and if anything else develops, they will certainly be saying, "see...we told you so."

But, the eyes cleared quickly and then, Sam and Andy started in on the sneezing and coughing, congestion and whining. They were feeling lousy. Sam persevered and worked his way through it. A little bit of Tylenol and some Nyquil (children's strength) and he overcame. There were a few days he complained about his ears, but it passed.

Andrew was brewing something. By Friday, he was running a fever and totally congested--but nothing was coming out his nose. Well, those with kids know it has to come out somewhere. Phillip would always throw up when he had a bad cold, but Andrew had diarrhea. He was miserable. He wouldn't eat, sleep or blow his nose. By Friday afternoon, I found myself putting him to bed for the night at 4:30. I was ready stories when I noticed him rubbing his ears. I asked him if they hurt--he said no, it was his tummy that hurt.

I was perplexed, but grew concerned as he tossed and turned all night and burned up with fever. He almost threw up in the middle of the night (disaster averted) and woke up at about 5:15am unable to sleep anymore. He was miserable.

But, a birthday party for Samuel and Phillip was due to start in just a few hours. Cancel the party or have the party? By now, I had convinced myself he had something bacterial and had moved beyond the viral stage. The party could go on--it was scheduled for all outside anyway. But, I felt bad that Andrew wasn't going to be up for enjoying it.

I debated about what to do regarding the doctor. Could we wait until Monday? Did I really think he had an ear infection? Was it just a bug? Who would take him to the doctor (since I was in party-planner mode)? I decided he needed to go to immediate care. I concluded I thought he had an ear infection and decided if they could fix it with a quick visit and some antibiotics, he would be eternally grateful to us.

I called the triage nurse and got approval for the immediate care visit (oh, I love HMOs). Jeff got home, changed and headed that way with Andrew. Within 20 minutes, party guests started to arrive. The party was fun, but I had to slightly alter the agenda since Jeff wasn't there. Then, I lucked out and my friend Anne, the most fantastic photographer in the world, stayed and photographed the party. I am so lucky (oh, they will just turn out like yours, she said...ha!).

After an hour or so, Jeff returned. Double ear infection confirmed. Omnicef and some other loving tasting concoction to loosen things up. With just one dose, he slept all night. Monday, I had to call the pediatrician's office. I greeted them with, "Well, you were right, one of them had an ear infection."

I could hear the smile on the other end of the phone, "...oh, is that so? So I guess we need to schedule a recheck in a few weeks..." I guess so, I said.