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November 7, 2003
November 7, 2003:
Mitch gets strep throat…
The school called me at work on Wednesday, Mitch’s second day at school. When I took the call and heard, “this is the school calling . . . ” I immediately thought something must have happened to Rachel because I had been watching Mitch online throughout the day and was watching him when I got the call. When Mitch woke up from his nap, they noticed some swelling along his jaw line. He didn’t have a temperature, and appeared active and otherwise normal. I continued watching him eat his snack and play on the gym equipment. When I picked him up, I noticed a little puffiness on his jaw line, but he seemed fine. On Friday afternoon, they called again to let me know that he had a low grade temperature of 100.1. I left work immediately and picked him up. His cheeks were a bit rosy. When we got home, I gave him some Motrin to lower his fever and he went down for a nap. When he woke up, he still had a fever. Over the weekend, his fever wavered between 101 and 102. Thank goodness for digital ear thermometers. We treated him with Tylenol, but it didn’t seem to abate. He seemed to be grinding his teeth. We treated him with Orajel. He seemed to feel better and improve.
Rachel’s starts limping again…
On Sunday, thanks to Daylight Savings Time, we woke up with an extra hour to enjoy. It was a cold day, so I went through the kids’ drawers, weeding out things that were too small, and finding out what I had and what I needed for the colder weather soon to come. We tried on all of Rachel’s jeans and ended up with a stack that no longer fit her and only one pair that sort of fit her. She also had just a few long sleeved shirts. Rachel’s nose started to run and she was starting to cough. I gave her some Pediacare, and then we went to the Children’s Place to try on jeans and pants and warmer clothing. It was very frustrating because nothing seemed to fit her. She is a tall girl, but she is longer from the shoulders to the waist and has short legs for her size. Size 5 is tight in the thighs and size 6 just droops off her waistline and the pant legs just drag on the floor. We found nothing except two long-sleeved shirts. While trying on the pants, I noticed that Rachel started to limp again. This alarmed me because she went through a limping phase earlier in the summer, and the doctor could find nothing wrong with her. We paid for the shirts and headed home. I was disappointed because it was getting cold and I only had one pair of jeans and one pair of sweatpants that fit my daughter. But, her health was deteriorating before my eyes and we had to get her home. She didn’t have a temperature, but her runny nose and cough progressed and she continued to limp with a severe hitch in her right hip.
Diagnosis for Mitch: Strep Throat…
On Monday morning, I put a call in to the doctor’s office before the kids woke up. I asked for a call back. Mitch woke up and he was red hot. He just wanted to be held and rested across my chest as we laid on the sofa together. The doctor called back and listened to Mitch’s symptoms and seemed more concerned about Rachel’s hip. She asked us to come in at 10:30 but to expect to wait for at least 2 hours because she had a lot of patients she had to fit in along with her scheduled appointments. I made breakfast for the kids and got them dressed. We packed a bag and drove across town to the doctor’s office, arriving a few minutes early. The lobby was packed and filled with the smell of too many people in too small of a space. We signed in, told the receptionist that we would be waiting outside in the atrium, and then went out and found a bench to sit on. The air was cooler and fresher and the hour passed by fairly quickly. The nurse called us in and showed us in to an examining room. The nurse weighed Rachel (47 lb.) and Mitch (30 lb.) and wrote down all the information on their charts. The doctor came in and examined Rachel first. She observed her walking up and down the hall and was concerned about her hip. She maneuvered her leg into various positions and asked lots of questions about pain and where it hurts. She ordered a urine culture and blood culture from Rachel and ordered x-rays of her hip. Then she examined Mitch, who was very good and didn’t cry at all. His temperature was still 102. They took a throat culture from him, and we waited for the results while I tried to get Rachel to pee in the cup. We went down the hall to the bathroom and Mitch didn’t want to be put down. So, I held him while undressing Rachel and swabbing her with the two antiseptic patches given to me by the nurse. When I unwrapped the cup, and held it under Rachel, she just couldn’t pee. Great! So, I redressed her and then we washed our hands before going back to our exam room. The nurse said we could go downstairs to the blood lab and get Rachel’s blood work done and then come back up to try again.
