After a rough couple of days for little Caelan, she's now on an antibiotic and finally lost in a deep sleep. Sickness of this kind is a rarity for us, and when her temperature spiked to 102.6 on Thursday and then randomly kept returning over the next 24 hours, I was a little more than concerned. I frequently asked her if anything hurt, but she always said nothing hurt. By turns she was pale, light gray circles beneath her eyes and then bright pink cheeks and eyes that looked feverish, the whites of her eyes tinged pink as well.
By 3:45 yesterday afternoon, however, it all changed quite rapidly. Her temperature was back up and then she told me her 'neck' hurt and her 'eyes' hurt. She was laying very still, but was crying, too, so I knew it was pretty bad. By 7:30 she was at the clinic. Diagnosis: Sinus congestion, bulging ear drums, sore throat, swollen glands and although they didn't swab for strep, she is being treated for it.
I kept replaying the 24 hours that led up to 3:45 yesterday, trying to find where I had gone wrong in thinking she only had a fever. Then I remembered her telling me once on Thursday that her ear hurt, but after I kissed it, she never mentioned it again. I figured that having slept on the side the ear hurt for at least two hours (a very sound sleep where she never once moved), that was more than likely the reason it hurt. She had no runny nose, no cough, no complaints of throat pain, so I was not thinking there could be a sinus problem or drainage. She also never lost her appetite and had no problems keeping up with her liquids.
I also remembered one other incident that should have clued me in, but it was said without her complaining of pain and then she had even laughed thinking it was funny. She told me that she had bugs in her ears. She laughed and then leaned forward, putting her ear next to mine. "Can you hear the buzzing, Mama?" she asked. "I have bees in my ears!" And then she laughed, turning to Evelynn so that Evelynn could 'hear' the bees. We all thought it was funny, but now I'm wondering if it was the pressure on her ear drum. Maybe it was ringing or if noises were causing a hyperawareness of vibrations in her ear? But lessons learned: it appears she might have a fairly high tolerance of pain and even when she's sick thinks it's humorous to have bees buzzing in her ears.
Over the years I have learned that I am just going to miss some of the kids being seriously ill. In our world of shared germs and completely different reactions to them, we just can't keep up with everyone all the time. You begin to clue into each child: if Tucker weeps while holding his stomach it is completely okay to roll your eyes and remind him drama isn't helpful. If Isabelle does it, time to go to the doctor.
ReplyDeleteIll kids are just like everything else when raising more than one - you have to take the time to learn with each one. I say pat yourself on the back, mother dear, for a job well done!