Not quite a house of plague, but close
Jun. 3rd, 2008 07:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sethrakCutting because it turned out really long.
Zodling's fever only lasted something over 24 hours. It went down significantly after a cool bath Sunday night, and was completely over when Dav went to check on him after hearing him cry a couple hours after bedtime.
He was pretty miserable while it lasted, though. Very lethargic, very clingy, not at all himself. I somehow managed to pull a groin muscle Sunday afternoon while rocking him in the computer chair, with my left leg propped up on the arm of the couch to facilitate rocking. Why this made the muscle on the right of my groin scream bloody murder when I stood up afterwards, I still don't know.
That pulled muscle sucked like nothing this pregnancy has sucked before. >_< I spent most of the last couple days lumbering around the house in an odd bowlegged manner that inspired my smart-ass husband to imitate the noises made by Bioshock's Big Daddies.( Link for the in-laws. Yes, Deb, the boy you raised is comparing his wife to that thing in the image - which makes one hell of a creepy noise. I cannot imagine how Mark will top that someday when he has a spouse and kids, but I'm sure he'll think of something. >_<;; ) I would beat Dav soundly if walking didn't hurt so much that I'm afraid of what a proper husband-chastisement would do to me. ;p
Stair walking is so painful I need to brace my arms on the walls as I take each step to keep the weight off the pulled muscle. Stairs without walls, like the front stoop, are agonizing. I've had to enlist Dav's help getting Mark downstairsin the mornings, and lifting him from the floor at bath time and bedtime. Dav stayed home yesterday, so he could drive us to doctor appts, but today I'm flying solo. Mark's going to have to nap in the playpen downstairs. There's just no way I can lug him upstairs to the crib. Getting onto the bed, or back up from it, for my frequent nocturnal bathroom trips? Oh dear Lord... ;_;
I tried taking Extra Strength Tylenol (two 500 mg caplets) on Sunday, but it didn't even make a dent in the pain. Hence the two doctor appts., one for the still-diarrhea-stricken Zodling, and one for me to my primary doctor. She made sympathetic clucking noises, but said that at this stage of my pregnancy, 1000 mg of tylenol is the strongest thing she feels safe advising me to take; I need to talk to the WHC for anything stronger. She advised lots of rest, or as much as a sickly toddler can let me take, and alternating ice and heat on the muscle. She did take a swab of my sore throat, and gave me a five day course of Zithromax for that. First dose certainly seems to be working on my congestion and sore throat so far. Here's hoping it knocks out that damn congestion for good.
The WHC nurse said they can't give me anything stronger than Tylenol without being seen by one of their doctors. Sigh. I don't want prescription meds. I just want some better OTC stuff than Tylenol. Oh well. Walking's less painful than it was; with luck and rest, maybe stairs will be more tolerable in a few days. It had better be - Dav's going TDY for four days next week. >_<
This time we saw a Dr. Durham. She thinks, based on the fever outbreak, and the state of the diaper Mark made during her exam, that he might have a bacterial infection after all. So she sent me, with the diaper wrapped in a ziplock baggie, to the lab so they could do a workup on the contents. Depending on just what kind of infection it may be, certain meds may clear it up, or make it worse, so they need to know precisely what they're dealing with. She assured me that since it was such an, er, fresh and massive sample, the lab would take it as is, and all I had to do was walk slowly to the lab so there would be time for the test orders to get through the system to the lab desk, and drop it off.
Lab receptionist told me the first part of the orders were in her computer, but not all that she needed, and please sit down, she'd come get me when all the stuff she needed was in the computer.
Half an hour later. Dav's finished rescheduling an appt so it doesn't conflict with his TDY, gotten my Zithromax prescription from the pharmacy, and is hanging out with us in the lab waiting room. We're both wondering what's taking so long. I, being more passive, am assuming everything's ok, and do my best to keep our little Zodling's bored whining within reasonable decibels. Dav's response boils down to "Fuck that, let the Power Of Crying speed these people up!"