Blood work for Rachel…
We went downstairs to the lab. Rachel was a little scared. The nurse took us back and Rachel sat in a student-type desk with her arm laid out in front of her. The nurse was checking her veins and tied the elastic band around her upper arm and asked her to make a fist while she tapped along the vein lines. I did my best to comfort Rachel and held her hand while still holding Mitch in my arms. Rachel watched as the nurse swabbed her arm and then put the needle in and watched the blood come out into 4 or 5 vials. She kept telling the nurse, “I don’t want a shot, you aren’t giving me a shot are you?” And the nurse assured her that she wasn’t going to get a shot, all the while the needle was in her arm and blood was coming out. But Rachel didn’t flinch. She was so worried about getting a shot that she didn’t realize that the needle in her arm drawing blood was probably worse than a shot. I turned my head to hide my smile and so did the nurse. The nurse gave the kids some stickers and we took the elevator back upstairs to the doctor’s office. By this time, Rachel was able to pee in the cup and we waited for Mitch’s throat culture results. The nurse came in and said that he tested positive for strep. I called Jerry and asked him to please come and help me with the kids, that I had to take Rachel to the hospital for a hip x-ray and that Mitch had strep, needed his prescriptions and needed to go home to sleep. Jerry came over and met us at the doctor’s office, but he was not able to take Mitch home since he had to work late that night.
X-rays…
We drove over to the hospital and had to sit through 30 minutes of filling out insurance paperwork for the x-ray. Then, we went to the radiology department and waited our turn with 10 other people in the waiting room. Mitch fell asleep in Jerry’s arms. They sat in the lobby, while I took Rachel back for her x-ray. They didn’t have a gown to fit her, so they took her back fully dressed. She laid down on the table and they covered her with a sheet while I pulled off her jeans. They positioned the x-ray machine over her mid section and, after arranging her leg, took one picture. Then they positioned her legs in a frog position and that’s when I noticed they were filming the left leg as opposed to the right one specified on the doctor’s orders. They checked the orders and retook the x-rays of the right leg. We waited in the lobby until the films were developed and carried them back to the doctor’s office. Jerry had to leave.
Diagnosis for Rachel: Toxic Synovitis…
I took the kids back to the doctor’s office. We waited in our original exam for the doctor or nurse to see us. When they looked at the film, they realized that the doctor’s report was not included, so we had to wait another hour for the radiologist to dictate a report and fax it over. Then we waited some more while the lab faxed over the blood report. By this time, it was 4:30 in the afternoon. Rachel was lying on the floor of the doctor’s office, and I wanted to get down there with her. She kept saying, “why can’t we just go home?!” Mitch was miserable. They hadn’t eaten since breakfast and we had no idea we’d be there all day. I asked the doctor to let us go home, but she said we had to wait. I told her that Mitch still had a temperature and she asked the nurse to come in and give him some Motrin. The nurse took his temperature (still 102!) and gave him some Motrin. He just hung his head on my shoulder and rested like a rag doll in my arms. Finally, the doctor came in and reviewed the lab reports with us. There were two areas in her blood work that were in the abnormal range. She said, overall, the blood count was within normal range. The hip x-ray was clear. She diagnosed Rachel with toxic synovitis of the hip. It is the most common form of arthritis in children. It appears suddenly, disappears suddenly, and causes no lasting problems. It typically follows viral infections and may be caused by the body’s immune response to the virus. It is most common in boys between the ages of 3 and 10 and follows an upper respiratory infection. The symptoms are a sudden, noticeable limp, hip pain, thigh pain, low grade fever, redness, or swelling of the joint. It is not contagious and usually disappears within 3 to 10 days. There is no treatment other than pain relief and it is not preventable, except by avoiding the viral infections that can trigger it. Ugh! What a day! We drove home through rush hour traffic and dropped off the prescription slips in the drive-thru at Walgreen’s. I took the kids home, fed them, changed them into fresh clothes, and then we went back to pick up the Amoxicillin prescribed for both kids for 10 days. Finally we returned home for good. I gave the kids their baths and medicine and they were made comfortable while we tried to relax and unwind. Jerry had to work late that night, but came in earlier than we expected. The kids were happy to see him walk in the door and so was I.
