(43-343) There Are No Words

I don't like feeling helpless.  I'm not comfortable with feeling out of control and it is crucial that I make the ones that I love feel better.  Yet, when sickness and death are involved; we are all helpless.  We are all out of control, and there truly is nothing that any of us can say to make our loved one feel better.  Life is beautiful and yet cruel.  We build relationships with family, friends, pets, co-workers, and yet we are supposed to accept their illness or loss and just go on with our lives...  We all know that's not true.

My father was the first person that I personally knew who passed away and his passing was totally unexpected.  Yes, he'd been sick; but I had no idea that it was as serious as it actually was, and the fact that I'd been estranged from my mom for two years, just made the situation that much more precarious.  Things were complicated and no one really knew what to say to me, and at the age of 15 I just accepted that.

Just three years later when my mom's cancer came back and she started to get sick, I found that friends withdrew from me because they didn't know what to say or how to comfort me since death and such circumstances were something that was unfamiliar to them.  The truth of the matter is that someone who is suffering doesn't need you to have the perfect words, they just need your love and support and empathy and time.  No one can expect that someone else is going to have the magic words to make you feel all better, because those words don't exist. 

There are no words that can stop our loved ones from hurting in such situations, and really, NO ONE expects us to have them.  All that we can tell those who are suffering or nearing a loss is that we love and care for them, and that we are so sorry that they are hurting.  I know that it will make you feel helpless and out of control but there are some things that are just bigger than us.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-197) SICK Road Trip

For the most part I have a very high tolerance for pain and physical discomfort; which is why I don't usually let a cough, a cold, or congestion slow me down.  Surely if I have a fever, I wouldn't dream of contaminating others; but if it's just a matter of me suffering; I can usually withstand more than most. 

I took my temperature as soon as I got up this morning and I was very relieved to see that it was under 100; however, much to my surprise, the nasal congestion had kicked in.  I took some sinus medication and cough syrup; and I worked.  The meds didn't seem to be having much of an effect, but I thought to myself; "I can take a road trip in this condition.  I've done it before."  And indeed I have. 

In January 1997 Luis and I moved from Florida to Arizona by driving a Uhaul and towing our car.  We spent the first night in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and got an early start the next morning.  We'd been on the road for about four and a half hours and we needed to stop for gas just past Houston.  It was raining as we pulled off the exit, and I remember this clear as day - there was a gas station on our right, and a full-service 76 truck stop on the left.  Luis headed towards the truck stop and I questioned him about his choice; but he said that he just thought it was convenient; boy was he wrong!. He filled up and we thought we'd be on our way, but the Uhaul wouldn't start.  Long story short, it turned out that the gas pump had been left open during the storm and there was water in the gas; so we weren't going to be able to go anywhere, anytime soon.  We weren't the only people who'd had this unfortunate experience, but sadly, because we had the largest vehicle; we were the last to be assisted and it took FOREVER.  We spent the entire day at what can only be called a sociological smorgasbord.  A trucker could wash everything from his rig to his laundry, not to mention himself; (or herself, of course.)  One could rent a bunk, rent some porn, buy a gift; eat a meal AND call home on one of the phones that was conveniently located at each table in the restaurant.  The owners of the truck stop offered us a complimentary lunch and ultimately dinner; but I was leery about the fare.  By the time the Uhaul was ready, it was too late to get back on the road.  Lucky for us (yes that was a sarcastic lucky;) the owners of the truck stop also happened to own the motel across the street; and they allowed us to stay there free of charge. 

As if what seemed like the longest day of my life, hadn't been bad enough; as we drove the Uhaul across the street to the motel, Luis noticed that the hitch for the trailer was breaking.  We called Uhaul and they said that they were going to send someone out to help us; but the weather was still bad and it was going to take a while.
 
It was a pretty sleepless night for both Luis and I.  Luis had to go out with the Uhaul driver when he arrived; so they could fix the trailer and hitch and make sure that the Uhaul was OK, after what it had been through with the water in the gas tank.  As for me, I was getting sick; REALLY sick.

We went over to the truck stop for breakfast, and I bought tissues and some cold medicine.  The truck stop owners gave us a complimentary breakfast and a cooler with some beverages and snacks.  But me being me; I politely pushed the matter further and they saw their way to give us $50 in cash as well.

