Thanks for all of your love and support, we are truly grateful for your comments and friendship, lots have asked how our daughter is doing, so here we go:
I had to hold back tears as I walked into the emergency waiting room doors; the vision of my parents, exhausted and worried, cuddling my very sick girl was just the right amount to tug at my heart strings. They looked completely emotionally and physically spent, I only then, in that moment realized how old they are becoming. I hugged them and lifted up my baby girl, my father went to help my husband with the car seat, while mom and I went over everything the doctor did and said.
He said she just had a cold/flu and gave her a 15min ventolin mask, said she should be feeling better in a few days and to give her tylonal and advil. I asked my mother if they checked out her ears, nose, mouth. She couldn’t really remember, and I couldn’t really get upset at that, as it was 4am (and she was super sick too). I knew though that the only time my daughter ever gets a fever is if she’s cutting a tooth or an infection, but I couldn’t argue with the doctor because they were already discharged.
I am so grateful we have healthy grandparents for our daughter and that they care for her better than they cared for me (they cared for my brother and I very well, so that’s a statement how amazing they are with her and for her). We packed her up in the car and said good-bye to my parents as they had an hour drive back to their home and we had a two hour drive back to ours.
The ventolin treatment made sure our daughter was wide awake the whole way home. We stopped half way and got a popsickle for her, as grandma had promised her one and coffee for us. By 6pm we were back in Guelph and looking for a pharmacy that was open for children’s Tylonal and Advil (because of the rush situation my parents didn’t pack any bags and didn’t have any of our daughters belongings with them at the hospital, which was our tylonal and advil included). We learned something very important; Guelph does not have a 24 hour pharmacy. The closest 24 hour pharmacy was in kitchener/waterloo about 45mins away. Next best thing was figuring out what was open 24 hours; one store, the Metro grocery store across town and hopefully they didn’t lock up the children’s advil and tylonal section of the pharmacy. It was open, the pharmacy was closed but they didn’t lock up the childrens tylonal and advil, thank heavens. Got some tylonal into her but had to wait 2 hours for advil. Her fever was skyrocketing again by 8 am.
At 8am I gave her advil as her temp was 103.1, the tylonal wasn’t working and hopefully the advil would work. My doctors office opened up at 9 and I called them to make an appointment for her to be seen, as she shouldn’t have high, high fevers like this specially when I’m giving her Tylonal and Advil. They fit us in at about 2pm that day.
By the time her appointment came around she was very fevered and very lethargic. Our Dr knew right away something was up, as our daughter didn’t wake when she came in the room and the door slammed behind her. She did a temp check and it was back up to 39.4 (103). She examined her ears, throat and lungs. She told us it was an ear infection in her right ear and also the cold/flu virus. Exhale, I knew it. I was so thankful for our dr, we got the prescription for the antibiotics, and were on our way. We got home, gave her more tylonal and advil, and her first dose of the antibiotics.
As the weekend came around her fever was still present. By Monday evening it was back up to 101, and although that wasn’t too too high it was high enough for me to be a little concerned. At this point my cold was full on and I felt completely horrible, I couldn’t breath and my sinuses were inflamed and in pain. I spent the day at work barely able to talk, and the excruciating pain left people not coming to close.
That next morning; I wolk up feeling even worse and knew I wouldn’t be going into work, called in sick. My daughter wolk up with a fever and I gave her her antibiotics, advil tylonal and she looked okay, I dropped her off at her home daycare so I could go home and sleep. By 9 my daycare provider called me and told me she was looking horrible and getting lethargic and fevered again. I called the drs office and the earliest they could fit us in was 11:30am. I went and picked her up and brought her to our doctors.
Sitting in the drs waiting room, my daughter asleep and high fevered again, I really felt bad for my daughter. I felt hopeless. Here she is trusting me to make her feel better and I just couldn’t do it. The antibiotics obviously weren’t working or something else was going on. We got back to the examining room, the dr saw us and knew I was having a hard time from the tears welling up in my eyes. I couldn’t really talk as I was so sick, I couldn’t really explain other than “she’s still really sick, high fever isn’t going away.”
She re-examined her and told me her ear infection has actually gotten worse and the antibiotics weren’t working. She examined me next and told me it was a sinus infection. She also said that we both now had the cold/flu and we needed as much liquids as we could have and rest. We were sent home with a new antibiotic and relief that this would help my baby girl.
1pm I gave her the new antibiotics and by 2 she had started to develop some redness in her cheeks, by 4:30-5pm it was a full on rash and fever, it was clear she was having a reaction to the new antibiotics. We rushed over to our after hours clinic across town, only to discover that it was moved up to mid-town. Once we got there we were about 4th in line to be seen. She was lethargic, fevered and sleeping on me. When the dr came in, and we filled him in on everything from the emergency visit, the two doctors visits with the first antibiotic not working and the now possible reaction to the new one. He did a full examination on her, with her screaming from not wanting to wake up. He confirmed it was a reaction to the new antibiotics and it would take some time to be fully out of her system, to watch for her airways constricting or any other signs of reactions. He also gave us a NEW antibiotic for her ear infection that has now gotten “pretty ugly”. He also re-examined me and confirmed the sinus infection and gave me a prescription for antibiotics to be filled for Friday if I wasn’t better by then, and a doctors note for the next day of work.
We got her home, gave her the new antibiotics and put her to bed in my bed. We slept the whole night and morning till about 8. Her normal wakeup time is 5:30 so this was great for her to get as much sleep as she could. We spend the day relaxing in the living room, on the couch watching movies, I layed down as much as I could. It finally felt like I could exhale, she seemed like she was getting better and that made me feel less guilty about everything.
About 2pm I was laying on the couch having just finished my ‘cold 911’ Davids Tea and I felt something hard on my tooth with my tongue. I reached in and out popped a part of my tooth and some of my filling from one of my molars. Pain ensued. Are you kidding me? Really?
I was on the verge of tears as I dialed the dentists office, explaining to them that I’d lost some of my filling and could they fix me. They couldn’t fix me but could assess me and come up with a treatment plan. Whatever, I’d take it, I was very thankful they would fit me in. So, I had to wake my husband up early and had a quick shower, brushed my teeth really good, which I then realized OWE, the nerve was exposed.
By the time I got to the dentists office I was a complete mess. I walked in with full on tears, and I hear “Hi Amy.” Are you kidding me? I piped up “NO, its AMANDA, Amy was my husbands first wife’s name.” As she laughed it off I was not impressed “Its not funny” I proclaimed in full on messy, sobbing, convulsing tears.
I wasn’t crying about her calling me Amy for the millionth time, or the painful tooth loss, I wasn’t crying about being sick or my sinus pain, I wasn’t crying about my daughter being super sick, I wasn’t crying about the water main break or the front yard a bloody mess, I wasn’t crying about the broken furnace or carbon monoxide leaking, I wasn’t crying about starting the new years off with the flu, I wasn’t crying about the broken computer or loss of files, I wasn’t crying about the caved in roof or the leaks, I wasn’t crying about being diagnosed with an eating disorder or binge eating, I wasn’t crying about my broken car or the lack of fixing it, I wasn’t crying because of one single thing; I was crying about it all. Right there, right then, in there, in the middle of the dentists waiting room, I cried. I wept tears and sobbed. I feel bad for the guy who walked right in and sat down staring at me not saying a word. I just cried. I continued to cry when the dental hygienist examined me, and when the dentist looked at my tooth, I cried while they took ex-rays of my teeth. I just cried. I couldn’t help it at all. It was actually making me feel a little better.
The dentist said the rest of my teeth look good, he put some de-sensitizing agent on the hole which shot pain right up my nerve and made an appointment for me in a few weeks (the earliest I could get in there).
I had stopped crying by the time I needed to pay, proclaiming my full name, in case she forgot again, paid my bill and left.
As I drove home, completely emotionally spent, I realize that all I really needed was a good cry and I just needed to pick myself back up. All that we’ve dealt with are things we can deal with. It is stressful for sure, its hard, yes! We can get through these things and I am grateful for that.
I know that we are a loving family, we care for one another and we’ll just buckle down and move on. I have amazing friends who love and care for me and would help me at the drop of a hat. We’ll do the best we can and try to have as much fun as we can doing it.
As I drove in the driveway, I just wanted to sleep, I knew I needed to go to work the next day and I knew I needed to just be still for a while and rest. When I opened the door I hear this little voice, “MOMMY YOU’RE HOME!”
My daughter screams smiling, running directly towards me. “I LOVE YOU MOMMY” and a huge hug.
It doesn’t get any better than that and I am truly grateful.
“I love you too, hunny bear”
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