Sure enough, the same lab receptionist comes over, looking confused, and asks what we're waiting for. I remind her that she told me, when we checked in, that we needed to wait for the lab orders to come through from the doctor's office, and she would come get us when they did. "OH! I didn't mean for you to wait that long! I forgot all about you!!" >_<
More fiddling around at the computer by said lady. I bring over the ziplock baggie to her counter - the same baggie I'd brought half an hour earlier, when I checked in. She scans my ID again - then stares at the baggie like she's never seen it before. "The lab won't take a diaper as a sample." Um, the doctor told me to bring it right over, so it'd still be fresh for the lab techs. He made it when we were in the exam room. Blank look from her. "The lab can't take that. It's been soaked up by the diaper." I bit back a sharp reminder that if she'd not forgotten about us, it would have been perfectly fresh, and asked her just what we could do then.
She tells me *I* need to take the diaper, a sample cup, and a couple wooden sticks into the bathroom and scrape as much as I can into the cup. Doesn't offer me rubber gloves until Davner sharply inquires about them.
That? Was one of the most disgusting things I've ever done as a mother. ::dies a little inside:: It certainly would've been a HELL of a lot easier if I'd been able to do it back in the pediatric exam room, or I don't know, back when we first checked into the lab?! >_< I despise that lab receptionist, I really do.
Believe me, I left the sticks, the gloves, and the diaper - not in the baggie - in their bathroom garbage. Serves her right.
Then I had to hand-write a sticker label with our identifying info for the lady. I don't know why, if the orders were in the compy, she couldn't print up a label as I'd seen her do for other samples as we were waiting. It was almost the end of the day shift, when the lab closes down; she probably didn't want to be bothered. ::sigh:: Again, if she hadn't forgotten about us, it would have been done sooner and easier, and she wouldn't be coping with a stool sample at the end of her work day.
I just hope the sample doesn't get lost somehow because of the handwritten label. I will raise a massive ruckus if it does. Wrath of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
davner has got nothing on the righteous wrath of a pissed off mother.
To sum up: Dr. Durham said we're doing great with our at-home care of Mark, especially the hydration, and unless it comes up positive for a bacterial infection, we're doing all that can be done.
If there does turn out to be a bacterial infection, we'll get a call from Dr. Durham or someone at Pediatrics. If we hear nothing in a week, we're to call Pediatrics just to be safe, but no news should be assumed to be good news.
Heh. Given our run-in with Forgetful Receptionist, I'm not betting on that being the case this time.
Zodling's fever only lasted something over 24 hours. It went down significantly after a cool bath Sunday night, and was completely over when Dav went to check on him after hearing him cry a couple hours after bedtime.
He was pretty miserable while it lasted, though. Very lethargic, very clingy, not at all himself. I somehow managed to pull a groin muscle Sunday afternoon while rocking him in the computer chair, with my left leg propped up on the arm of the couch to facilitate rocking. Why this made the muscle on the right of my groin scream bloody murder when I stood up afterwards, I still don't know.
That pulled muscle sucked like nothing this pregnancy has sucked before. >_< I spent most of the last couple days lumbering around the house in an odd bowlegged manner that inspired my smart-ass husband to imitate the noises made by Bioshock's Big Daddies.( Link for the in-laws. Yes, Deb, the boy you raised is comparing his wife to that thing in the image - which makes one hell of a creepy noise. I cannot imagine how Mark will top that someday when he has a spouse and kids, but I'm sure he'll think of something. >_<;; ) I would beat Dav soundly if walking didn't hurt so much that I'm afraid of what a proper husband-chastisement would do to me. ;p
Stair walking is so painful I need to brace my arms on the walls as I take each step to keep the weight off the pulled muscle. Stairs without walls, like the front stoop, are agonizing. I've had to enlist Dav's help getting Mark downstairsin the mornings, and lifting him from the floor at bath time and bedtime. Dav stayed home yesterday, so he could drive us to doctor appts, but today I'm flying solo. Mark's going to have to nap in the playpen downstairs. There's just no way I can lug him upstairs to the crib. Getting onto the bed, or back up from it, for my frequent nocturnal bathroom trips? Oh dear Lord... ;_;
I tried taking Extra Strength Tylenol (two 500 mg caplets) on Sunday, but it didn't even make a dent in the pain. Hence the two doctor appts., one for the still-diarrhea-stricken Zodling, and one for me to my primary doctor. She made sympathetic clucking noises, but said that at this stage of my pregnancy, 1000 mg of tylenol is the strongest thing she feels safe advising me to take; I need to talk to the WHC for anything stronger. She advised lots of rest, or as much as a sickly toddler can let me take, and alternating ice and heat on the muscle. She did take a swab of my sore throat, and gave me a five day course of Zithromax for that. First dose certainly seems to be working on my congestion and sore throat so far. Here's hoping it knocks out that damn congestion for good.
