Not much of a detour in the big scheme of life but when you’re deep in the trenches of burning fevers, hacking coughs, perpetual runny noses and miserable, crying, not sleeping children it can be dark and gloomy – I entered the space where I believe every cough could be my child’s last breath; I diagnose red chapped lips and dry skin as severe dehydration requiring immediate medical attention; hoarse voices and loss of appetite have me offering unlimited suckers just to sooth a dry a throat and ensure they aren’t delusional – the day my kids turn down a sucker I know it’s time to call 911; lethargy prompts me to call the doctor (for the 3rd time that day) because my kids never sit still; low grade fevers send me scouring for Tylenol and swearing at a faulty thermometer that won’t report anything higher than 94.3. For a split moment I almost believe this low temperature might be accurate and this surely signals their little bodies are shutting down and slowly dying. This infirmary is not a safe place for me… my children will undoubtedly survive this bug but my sanity has taken a serious beating and I’m beginning to wonder if it will ever bounce back to reality.
I’ve been in this sickbay for weeks. It started with Riley. To be honest Riley was easy. Riley doesn’t complain. He sleeps for hours. He can take massive doses of Advil or Sudafed or even a sleeping pill if he desperately needed it. Riley didn’t even miss any school or football despite his horrible congestion. He’s a trooper – even vomiting in his mouth during warm-ups, only to swallow it all and keep going so he could play in a game. (Too much information??)
I panicked when I developed a minor cough that lasted only a day or two. As much as I offer up my body as a substitute when my kids are sick, the thought of Mom sick sounds panic alarms – I am the caretaker and who will coddle my sick, crying babes if I am bedridden? I’m sure we’d figure it out and Roger would be a fabulous substitute but I dread the idea of not being there when my kids need me the most.
All my fear was unsubstantiated… I remained healthy. Thankfully I was spared for now. Just as Riley was on the mend Hope began to show signs that she was indeed coming down with the bug. A week of missed school, hoards of Tylenol, countless movies and lots of rest – Hope was finally feeling better.
On the day Hope returned to school, when I eventually made my reappearance at work, Nico succumbed to the virus. We emptied our stock pile of Tylenol, spent another entire week at home, coddled a miserable babe, and rented every Spider Man and Super Man movie we could find to distract Nico from his misery and bide our time while on the road to recovery.
Did we have the swine flu? Maybe… maybe not… our Dr’s office stopped testing so we may never know. The low grade fevers and mild symptoms have the expert’s speculating that it may have been another bug. I have to wonder… if this was not the swine flu how bad could the swine flu be? I often wondered if we’d all survive.
Of course, none of my kids got this bug at the same time… we had to drag it out for weeks. The symptoms became more severe with each child – or perhaps it was just their reaction the suffering that made each case less bearable. Either way, I can only hope it was indeed the swine flu…
The kids have regained their cantankerous personalities – no worse for the wear! To think I was in absolute anguish, begging for our normal to return just a day or two ago…
It feels great to be back to normal!
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