When did the 24 hour flu turn into the one week, pack your bags (oh wait, I didn’t even have a chance to pack my bags!) we are staying at the hospital flu? A little warning would have been nice – maybe a 30 second bit in the news in between the Charlie Sheen train wreck coverage. If the notice was mixed in there somewhere, I certainly missed it.
A week ago Monday, I get a call from pork-chop’s Nonna (he spent the night there) that he had been throwing up all night and is now just laying around not wanting to move or talk or watch TV. This is not like my happy go lucky, usually always smiling, little boy. According to pork-chop this was all Daddy's fault “I told Daddy I didn’t want that Mac and Cheese for dinner”.
You know your child is sick when you place him on the exam table at the doctor's office and he immediately lies down and falls asleep. Diagnosis: dehydration - head to the ER for fluids.
It was there that I learned about this very nasty stomach flu that is going around reeking havoc on small children for 5-10 days. Poor pork-chop was so dehydrated that it took the nurse four times to finally get the IV in. He was screaming the entire time. I held him and tried to reassure him that he will be ok, just a little poke and we can go lie down again…I'm sorry honey, just one more poke and we can lie down….come one nurse…just ONE more poke …by this time he knows I’m a liar and he starts calling out for Daddy. Finally, the nurse gets it and the crying stops. She asks me if I’m ok. I said yes, but I have to admit I was slightly upset that he cried for Daddy that last time.
It’s not a pleasant sight to see your baby lying in bed with an IV hooked up to his arm. I sat right next to him on his bed pretty much the entire time.
It’s now 11:00 p.m. Nurses have been in and out - but no one has given me an update on when we can leave. I call for the doctor and I'm told we are in for the night.
Just to add to all the fun we are having, Pork-chop wakes up to an ear infection. Lovely. Good news is he seems to have perked up and we can go home. This was at 10:00 a.m. We left at noon.
Over the next couple of days he will hardly eat or drink and by Thursday afternoon we have a repeat of Monday, minus the constant puking. Back to the doctor we go. This time I'm armed with the overnight bag. Back the hospital we go. Back to the IV we go. This nurse got it the first time. Within a couple hours of the IV, pork-chop was feeling much better. In fact he was turning very aunry. I’m assuming it was the boredom, but pretty soon the buttons on the bed became a game and the IV tubes became a jump rump. I asked the nurse when we could leave. I was told because we are a repeat offender we were in for the long haul. I would have gone crazy if I had to stay the night with him. I quickly asked to see a doctor. Pork-chop refused to go to bed and instead placed the footstool at the door opening and sat down until the doctor finally agreed to let us go home. Amen.
Unfortunately, a few days later, Nonna caught that darn little bug. I felt horrible and guilty, but I’m grateful she was only down a day!
On Sunday the flu decided to attach itself to me.
During all this I was able to "pick" a few good finds to add to my personal "stuff" - a kid's desk for $5 and a sewing table for $10. I also picked up six vintage amber juice glasses with a thumbprint design that I'm willing to sell if anyone is interested!
Until next time – live, laugh, love and stay away from that bug!
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