That Friday, Todd & I went to the Good Friday service at church and it was so, so good. Our church's singers are unbelievably talented. The music is amazing there. The preaching is very good, too. Josiah joined us for Easter morning service, but the other two stayed home. We headed to the 7 a.m. service to avoid the later crowds. It was a beautiful sunrise as we drove.
We were supposed to visit Grandad and Nana for Easter, but Henry was down for the count, Caroline developed a sore throat of her own, and my throat was hurting as well. I reluctantly cancelled our trip, but it turned out to be the right decision as Caroline continued to get worse. I expected her to be on the same trajectory as Henry - sore throat for a few days, fever & throwing up for one day, then slowly recover. Caroline did not get that memo. Her fever and throwing up for one day turned into three with zero evidence of getting better. She was up all night for two nights in a row. On Wednesday afternoon, I took her to the doctor to see what was up. She tested positive for Strep A and she had a lot of protein in her urine. Enough that the doctor was going to send us to the lab for more of a workup. (Plus elevated blood pressure and heart rate.) She was given a very large shot of bicillin. The nurse warned Caroline that she would not feel like walking after getting it. She was right. As our visit with the doctor continued, she stepped out and consulted a nephrologist. She then sent us to the ER in Greenville because she was concerned it was post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. So we got in the car and headed north. The ER was completely packed. Overwhelmingly so. Fortunately, they brought us over to the pediatric side and when they closed the doors behind us, we were in a much quieter area. Only one other family was with us. This was great. We did the triage. Very smooth and easy. Then the nurse got up to bring us back and as we walked, she said, Sorry, we don't have any open rooms, you'll have to sit on a hallway bed. And we did. For the next six hours. The ER doctors didn't think Caroline had post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, but she was clearly dehydrated. She was given two bags of saline, Zofran, and pain medication. Her kidney function came back normal, which was a relief. Sitting in the hallway, we did get to see all the rooms across from us change over to new patients. I would try to figure out why they were all there to pass the time. We had a visit from four state troopers for car accident patients. We were at the end of the hallway with the bathroom, so there was a never-ending stream of people walking by. To be discharged, she needed to lower her blood pressure, heart rate, and she had to eat and drink without throwing up. It didn't have to be a lot, but it had to stay down. I don't know how many goldfish she ate, it wasn't many, but we did not see them again. We could go home. Early the next morning, we were back at the doctor's office for a blood pressure check. Caroline had finally slept all night and her vitals reflected that she was on the road to recovery, albeit a slow one. She really did not turn the corner and start feeling better until Saturday.
Benson stayed with Caroline every step of the way. When she was on the couch downstairs, he was right there laying next to her, but more often standing in front of her staring at her face. Every time she used the trash can, he was there to sniff the contents and get right up in her face. When she tried to sleep upstairs one night, Benson slept on his bed upstairs. He's only been on that bed a handful of times, so he was really there because of her. It was very sweet, but also made me wonder what he was sensing about her.
Henry had only started feeling better in time to head to the oral surgeon. He needed two teeth extracted and his regular dentist would not do it. This was a piece of cake for the oral surgeon, and everything went smoothly. They did put him under and when they wheeled Henry to the car, he was all smiles. He talked the whole drive home, which was fun, but also slightly nerve-wracking because I kept saying, Bite down on the gauze. Henry remembers none of it. He told me that his goal was to stay awake. He remembers them giving him the medication and then he remembers being at home. He does not remember telling me that 'gauze' sounds like 'caw caw' and his conversation about crows on the drive home. Bite down on the gauze!
He has been healing nicely. The worst part for him was eating only soft foods because he could never feel full. He sees the orthodontist this week to start closing those gaps.
 |
| Laying down the rules |
Meanwhile, Josiah tried to have a little fun for his spring break. On his first day off, he went to see the Minecraft movie with a school friend. The next day, he helped this same friend set up his new computer. Another day they played hide and seek around our neighborhood. Josiah was on a bike and they traveled. It was no easy game. By Thursday, Josiah was back to play rehearsal for five to six hours a day. This coming week, he's in rehearsal til 9:00 each night. Their performances start on Thursday. One teacher told me that he was a natural at the practices and he can change his voice really well. Oh?! I didn't know he did that! I am really looking forward to seeing the show. They now rehearse at the performance hall at Anderson University.
We finished out our last day of spring break with our Easter egg hunt at the house. It took all week before everyone felt well enough to enjoy the hunt. It was fun doing it in a new house with new spots to hide.
A girl after my own organizing heart...
We have three and a half weeks left. Only 19 more school days. Henry said the school year has gone so fast so he thinks the summer may be the same. We need to savor the time!
No comments:
Post a Comment