Of the two kids, Peyton has always been the sicker of the two. Fortunately, both kids have been relatively healthy overall, but they’ve had their share of cough and colds. And neither has been called out for fever for as long as I can remember. Until today. Brandon and I were driving to school when a call came in. We were just down the street from Peyton, and the vice-principal told me that she had a fever of 100. Fortunately, today is Friday. Peyton’s had a cough, one that she usually picks up about October, and has it linger until March. No other symptoms, comes and goes, usually gets better with water or honey when it’s really bad. I thought it may be allergy/post nasal drip related, and we’d given her some antihistamines in the past with a little relief. I just hadn’t wanted to give her long-term medications, when she was fine otherwise. Now I feel really badly about this morning, since I took her in to get her lab work down. The pediatrician wants us to screen the kids to get a baseline history of their cholesterol given the family history on Dave’s side. My side has high cholesterol, too, but they are already on secondary prevention over there. She was in good spirits, even as we entered the parking lot from the street. She made sure to tell me, “It’s very froggy at your work” as the fog was thick this morning. She was fine when I let her pull a number and sit in the high chair in the lab. We had Mrs Ladybug, even though she read the tag correctly as “Bugsy”, for moral support. She was fine as we came up to the receptionist, fortunately not having to wait too long. But, as we made our way back to the chairs, she started the whining. I told her she could sit in any seat, and we made our way to the empty one at the end. I sat down, and she wouldn’t have any of it. I grabbed her, but she stiffened up – all of her. I worked to plop her on my lap, then the struggle began to take her sweatshirt, then shirt off. I didn’t want to just pull up the sleeve, since I didn’t want it in the way. She was bawling by now, and half-naked on top. I was solo on the mission, and then the phlebotomists came over. Two were needed – one just to hold the arm, while the other did the deed. I was instructed to wrap her in a bear hug, and her tears were getting everywhere. I covered her eyes, since she insisted on watching the needle go in (crazy girl). The guy that was drawing had to turn the needle 45 degrees, which made me queasy, but soon it was over. The girl asked if she wanted a sticker. She took the My Little Pony sticker, but didn’t say thank you. In fact, she was still glaring at the dude, who asked her, “Where are you going to breakfast now?” When met with silence, he went on to say, “Ya, I know you hate me right now.” Then, we did the walk of shame back through the lab. Most of the people in there were probably nearly 20 times Peyton’s age. Unless they were totally deaf, I’m sure they heard her. She was the only kid there. In any case, I made no eye contact as we walked back out of the lab. We tried to get her eye exam, as she was ready for it, though it may have been a bit distorted on account of all that crying. The manager, with whom I used to work, and who observed her last time, told me it was another 40 minutes before it would open. So, I told both of them we’d come back another time.
We made our way over to the coffee store nearby. I offered Peyton a choice of egg-white breakfast sandwiches. She chose the turkey bacon. I ordered her a steamed milk, and then told her to go find a seat for us. She claimed she needed help getting up since her arm was sore. I helped her, feeling badly for her. After a bit, the sandwich and milk were cool enough. She was afraid to eat or drink either since she saw the steam coming from both. She got through half the milk and half the sandwich. I asked her, “You didn’t like the sandwich?” She said, “No, I did, I just don’t want it anymore.” I had to ask again, since it’s so different with Brandon! He would have inhaled that whole thing in two seconds, hot or not, and then asked, “What else can I eat?” It’s amazing seeing a kid stop when they are full. I’ve heard about those kids, but it seems Peyton is learning not to force the issue. I took her to class, and separated without any fuss. I went to work for a half-day, then left to go get Brandon after chess club. There had been word of a school lock-down about 1.5 miles from our house. It turns out it was a hoax from a kid, but still, there were a couple of hours there where police were on the scene, in full force. By the time Brandon was due to be out, there had been an all clear issued. So, I stayed awhile longer before leaving to get him from Chess Club. He told us he wanted to be in it. It’s great, since we’ve taught him how each piece moves, and he really showed us interest. It helps that Theo and Josh are in class, too, but I think he’s taking it seriously. He told me he wanted to practice at home, and also, when we got home, he was reviewing the book he received in class today. Theo and Josh are in their second session, and this is the first for Brandon, so hopefully he makes up some ground. I’m glad we got into the session we did, otherwise, the next session was from 215pm to 315pm; tough if we wanted to skip out for a longer weekend. We went home briefly, then headed to Peyton’s school.
Because she was sickly, she was sitting out in the office. She looked so sad sitting there. The teachers had wrapped all her stuff up, and they handed it to me, so that I didn’t even have to go into the classroom. Poor thing was quarantined. I had plans to go to the library, but given she wasn’t feeling well, I went straight home. I didn’t take her temp again, and I didn’t have medicine either, but she seemed in okay spirits. Brandon went outside to play, while I kept Peyton inside the house with me. Brandon started giggling, and I wondered what was up. Soon, I saw. He was laughing so hard, he could barely tell me that he kicked his shoe over the fence. Thinking it was the street fence, I grabbed my keys to have him retrieve his shoe. But then, through his giggling, he pointed to the neighbor’s fence. I started laughing, too, as did Peyton. He was a mess. He continued to play with one socked foot, kicking the soccer ball around. Finally, he came in, and got his other pair of shoes. Peyton wanted to go out, too, but I had to convince her to stay inside. Dave came home after what felt like an eternity. Luckily, neither kid was super hungry, but both were hungry by 630pm. I had planned to feed them the salmon, veggies, and sweet potato from last night, so we didn’t really have to wait for Dave. I’d already given Peyton a bath, so after dinner, she went straight to bed. Brandon had some homework to finish up, then he was off to bed, too. Dave got an earful from his cousin (the brother of the one having surgery today), who told him to get himself checked out. He didn’t lecture on diet and exercise, but I have been. I guess it’s finally sinking in that he’s not invincible. Eating cake, drinking wine, and lying around on the couch isn’t going to make you live longer. He is in denial that exercise and diet do anything, that he’s already gotten his sentence. My counterpoint is that my job solely exists to have patients change their ways to prevent an event from occurring. Something clicked, finally, and he went out for a run around the track tonight! Oh, and he is “considering” hanging up the pull-up bar he purchased en route to the P90X that Ted had given him many moons ago. Dave was so determined to start once he got it. That was over a year ago now.
Here are some videos from tonight, after Peyton’s bath.
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Take TWO. Even when sick, we still have fun 😉
Update: Dave went out for a heater for the fish tank and a run. He came back with a heater. (Sigh…)