Sicko

It’s been a sad story around our house the past 2 weeks. We’ve honestly been to the doctor’s office no less than 6 times amongst the 4 of us. Lukie started us off with a trip to the doctor’s on the 7th and he got started on some antibiotics for his 2 ear infections. That weekend we went to Longview to help Jason’s parents with some things. Upon returning Sunday night Jason got hit hard by “the bug.” Nevertheless, Monday and Tuesday were payroll days at work so he had to go no matter how awful he was feeling. That same Monday I started feeling not so well. Jason ended up staying home Wednesday and Thursday last week. That Wednesday we both went to the doctor’s and tested negative for Flu A and Flu B, however, doc said there’s talk of a Flu C out there and he thinks that’s what we have. Nothing to do though really, so no drugs for us.

That morning Austin woke up with a very “goobery” eye so after our appointment, it was off to his ear doctor. They were booked for 2 weeks so off to the Pediatrician’s to see if they could squeeze us in. As it turns out they could, but probably would’ve been better if they hadn’t. We saw some old geezer doctor who diagnosed Austin with Pink Eye before he ever looked at him. Mind you, this is the same doctor who 2 ½ years ago wouldn’t acknowledge that Austin’s eye drainage was due to ear infections and back then also incorrectly diagnosed him with Pink Eye. Once we saw a real doctor who sent us to a specialist and both confirmed he needed ear tubes, he’s been great ever since. At any rate, one of Austin’s ear tubes recently came out and guess which eye was now draining? The same side as the missing ear tube, go figure. Nevertheless, more eye drops is what we got to treat the Pink Eye. Ever given eye drops to a 3 year-old who doesn’t want them? Impossible for one person to do! I literally have to sit on him pinning his arms to his side while Jason holds his head straight so he doesn’t shake the drops out of his eyes before they go in. What a nightmare.

Next day, we’re up to last Friday, the 14th now, Luke wasn’t getting any better after a week of antibiotics so Jason took a half day at work, still not feeling well himself, and that afternoon we were off for another appointment for Luke. He got some stronger antibiotics for the ear infections and we were told with Austin’s “Pink Eye” to start giving the drops to Luke too. We didn’t have enough drops for the both of them, so we got another prescription of those. Luke’s not too bad for those. I give it to him when he’s asleep and he doesn’t even stir. Austin on the other hand wakes up and starts throwing a fit. Luke loves taking his medicine and cries when it’s not for him. Austin hates it and cries when it is for him. We’ve taken to mixing it in a milkshake for him so now every night he gets milkshakes and couldn’t be happier. And you better not rat me out on this either because if he knew there was medicine in there he absolutely would not eat it, even if it is ice cream.

No church for me and the boys last Sunday because of the “Pink Eye” but Jason got up to go so he could accept his new calling of 1st counselor in YM’s. He’s primarily responsible for teaching the Sunday lessons to the Teachers, strike that, to the TEACHER aged boy in our ward. He’ll assist on Wednesday night activities insofar as his work schedule permits.

So we’re cruising along, feeling crummy all of this week, until Wednesday night. That’s when Austin woke up from his nap, came to the dinner table, and I noticed that half his face was swollen like a tennis ball. So I called the 24 hour nurse hotline. They say if it gets worse he needs to be seen immediately (i.e. Emergency Room), but if nothing happens then he needs to be seen the next day. Thursday morning I call and get him an appointment. Doctor comes in, not his doctor but at least not the geezer doctor either, examines him, looks very concerned and says he’s going to go consult with another doctor to get a second opinion. Another doctor comes in, examines Austin, they confer, and deliver the news that Austin may in fact have Mumps. Uh, hello, that’s what the MMR is for so they don’t get it. I don’t even know how serious mumps is at that point. At any rate, they tell me to watch it for 48 hours. If the swelling remains or worsens then he needs to come back on Friday the 21st for bloodwork to confirm mumps. But we’re supposed to go down to Longview this weekend for my cousin’s wedding and Easter weekend with Jason’s parents, and we’re taking the wedding cake! Doc’s advised that we may want to make alternate plans. OUCH! And, by the way, Luke was doing terrific, well ahead of the curve at his 9 month appointment, so they said to skip his 12 month and just come in at 15 months, at which time he’d be given his MMR. Not anymore! With Austin potentially having it, Luke got the shots that day, for which Austin later felt terrible. “Mom, I’m sorry I had to go to the doctor’s and Lukie had to get shots.”

I figure it can’t be all that bad if they’re sending me home to monitor for 2 days. So I call Jason at work and he does some research. He discovers that it really isn’t all that bad for children to get it, although it’s highly contagious, but mostly just involves swelling in the neck/cheek making them look like chipmunks. It actually has much more severe results in adult males who may contract it, but I’ll leave that research up to you.

At any rate, here we are now, on the 21st. Austin’s swelling has significantly decreased so the Doc’s are certain it’s not the mumps. They’ve given us clearance to go out in public once again. We can indeed go to Longview this weekend and enjoy a nice Easter weekend with the grandparents. My cousin’s wedding won’t be ruined by lack of a cake. Everything turned out beautiful, right? Well, except for the fact that Jason and I still feel only slightly better than the crummy we felt last week. I need my Mom!

Potty Humor

Humor me for a moment as I share some potty humor with you. Angie has bee working diligently with Austin for quite some time to get him potty trained. She’s started and stopped numerous times due to several outstanding factors: holidays away from home, selling our home, not living at home, you name it, and it has probably distracted our potty training schedule. At any rate, I would say that since we’ve been in our own home once again, all of 2 or 3 weeks now, Austin has finally started getting the hang of it. Many fewer accidents of late, at least that I know about anyway. And lest any of you out there think I’m missing out on this whole experience, I get my share of “wiping” in the evenings and weekends. Notice I didn’t say fair share, as I’ll be the first to admit this usually falls to Angie, but I get a share, which is more than enough for me.

At any rate, this past weekend I was receiving my share of duties and accompanied Austin down the hall into the bathroom where I anticipated needing to help him get situated. I asked him if he needed help and he threw his hand up (as if to say STOP) and yelled “NO, I can do it myself!” So he proceeded to situate himself and when he was sitting there he looked up at me and said, “Well maybe you could go get me a stack of books.”

I couldn’t respond for quite some time because I was laughing so hard. Finally I got out, “A stack of books, huh? Are you going to be in here a while?”

To which he curtly replied, “Only until I’m done reading my books.”

“How bout I bring you one book then?” I responded.

“Well, maybe 3 books would be okay Dad.”

So off I went to get his 3 books. And when he was done with his books, well you know the rest from here…