High fever, body sweats, wet cough, runny nose, sleeplessness.... A tough time every parent faces many times throughout their child's life. And, yet, one of the scariest and most dreaded. Never something anyone can get used. By far, the most exhausting.
So, when Brandt got sick two weeks ago, I knew we were in for it. It all started with him refusing to eat. The next day, he wasn't eating, drinking, or napping. We were literally giving him Pedialite through a medicine dropping, two teaspoons at a time. Then, came the cough and runny nose. And, finally the soaring fever. He was miserable and exhausted. It was a restless house, and when his fever soared to 104.9 in the middle of the night, panic struck me like a swift bolt of lightening. It was an all-too-familiar feeling still fresh in my mind.
Flashbacks struck my brain, sending painfully horrifying memories of the last time he'd been sick. All I could think was, "please, not pneumonia." *STRIKE* "Hope he doesn't have to be admitted again." *STRIKE* "I can't do this again." Flashbacks continued to strike one after another. IVs. Blood work. Oxygen. Monitors. Ahhhh!
His fever continued, despite Advil, Tylenol, and cool baths. Stress was mounting. Sleep was none. We'd already been to the doctor twice and had him on an antibiotic, but I was desperate and concerned, so to the hospital we went.
They did all sorts of tests--flu, strep, RSV, urinalysis, blood work, X-rays.... And found nothing. Oh, but they did manage to spray me with blood from the IV--which was crazy. He soaked through 3 gauze pads, too, before he finally clotted--which was even more crazy. But, after 5 hours in the ER, we were sent home and told it was just a nasty virus.
The week of hell continued in pretty much the same restless fashion. We continued to monitor his cough and breathing, but we were reassured that it would run its course and be ok. And, when he finally started napping again (a week later) we knew we were on the road to recovery. Thankfully, once the napping started again, eating and drinking came, too. And, it was fast forward to recovery!
Thankfully, he is my happy boy again!