We got on the road and suffice it to say I was miserable.  We felt like we had to make up for lost time, so we drove and drove; and Luis laughed at me because my nose was so red from blowing it so much.  Luis said that I was going to make a scary first impression on Bobbi; who'd been kind enough to offer to put us up for a week; even though we'd never met in person before.  But I felt awful and there was nothing I could do before we arrived in Phoenix. 

I can't believe that this fiasco took place 14 years ago.  I suppose that it would have been easy to think that we were heading for a disaster considering our mishap at the truck stop, the broken hitch and my catastrophic cold; but we maintained the attitude of "what else could go wrong?"
When all was said and done, we arrived safe and sound; just a lil worse for the wear.  It was a SICK road trip; but totally worth it.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-196) Thank You Winston Churchill

Yes of course I caught what the kids have.  You can't be in close proximity to these germs and love on them as much as I do; and NOT catch this crap; but what's a mom to do?  I've been coughing for a few days now; but I was hoping that it was just the power of suggestion. I tried to remain positive, and disregard my symptoms; but when my temp got to 101.5; I knew that it was official. Thankfully I don't feel nearly as bad as one might expect; but nonetheless; I KNOW that if we can't rid ourselves of at least these fevers; we can't take our trip on Thursday. 

Now I haven't mentioned Luis thus far; and that might just be my way of willing him NOT to get sick; but I will tell you that (knock on wood) he's been fever free to date; although his nose has been running which isn't the case for any of the rest of us.

I knew that I needed to update my cousin Jackie this morning, so I texted her to let her know that I was now running a temperature; and she was amazingly optimistic.  I've been trying to remain positive as well; but I worry about getting anyone in her family sick.

Because I want to believe that we will all be well enough to travel, and not spread our illness to anyone else; I decided to look for a quote (big surprise I'm sure;) that would inspire me to think the best.  I quickly found a quote by Winston Churchill; and even though it doesn't exactly pertain to THIS situation; I thought it related very well to everything else that I've been experiencing these past two weeks.  “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”   

If you've read "The Bumpy Ride" before; then you know that I'm a big (yes) HUGE fan of optimism.  And I have to say, Thank you Winston Churchill; because your words were exactly the reminder that I needed, in order to move freely past all that's been troubling me; Flu as well. 
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-194) Mother Knows Best??

Just as I've previously promised that this was not becoming an all Scrapbooking blog, an all Politics blog, an all Soccer blog, an all Feet blog, an all Quote blog or an all anything else that I've ever had to promise this blog was not going to be all about; blog ~ it's also NOT becoming my journal, or sickness update blog; because really, who wants to read that?  BUT, (and of course you knew there had to be a but;) since my trials and tribulations are as much a part of "The Bumpy Ride" as my humor and advice are; that brings me to today's topic.

When I wrote "ALL AROUND ALL STAR,"  I told you that Nicky had gotten quite sick, very unexpectedly; and I even remarked that the rapid onset of his illness, was very much like what we'd experienced with Lyndzi two weeks ago.  Well as I was typing that post, I could hear Lyndzi coughing in the play room; and I asked Luis to give her a breathing treatment, because it sounded like her Asthma cough.  Luis went over to Lyndzi and she felt unusually warm; so he took her temperature; and it was 102.5  I couldn't believe it.  This poor child. 

We immediately started giving her breathing treatments and Ibuprofen; and since her cough actually sounded worse than what Nicky had; we gave her some of his cough syrup as well.  Lyndzi rested comfortably until about 5am when I heard her coughing.  I woke up and she was crying because she couldn't breathe.  I took her downstairs and had to give her two consecutive breathing treatments because she was in such distress. I took her temperature, and it was 105.2; which I knew wasn't because she'd been sleeping on that ear.  I gave Lyndzi Ibuprofen and got her back to sleep; but I set my alarm for 7:40, so that we could make it to Urgent Care right when they opened.

We arrived at Urgent Care just a few minutes after 8 and there were two patients ahead of us.  Lyndzi was crying because she didn't feel well; and after a considerable wait, we saw the doctor.  The doctor happened to be the same one that we saw two weeks ago; but he seemed perplexed by Lyndzi's symptoms.  After examining her, he told us that he believed she had an ear infection, and her Asthma, of course.  He said that she and Nicky could be passing a virus back and forth; and he also mentioned the possibility of the flu.  He asked if she'd been exposed to anyone who had the flu; but I told him that our entire family had gotten the flu shot; and to the best of my knowledge, Lyndzi hadn't been around anyone who'd had the flu.  Nonetheless, he prescribed the flu medication as well.