I stayed home with the kids that week while they recovered from strep and Rachel’s limp dwindled away and disappeared. On Tuesday, Jerry took the afternoon off so I could go to the doctor myself since my throat felt like it was on fire. I had a sinus infection and got a prescription for Z-pack, which made me feel much better in a few days. But, I felt bad because we did miss the Halloween Party on Wednesday night at Kids Praise. Rachel was still too sick. I felt like a tag-team parent that night as Jerry came in the door, I had to go in to work that night because our fiscal year closes on October 31st. By Friday, the kids were much improved. Rachel was excited because she was counting the days down until her grandparents arrived. She was also happy about her Minnie Mouse costume, party, and trick-or-treating, and C-A-N-D-Y. Jerry’s parents were arriving from Michigan that night. They flew in and rented a car, so we were just waiting for them to pull in. After it got dark, Jerry took Rachel down the cul-de-sac to trick-or-treat at our neighbor’s homes, and then they came back home. Mitch stayed inside with me. We answered the door together greeting the little ghosts and goblins and Spidermen in the neighborhood. Mitch seemed to enjoy seeing the kids dressed up and they liked his Mickey costume. Rachel and I left to go to the Harvest Festival at the church, while Jerry stayed at home with Mitch. They handed out candy and waited for his parents to arrive. It was a joy to see Rachel have a great time at the festival after a week of feeling so sick. We walked through the petting zoo and she enjoyed petting all the small animals (llama, donkey, rabbits, pigs, calf, sheep, and baby goats). They even had an emu, but he was sectioned off from the others. We rode the train and she jumped in the moon walk two different times. She had a cherry snow cone and I had some roasted corn-on-the-cob. We passed on the funnel cakes, though. There were 40 or 50 game booths set up in the classrooms and everyone was a winner. She got lots of compliments on her Minnie costume. She loved her gloves, ears, and ring. She came away with lots of small toys and trinkets and candies for herself and her brother. It was a good, fun time. Although I took my camera along, I didn’t remember to take any pictures, we were too busy having fun. Rachel fell asleep on the way home. As we pulled into the garage, I noticed the rental car parked out front. So, we knew Grandma Orma and Grandpa Jerry were home. Rachel came inside and Orma was happy to see her. They gave the kids gift bags with candy and toys.
The next day was Saturday. I had to go in to work for awhile and when I came home, it was dinner time. We had lasagna, salad, and garlic bread for dinner. On Sunday, Jerry took his dad to the Texans vs. Panthers game. They had a good time and the Texans surprised everyone by winning. Rachel & I went to church and Orma stayed home to rest and watched Mitch for us. Rachel did her Bear Hug book time with Grandma that afternoon and we went to AWANA. I made Swiss steak for dinner that night and we had pumpkin pie and Boston cream pie for dessert.
Jerry took a week of vacation and visited with his parents and helped with the kids during the week. We asked Jerry’s dad (retired electrician) to put up ceiling fans in the guest room and Rachel’s room and he said yes. Rachel went with me to Lowe’s to pick out ceiling fans on Tuesday night, and then we went shopping for clothes for her. We went in and out of the dressing room trying on clothes, but ended up with 4 pair of jeans that fit her and several shirts. She picked out two Bratz shirts, some pink Barbie PJs, and some new pony tail holders shaped like flowers. We got groceries and came home. Jerry & his dad trimmed the trees in the yard on Tuesday and tied them up for the trash service to take away on Wednesday morning. On Wednesday, Orma braided Rachel’s hair and they took her to the store to buy the Finding Nemo movie and they picked up lunch at McDonald’s to bring home. Orma watched Finding Nemo with Rachel while Mitch napped and the guys put up a ceiling fan in the guest room. Jerry grilled chicken and prepared potatoes and green beans for dinner. Rachel & I had just enough time to eat and run out the door to Kids Praise. The kids are having a great time with their grandparents. Grandpa Jerry took them for walks through the neighborhood. Rachel rode her scooter. Mitch loves going outside at night to look at the moon and the stars. Papa Jerry bought Mitch a basketball set and enjoys playing ball with Mitch. Mitch has a knack for hurling the ball at their faces, so they are good at holding up their hands to defend their faces and protect their eyeglasses from shattering. The week before they arrived, Orma had another surgery for her cancer of the liver. She is going through chemotherapy and taking her meds. She is very tired and we want her to get plenty of rest. She is very pale and I can’t wait to see the rosiness return to her cheeks. She loves the kids so much. And we love her too. We know what a hardship and struggle it is for her to travel in her weakened condition, so we are so appreciative and happy that she is able to travel and spend time with us. We love having them here.
