Jack stayed home from school yesterday. He had woken up in the middle of the night Saturday, crying in pain and complaining that his ear hurt. We had him swallow some ibuprofen, and he went back to bed, but hours later Sunday morning, he was still sobbing and in obvious pain. He was running a 100° fever, too. After much cajoling, I got him dressed and ready, and Philip and he headed off to Urgent Care on Sunday.
Jack said to Philip as they crossed the parking lot to the building, "I don't feel so good," but Philip told him to take a sip of his juice and maybe he would feel better. Jack did, but rather than feel better, he threw up all over the floor as soon as they walked into the clinic. The triage nurses took one look at him, told Philip that it would be over a 2-hour wait, and they asked if he'd like a referral out to Children's Hospital in Omaha so that Jack could be seen more quickly.
Philip agreed to take the referral, and the nurses gave him printed directions out to Children's. After arriving there, the triage nurses immediately set out to help Jack be more comfortable. They said that he looked so bad, so miserable, and they called him and Philip back and gave them their own room to wait in, instead of the waiting room in the front. There was a bed, and Jack passed out asleep until the doctor came in later. Philip said she had to only take a very quick peek into Jack's ear, and then she pronounced, "Yup. That's draining. That's got to hurt really bad." She wrote prescriptions for ibuprofen, Amoxicillin, and ear drops, and they were on their way once again.
Philip called and asked me which pharmacy to go to (usually our prescriptions are filled right there at the base hospital immediately after seeing the doctor), and I told him he should go ahead and grab lunch for himself while he was out, and for Jack, if he was hungry. By that time, it had been about 3.5 hours. I figured they would be home within the hour or so.
As it turns out, however, they didn't get home for another 2.5 hours. The prescriptions took a while to fill, and they went inside to eat at a Burger King on the way home, rather than just running through the drive-thru. While they were eating, Jack threw up on the floor. I guess the gal sent to clean up Jack's barf was very sympathetic, offering Jack a second kid's meal toy, saying, "Here. Maybe this will help him feel better." Awww.
Finally - nearly six hours from the time they left the house - they arrived back home. I gave Jack his first dose of antibiotic, gave him another ibuprofen, and put his ear drops in. It hurt him for me to touch, so he gently prodded a small piece of cottonball into his ear by himself. Then he changed into his pajamas and climbed in bed, "Not to sleep, Mom - just a rest." I nodded, thinking,
"Sure, Jack." He was OUT for the rest of the day, the night, and all the way through until yesterday morning.
I'd already called the school and left a message that he wouldn't be in class on Monday, so Jack lounged in his jammies while A.J. went to school. His ear was hurting him again (I'd not woken him in the night for another dose of ibuprofen), so I gave him his meds, and it took an hour or so for him to start feeling better. I'd called into Runza, letting them know I wouldn't be in for the day, and we just had a lazy morning together. He spent hours playing Lite-Brite® (he loves that toy, much the same as I did when I was younger), and Baby stayed near, keeping him company. She's such a very good nurse kitty. :-)
Baby guards the Bionicle blocks while watching Jack play with his Lite-Brite.If you look closely, you can see the tuft of cotton sticking out from Jack's right ear. :-)
( More pictures. )
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