A Long and Boring Tale

Honestly, I didn't quit blogging.

I like talking too much. :)

Remember that sinus infection I mentioned my 7 year old daughter had?

She was taking amoxicillin for it.

The day after her birthday, she woke up at three a.m. with itchy hives.

Hives I can handle. I called her in sick at the school and gave her Benadryl for the itching.

I noticed around noon that her knees, ankles and wrists were grossly swollen and bright red. We made a doctor's appointment for 2:45.

The doctor was very worried. He had the nurse test blood from her finger. Then he sent us to the local lab for a real blood draw. Only it was 4:20 and the lab had closed at 4:00.

Another lab that took our insurance was about a half hour drive away. The phlebotomist kindly held the lab open for us. I tried to get there quickly but was stuck behind the inevitable ass driving ten miles below the speed limit in the left lane.

There were nine others also stuck behind this sorry excuse for a person.

I promised my daughter a stuffed animal if she was good for the blood draw. She has too many and I never let her get new ones. The phlebotomist had to dig around with the needle, but my daughter was as good as a seven-year old can be.

I took her and SJ home. By then my husband was home from work.

I went to the pharmacy and purchased Benadryl for her itching and Advil for her joint pain. We had an appointment to see the doctor the next day.

While I didn't know what everything was that the doctor tested for, I did see the box checked on the lab slip for rheumatoid arthritis. I later learned he also tested for elevated white blood cells. I was better off not knowing that as I was worried enough about the RA.

We went in the next day and the doctor told us she appeared to have serum sickness, doctor talk for allergic to her antibiotic. To be safe, the nurse pricked her finger again and ran one more blood test.

Then my daughter mentioned she was short of breath. The doctor listened to her lungs and said he wanted a chest x-ray. I told him that I would pay out of pocket to go to the facility next door then, because the nearest place that took our insurance was half an hour away. My daughter was so sick that I didn't want to haul her around anymore.

He tested her blood oxygen and it was low. He decided to try a breathing treatment first. The nurse brought in a nebulizer and my daughter did that for almost ten minutes. Her blood oxygen went back to normal.

The doctor told the nurse to send a nebulizer home with me, but...the office was out of them. (It's allergy season.)

The staff at the office found a place where I could go get one. I took my daughter home. (My husband was off work that day, thankfully.)

Then I went to get her nebulizer and fill a prescription for Prednisone. I took a trip to the nebulizer place and then a trip to the pharmacy, and then again a trip to the nebulizer place and then again to the pharmacy.

Between Thursday and Friday, I spent at least six hours on my daughter's medical issues. And the house still wasn't clean. LOL

I had to take her in again Saturday morning. The Benadryl wasn't working for the itching. The doctor prescribed adaracts.

I took her home, left her with hubby, picked up my oldest daughter from the train and then picked up the medicine.

The house never got finished, but we did have a great visit with our friends.

My daughter had to go back to the doctor Monday and she has to go back again Friday. She was one very sick little girl.

But now all is well and the sun is out and that is the end of my long, boring story.

I hope everybody had a Happy Easter!