We dropped off Lyndzi's prescriptions at CVS; and I took her home to give her another breathing treatment and some Tylenol.  When I went back to pick up the prescriptions, the pharmacy tech told me that she had tried to call me because they didn't have the flu medication at that location.  She found another pharmacy that had it; but while she was checking into it, Luis called me.  I asked Luis about the flu medication, given his pharmacy knowledge; and my uncertainty about this diagnosis.  Luis explained that all the medicine would do is help with the flu symptoms like congestion and body aches etc; it wouldn't cure the flu.  I told him that she hadn't complained of body aches or any other flu like symptoms and he suggested that I speak to the pharmacist.  I had a lengthy conversation with the pharmacist and we both agreed that it seemed unlikely that Lyndzi had the flu.  I told him that I didn't want to over medicate Lyndzi; especially, considering that she had only just finished antibiotics and steroids a week ago; and he agreed.  He said, sometimes mom just knows best; so I asked him, "if she was your daughter,would you give her the flu medicine?"  And he said "no." 

I left feeling confident about my decision not to give Lyndzi the flu medication.  I took her prescriptions home and gave her medications.  She's been resting a lot more comfortably; and so far it seems that I made the right choice.  For Lyndzi's sake, I sure hope that this time, Mother knows best.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-193) ALL AROUND ALL-STAR

When I wrote "A Spirit Lift," I shared ten things that I was looking forward to; and #9 was Date Day. I explained that Luis and I were planning to celebrate Valentine's Day early, on Friday; so when I returned home from volunteering in Kelsie and Lyndzi's classes, Luis and I were on our way.  Luis told me that he needed to stop at Autozone to get some oil for the minivan; and then we could get going; but while I was waiting in the car; the school nurse called and said that she had Nicky in her office; he had fever, he wasn't feeling well, and he needed to be picked up.  I told her that we'd be there in five minutes.

I have to admit, that when the nurse said that it was Nicky that she had in her office, I was really surprised; because he hadn't exhibited any signs of being ill.  When I got to the nurse's office, she told me that Nicky had 100.4 temp, was coughing and complaining of a headache.  We took Nicky home, he rested; and other than a low grade fever, he seemed to be doing OK; so the kids and I met Jenny and her kids for dinner, since it was the SMF's night out.

Nicky ate dinner, but his energy seemed lower than usual; and he started to get very tired.  Once we got home, I could hear that Nicky was now congested and in need of a breathing treatment.  During his breathing treatment I asked him if he could see himself playing soccer in the morning if he felt just like this; and he said no.  I told him that I knew that he would be very disappointed if he had to miss the All-Star game; but that I wanted him to focus on how proud he should be of himself, for being invited to play.  I asked if he thought I should let his coach know that he wasn't going to be able to play; but he asked me to wait until morning.

I set my alarm for 8am, thinking that if Nicky wasn't going to be well enough for the All-Star game, it should give his coach time to ask someone else; since the game was scheduled for 11.  But by 3am I could hear Nicky coughing, so I got up and went to him.  We took his temperature and he had 102.4  I gave him a breathing treatment and emailed his coach; and I have to say that I thought Nicky handled his disappointment amazingly well.

By 745 I heard Nicky coughing again, so I got up and he was crying.  He was  congested, and uncomfortable and he was BURNING up with 106 temp.  We took his temperature again, because we were shocked that it was so high; and we got a reading of 102.5; so Luis reasoned that he must have been sleeping on the ear that was 106.  We gave Nicky Ibuprofen and a breathing treatment; and I took him to Urgent Care.

Once again, I have to sing the praises of Alliance Urgent Care as we had no wait; and the personnel were lovely.  Nicky was diagnosed with Acute Bronchitis and Sinusitis; and they prescribed an antibiotic, a cough syrup with Codeine; and yes, steroids for the Asthma.

I don't know why I'm so surprised that within 12 hours Nicky went from seeming absolutely fine; to being so sick; because that's EXACTLY what had happened to Lyndzi just a couple of weeks ago; and yet, it seems unbelievable nonetheless.  I can't tell you how extraordinarily proud I am of how well Nicky coped with his disappointment over the All-Star game; and I thing that just goes to show that Nicky really is an ALL AROUND ALL STAR.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

You Know You Have A Problem When...#5

You Know You Have A Problem When you go to the pediatrician's office and one of (the many) receptionists tells you that she had been thinking about you, because you hadn't been in for a few days. (This was last Tuesday.) I responded by saying "You haven't seen me in a few days because my husband brought my younger daughter in on Friday."

