No, sadly not the weather (it's actually really cold), but Miss Serious' forehead. And stomach, legs, feet, etc. She woke us up on Friday morning (just FYI - it's really dark out at 5:00 am) with a cough and a temperature of 102.5. I considered this a high temperature for her, as this is about as hot as she gets.
Until that night, when she called me from her bed. I touched her, and was stunned by the amount of heat that was radiating off of her. Whipping out my trusty thermometer, I stuck it in her mouth, and saw the number 104.5. No, no, my sleep-addled brain told me. That can't be right. Try again. Same.
I'm generally a calm person when the kids get sick, but situations like these are definitely times when it's hard to be the grown-up in charge. It's nice to be able to turn to someone else in authority and have them take charge. Unfortunately, part of being a parent involves the whole in-charge thing, so I hustled over to The Professor and announced that he should probably get dressed because we may be going for a little ride. It also doesn't help when your burning hot 7 year old asks you in a croaky whisper if you can die from having a fever. Miss Serious rarely fools around when asking questions....
Luckily, one of the wonderful benefits of living in a country such as ours is that not only do we have a great doctor, but said doctor has an emergency line that you can call at 2:30 in the morning when you need some answers right quick. She calmly gave us some helpful instructions and within 45 minutes the fever reduced to a less horrifying 103.
We took her in to see the doctor the following day (how someone can be so bright and alert after being awakened in the middle of the night coupled with having an office full of sick kids on a Saturday completely eludes me - I myself looked like death on a cracker), all tests came back negative, and we were told that she had a virus, and just to treat the symptoms. After another tough night, Miss Serious woke with a much lower fever, and when she rolled her eyes at The Professor when he made a joke, we knew she was on the mend.
I often lament the amount of money that we pay towards our health care, but at times like these, I couldn't be more grateful for it, or for the wonderful people who make it their life's work to minister to the likes of me and my family. We (and Miss Serious' much cooler forehead) thank you.
1 comment:
No truer words have been spoken: "...situations like these are definitely times when it's hard to be the grown-up in charge."
Glad she's doing better. I used to crack open the windows in Chunky's room when he'd get those scary fevers. And those viral-mystery ones are the worst.
Glad she's feeling better!
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