On Thursday, Jerry took the kids to the zoo for the day, while his parents relaxed at home (enjoying some peace and quiet). On the way to the zoo, Jerry called me at work. They were just passing by the building where I work, so I asked them to meet me for lunch. Nothing fancy, just a quick lunch at Luby’s cafeteria, but it was nice to sit down for lunch with my husband and children during the work week. That was a first. The kids had eaten a big breakfast, so they weren’t hungry. Rachel picked red Jell-O. Mitch ate the grapes from our fruit salads while standing on his chair eating cubes of blue Jell-O. And when he was done, he was done. He got down from his chair and started walking around and dancing beside our table. We finished quickly, paid for the meals, and left. Jerry had packed a picnic lunch in the cooler and had the wagon in the back of the truck. They enjoyed their day at the zoo. Rachel’s favorites are the pink flamingos and Mitch is sold on the elephants. They saw all the big animals (giraffes, elephants, tigers, monkeys, seals, etc.) and went back to the children’s zoo. They had their picnic in a gated pavilion where the kids could run around without getting into trouble. The kids picked out t-shirts in the souvenir shop. Rachel found a pink t-shirt with a pink flamingo on the front. That girl is just pink crazy! Mitch picked out a t-shirt with several animals on the front, including an elephant. He really enjoys wearing t-shirts with something on the front like the Wiggles, or Pooh, or an elephant. Jerry’s dad put up the ceiling fan in Rachel’s room while they were at the zoo. She was really excited to show it to me.
The Full Monty…
Last night Orma said they’d like to take us out to dinner one night. We will pick a place that is “kid friendly” so we all can enjoy ourselves. She also said they’d like to baby-sit for us one night while we go out for a date. Did someone just offer to baby-sit? You know, you don’t have to ask me twice. When I opened the paper last night, the entertainment section showed an ad for the Broadway show The Full Monty which is in Houston for just two weeks. Now, I admit it doesn’t take much to amuse me, but this movie—the Full Monty—is my all-time favorite movie. There is just something about this movie that makes me have a great time while I am watching it. When I first saw the ad in the paper a few weeks ago, I really wanted to go, and showed it to Jerry. He just shook his head and laughed it off. He knows how much I love the show. He bought me the movie when it first came out and the movie soundtrack on CD. For the year leading up to my 40th birthday, he would ask me what I wanted for my birthday, and I always said I wanted Jerry & his friends to do a full Monty show for my 40th birthday party. Of course that never happened. So, as soon as his parents offered to baby-sit last night, I asked Jerry again if we could go see the Full Monty and he reluctantly agreed. You don’t have to tell me twice. It took me about 3 seconds to run upstairs and purchase the tickets online. Now we have tickets to the show for this weekend. I can't tell you how excited I am and I can't remember looking forward to something so much in a long, long time. I have the CD in my car and have memorized the songs in order. It has great music: the strip tease number, which everyone knows when they hear it; and Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing."
I just got an email assigning me my brand new Secret Sister for next year. I couldn’t be happier. It’s someone I know well and have so much in common with. I am looking forward to planning lots of fun surprises for her starting with Christmas and continuing through next year.
Warmly,
Megan
A few pictures of the kids’ Halloween costumes and grandparents:
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/m/millimaki/
Apparently, hell has not frozen over (yet), so we are still using this TTM board.
TTM: http://babiestoday.com/cgi-bin/boards/meganm.pl
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