This past week has been a bit of a challenge to say the least. I keep reminding myself “ebb and flow Bridget, ebb and flow”. I’m starting to believe it.
Last Tuesday I had to take Grant to Brenner’s Children’s Hospital emergency room for respiratory problems. After four hours, two different drugs/treatments and steroids he was released under a strict watch. The doctor said that he had only ever released one other child to the parents. He said because I was a very attentive mother and since Grant responded so well to the drugs we could head home. The following day I took him to his doctor and he was diagnosed with reactive airway disease.
Never heard of it? Yeah, me either. It pretty much means asthma in children under three years of age. He experiences the same symptoms as asthma sufferers but may or may not grow out of it. For now he is on a daily steroid, allergy medicine, and albuterol until his cough goes away. He seems to be responding well so far to this “maintenance” treatment so we will continue it for the next 12 weeks and then we will reevaluate the situation with his doctor.
Friday came along pretty quickly and so did an ice storm which hit our area something awful. It took 200,000 homes of their power. We were so lucky to have ours until Saturday morning. After two hours of it being out I packed up our things and headed to my sister’s house. By the afternoon we had gotten word from the power company that it wouldn’t be on for five more days. So I headed back to our house and packed up what felt like our lives. If I was part of just a couple then the packing wouldn’t have been so extensive. However; when you bring a two year old, a three year old, a dog, three coolers, and five reusable grocery bags full of food to stay for a few days you are bordering somewhere between insane and overly prepared. That was not mentioning clothing for three of us, diapers, pillows, and of course all of this new medicine. My sister and her family shifted around their sleeping situations and the kids all had a blast having “sleepovers” for a few nights. By Monday around noon the power came back and I cried. Yes, I did. Tears of joy came down my face. We were getting to go home.
Of course the whole time I was feeling bad for myself I was also thinking of all of those families who lose their homes in tornadoes or hurricanes or other disasters. I can not even begin to fathom how they feel. I didn’t like being displaced for 72 hours so I couldn’t even imagine never getting to go home again.
The stress of all of this and maybe exposing myself to germs at a grocery store or somewhere else is what caused me to catch the dreaded noro virus! Yep, Monday afternoon not even 20 minutes after I walked in the door it hit me. I threw up for nine continuous hours and have been sick for three days in a row. I’m ready for this to be over with!!! All I can think about (besides for every food under the sun that I don’t dare put in my body) is cleaning my house. I know, I’m lame. You see a lot when you’re laying on the floor and then in your bed for hours and hours at a time. Maybe tomorrow will bring some new health my way and Grant will be more receptive to his nebulizer. A girl can dream, right?!
Ebb and flow, ebb and flow…