So let me rewind. In my "Lyndzi's Advice" post, I regaled you with the details of Lyndzi's recent illnesses; but in light of the past few months I feel the need to offer a recap. For brevity's sake (yes, A new concept for me;) I'll only go as far back as January.

OK, so upon our return from beautiful, Puerto Vallarta both Lyndzi and Kelsie were suffering with their allergies and asthma, and ultimately Kelsie was diagnosed with pneumonia and Lyndzi with RSV. This stint brought us to the doctor's office every day for a week; and this one, kind, receptionist took notice of this fact, and just shook her head in dismay every time she saw me walk through the door. She shook her head again a few weeks ago, during spring break when I came in for Lyndzi who was diagnosed with Strep throat. She shook her head less than a week later when I came in for Nicky who had been running a high fever, and complained of a terrible sore throat. Because we were so convinced it was strep, I ran him in for the test but we didn't have an exam. Trust me when I tell you that this was not the exam to skip, because the culture was negative, but the next night we wound up in Urgent Care because Nicky had double pink eye. The doctor also gave him an antibiotic for Pharyngitis, and when all was said and done; Nicky had missed 4 days of school. 2 1/2 weeks later, Luis brought Kelsie in for fever, congestion and discharge from her eyes; and she was diagnosed with both a sinus and ear infections. AND then a couple of days after that; I returned to the pediatricians office, and this is when she shook her head at me and made the comment about thinking about me; when I brought Nicky in due to another high temp, headache and congestion; and he walked out with strep throat. On my way out the door, I reported to her that it was in fact strep this time and jokingly asked her NOT to think about me again. Nicky returned to school on Monday, after missing ANOTHER 4 days; but yesterday Kelsie started running a temp and she was really congested, and this morning it sounded like I had a seal take up residence in my house; so guess where I went today? Once again she shook her head and uttered the words "Oh come on; I just can't believe it." I asked her if she'd been thinking about me; but she swore that she hadn't.

Kelsie and I waited in the examining room and entertained ourselves with MANY games of Tic Tac Toe. While we were playing I noticed that Kelsie had really fat fingers below her knuckles. I LOVINGLY commented that I had never realized that she had such chubby fingers and she said "Everyone does." I said "No, not everyone ;"and I showed her my fingers which aside from my feet are the only thin thing on my body. When she realized that not everyone had chubby fingers, she said "I guess I'd better do some exercise;" and it was the cutest thing in the world. She followed that up with, "And you should probably do some exercise too Mommy." To which I replied "I would love to; if my children would stay healthy so that I could put them in the childcare at the gym or send them to school." The nurse practitioner then examined Kelsie an as I was leaving I stopped by the desk to tell "My friend" that Kelsie had Croup. Oh yes, it's not just for babies. My friend and I recapped that since January my household has now experienced allergies, asthma, Pneumonia, RSV, Sinus infections, ear infections, Strep throat, Pink eye and Croup. I said "What's next, pestilence?" And she kinda shrugged and said "well," like it wasn't an impossibility; so I swear I am totally considering scrubbing them all down with Lice shampoo, just as a precaution.

Now I honestly don't think it's enjoyable to read about all of my kids ailments and I have tried to spare you all the gory details; but of course I have a point and that is; now you know where the heck I've been. I have TONS of things that I have been thinking about writing about. I still want to share my Ass Burrito story, I have been dying to comment on American Idol and Dancing With the Stars; and I'm totally itching for someone to throw another Six Degrees challenge my way; however, instead I have been caring for my sick children and trying to balance my life.

I saw a book about Diablo Cody in Barnes & Noble the other day, and I looked at it longingly thinking, "now maybe if I become a stripper, someone will want to publish my writing." Then again, I'd really have to get back to the gym in order to make that happen, and given the health of my family, who knows how soon that will be. So instead, I am really going to commit myself to getting this blog out come Hell or high water or Strep, or Croup. I need to take a pledge like the mailmen; no rain or snow or sleet or hail ... will keep me from writing my blog; as God is my witness... Now there's gotta be some kind of recognition for combining the postmans pledge and a line from "Gone with the Wind;"... or not. But at least I feel like I'm getting my mojo back. Ya'know once I start rambling, "The Ride" is getting back to normal.

As for my kids, please send positive thoughts their way.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING