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November 3, 2006
Because We Needed a Little Adventure
We all have big, scary watchwords that loom up in our worst parenting fears. One of mine is "meningitis."
It's so much of a scary word for me that I used to drive Jeff nuts every time one of our kids had a fever. If the fever was high, I was likely to hysterically order him to the nearest ER with the sick child - him, because I'm a coward. (And the one time I took the sick baby to the doctor, the doctor sent me to the ER because he thought it was meningitis.)
Time has passed and I've gotten much better at being calm and waiting. Really, I have. But when Aidan had headaches last night that were so bad he woke up crying, I worried. When they were no better this morning, and he had a high fever, and he started vomiting, I packed them off to urgent care. Still, I kept my cool and went on with the rest of the kids. Until Jeff called to tell me they wanted to transport Aidan to the hospital for a lumbar puncture.
I had psyched myself up to think that we weren't looking at a case of the scary word, and everything would be fine. So much for positive thinking. I went to my room and cried, making sure no kids could hear me. Then I was able to come out and play Competent Mommy for the rest of the day, while I walked around with a phone in my hand, waiting every moment for it to ring. The other kids somehow got the message that they should just run off and play today. I cleaned. You wouldn't believe how clean my kitchen and downstairs floors are.
In the middle of all this, my next-door neighbor dropped by to mention that huge amounts of water were gushing out of the side of my house. I was waiting to hear about Aidan; the amount of mental energy it took to give a damn about water gushing from anywhere was staggering. Okay, we have a handyman to deal with these things. But I couldn't find the number. Jeff had the number, but it didn't work. Hmm. His office number was disconnected. Hmm again. I called information to get his home number, and information wouldn't work. And that is when I was sure I was losing my mind. In the end I found the right valve and stopped the water, though I don't know why or how it was gushing in the first place. If this were a Miyazaki movie, I'd call it symbolism.
Aidan, meanwhile, had an exciting day. He rode in an ambulance. He "got" to have his spine punctured. He spent eight hours at the hospital, hooked up to an IV. (Jeff knew how sick Aidan was when he made a Borg joke about being hooked up to the IV, and Aidan didn't laugh.) In the end, he doesn't have meningitis. It's just a virus. (Although with this kid "just a virus" is starting to take on a whole new meaning. The last time he had a virus it ended in purple spots and arthritis symptoms for six weeeks.) Jeff, of course, had an exciting day too. All in all, it's really more excitement than we care for, so if we could have the next few days off, that would be just great.
Posted by lynx at November 3, 2006 3:56 PM
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Comments
Oh my God, Steph. What an exhausting day for you! I am so, so soooo glad Aidan does not have the big scary word. I hope you will soon recover from the experience and that he's feeling well soon. {{hugs}}
Dy
Posted by: Dy at November 3, 2006 9:01 PM
Oh man. I'm so glad it wasn't meningitis, and I hope he feels better soon.
That's one of my scary words, too. My little sister had meningitis when she was just 9 months old, and it was one of the scariest times in my life.
Posted by: KathyJo at November 3, 2006 10:45 PM
Here's wishing Aidan a speedy recovery - and you, too! You get the Strong Mama of the Year award.
Posted by: Drew at November 4, 2006 6:26 AM
Wishing a speedy recovery and no more Urgent Care trips...
Posted by: Anne at November 5, 2006 6:27 PM
What a scary day for ALL of you. I'm so glad it's not meningitis. I hope he gets well very quickly!
Staci
Posted by: Staci at November 6, 2006 7:29 PM