The WHC nurse said they can't give me anything stronger than Tylenol without being seen by one of their doctors. Sigh. I don't want prescription meds. I just want some better OTC stuff than Tylenol. Oh well. Walking's less painful than it was; with luck and rest, maybe stairs will be more tolerable in a few days. It had better be - Dav's going TDY for four days next week. >_<
This time we saw a Dr. Durham. She thinks, based on the fever outbreak, and the state of the diaper Mark made during her exam, that he might have a bacterial infection after all. So she sent me, with the diaper wrapped in a ziplock baggie, to the lab so they could do a workup on the contents. Depending on just what kind of infection it may be, certain meds may clear it up, or make it worse, so they need to know precisely what they're dealing with. She assured me that since it was such an, er, fresh and massive sample, the lab would take it as is, and all I had to do was walk slowly to the lab so there would be time for the test orders to get through the system to the lab desk, and drop it off.
Lab receptionist told me the first part of the orders were in her computer, but not all that she needed, and please sit down, she'd come get me when all the stuff she needed was in the computer.
Half an hour later. Dav's finished rescheduling an appt so it doesn't conflict with his TDY, gotten my Zithromax prescription from the pharmacy, and is hanging out with us in the lab waiting room. We're both wondering what's taking so long. I, being more passive, am assuming everything's ok, and do my best to keep our little Zodling's bored whining within reasonable decibels. Dav's response boils down to "Fuck that, let the Power Of Crying speed these people up!"
Sure enough, the same lab receptionist comes over, looking confused, and asks what we're waiting for. I remind her that she told me, when we checked in, that we needed to wait for the lab orders to come through from the doctor's office, and she would come get us when they did. "OH! I didn't mean for you to wait that long! I forgot all about you!!" >_<
More fiddling around at the computer by said lady. I bring over the ziplock baggie to her counter - the same baggie I'd brought half an hour earlier, when I checked in. She scans my ID again - then stares at the baggie like she's never seen it before. "The lab won't take a diaper as a sample." Um, the doctor told me to bring it right over, so it'd still be fresh for the lab techs. He made it when we were in the exam room. Blank look from her. "The lab can't take that. It's been soaked up by the diaper." I bit back a sharp reminder that if she'd not forgotten about us, it would have been perfectly fresh, and asked her just what we could do then.
She tells me *I* need to take the diaper, a sample cup, and a couple wooden sticks into the bathroom and scrape as much as I can into the cup. Doesn't offer me rubber gloves until Davner sharply inquires about them.
That? Was one of the most disgusting things I've ever done as a mother. ::dies a little inside:: It certainly would've been a HELL of a lot easier if I'd been able to do it back in the pediatric exam room, or I don't know, back when we first checked into the lab?! >_< I despise that lab receptionist, I really do.
Believe me, I left the sticks, the gloves, and the diaper - not in the baggie - in their bathroom garbage. Serves her right.
Then I had to hand-write a sticker label with our identifying info for the lady. I don't know why, if the orders were in the compy, she couldn't print up a label as I'd seen her do for other samples as we were waiting. It was almost the end of the day shift, when the lab closes down; she probably didn't want to be bothered. ::sigh:: Again, if she hadn't forgotten about us, it would have been done sooner and easier, and she wouldn't be coping with a stool sample at the end of her work day.
I just hope the sample doesn't get lost somehow because of the handwritten label. I will raise a massive ruckus if it does. Wrath of
davner has got nothing on the righteous wrath of a pissed off mother.To sum up: Dr. Durham said we're doing great with our at-home care of Mark, especially the hydration, and unless it comes up positive for a bacterial infection, we're doing all that can be done.
If there does turn out to be a bacterial infection, we'll get a call from Dr. Durham or someone at Pediatrics. If we hear nothing in a week, we're to call Pediatrics just to be safe, but no news should be assumed to be good news.
Heh. Given our run-in with Forgetful Receptionist, I'm not betting on that being the case this time.
