Jack's sick day.

[navygreen]

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. :-)



Baby bathes herself in a beam of light.






Keeper of the Bionicles.

Comments

[marshmelococoa.livejournal.com]

Oh the poor boy. I bet he was embarrassed to throw up in public twice. Oh man. I hope he's feeling better today. I love that Baby keeps an eye on him. awwwww.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Kitties really can be the very best nurses. They're so compassionate, and they always just *know* when you're feeling down.

[marshmelococoa.livejournal.com]

I agree! And they just feel so extra cozy when you need that extra snuggle. It's partially why I have so many! :)

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Cats are the best blankets. ;-)

[aiseiri-47.livejournal.com]

Awww. Poor Jack! :( *gives hug* I hope he feels better soon.

And, Lite Brite! *GASPS*

I got my lite brite when I was like... 4 I think. Except, unlike Jack's nifty modern one, it was old fashioned and thus HUGE because of the bulb in the back used to light up to board. x.x

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

That's what I tell him all the time - that *my* Lite-Brite was a beast of a toy. There are pros and cons to the change, though. He has a Lite-Brite Cube, and he has four sides to work designs on. However, each of the four sides is considerably smaller workspace that I used to have in my HUGE one. I mean, I can't even easily spell my name in a straight-ish line on one side of his - crazy!

Of course, I suppose it's a good thing he has a nice, short name - as does his brother. ;-)

[posthaste.livejournal.com]

i cannot *wait* until ally is old enough for lite-brite. i loved it when i was a kid, chris doesn't think she's old enough yet...i think it would be an awesome 4th birthday present.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

The boys received theirs as a joint Christmas gift last year. I think A.J. played with it on that day, but I'm not sure he has since. Jack, on the other hand, ADORES the Lite-Brite, and he is found with it OFTEN.

I'm sure Ally would love it, and I'm sure she would take care of her little pegs. You might have to make it an "only-during-Sophie's-nap" toy for a little while, though.

[syven.livejournal.com]

Awww, poor little guy. I hope his ear feels better soon.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

I think he's mostly recovered now - he seems to be in no more pain (though he'll continue the drops and antibiotics for another week still). He's heading back to school tomorrow. :-)

[katielovesmatt.livejournal.com]

I sure hope he feels better soon!!! poor guy.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

He does tonight, and he'll be back to school again tomorrow. :-)

[posthaste.livejournal.com]

aww poor guy, what a sweet post though. you're such a good mama *hugs*

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

I have sweet, sweet boys. :-)

[daphyn.livejournal.com]

Oh, the poor boy... I had chronic ear infections when I was little. If it's still hurting today try a hot water bottle or hot wet washcloth on it, that helps relieve it some.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Me too - I had ear infections all the time. I remember sleeping a lot just because when I tried to *do* anything, the noise of it bothered me.

[daphyn.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. It's amazing how much everyday sounds can be amplified when everything hurts like that :/ That's part of why I read so much - that's all I could do lying with my head on a hot water bottle!

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we haven't even done bedtime stories the past two nights. :-/

[daphyn.livejournal.com]

Oh, the poor thing :/ I'll say a healing prayer for him before I go to bed.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

He's back to being a buckaroo tonight - no worries!

[butterflymama3.livejournal.com]

Poor Jack! I hope he is feeling better. It is good that he has Baby to watch over him and keep him safe.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

She's a good nurse. She's like Nana from Peter Pan. :-)

[inkedmama.livejournal.com]

poor bug. i hope he starts feeling better! ear pain is the worst!

and i dig his sandy cheeks! i'm waiting for chase to get just a little bit older so we can get him a lite-brite. i loved mine growing up.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

I used to have SO many ear infections when I was little. I never had tubes, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that I probably needed them.

Sandy? What does that mean? I'm confused. :-P I'm sure Chase isn't too far off from using a Lite-Brite either. I commented above to Jess my thoughts on Ally using one, and Chase and she are just about the same age, right?

[inkedmama.livejournal.com]

the character in his lite brite picture - sandy cheeks from spongebob. :)

chase is a couple months older than ally, but, her being a girl, she has a lot more patience. i'm guessing it'll be on his birthday/christmas list this year though.

[twistperception.livejournal.com]

Poor guy, hope he is feeling better soon!

And damn, now I want a Lite Brite!

:)

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Get one! Arden is totally old enough for one now, and if you get it soon, she should have about a year's worth of time playing with it before you really have to worry about India getting into the small pieces.

Oh, and maybe she'll let you play with it once in a while, too. ;-)

[beanpop.livejournal.com]

Poor Jack, I hope he gets feeling better soon. Cats always seem to know when you're feeling down or upset. After Dad died, Athena wouldn't leave my side at ALL. She slept with me, sat with me, even went to the bathroom with me.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Cats are amazingly emotionally-attentive. I've always found that to be so.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

Poor jack!
That is a great picture up there at the top though. Love the light effect! So how did they change the lite brite? I only remember mine with the light bulb in the back. I think although Maylie might be old enough for one, that I'd end up with all the lite brite pegs all over the house

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's gonna take me a loooooong time to figure out the new cam, though. I'm considering all pictures for the next year to be "test shots." ;-D

They might still make the old Lite-Brite, but Jack's is certainly different. His is the Lite-Brite Cube, and it has working space on each of the four sides. There are trays on two of the sides to hold all the light pegs (and, I should add, that the pegs you can see in that one picture are half of what we have - the tray on the other side is holding just as many pegs, too - and that we've never bought replacements yet; it came with that many to start!). The workspace on each side is much smaller than the huge Lite-Brite I had when I was little (I remember we could tack up regular printer paper on it), but since this is all Jack has seen, he doesn't seem to mind at all. Not only that, but it's ideal for having two or more children working on a piece at the same time (no fighting for "My TURN!")

I do need to buy Jack some more pattern refills, though. He's been working the same two sets for over a year now...

[rafferty.livejournal.com]

Awww, poor Jack. I hope he feels better soon. Make sure the cotton doesn't get stuck in his ear. I heard a story on the radio this morning about some youngster in the UK who had been deaf in one ear for 6 or 8 years, until finally a big piece of cotton popped out of his ear. Obviously they didn't have a Dr. check it out, which is odd, as the dad even made a comment about thinking the boy had stuck something in his ear when he was a toddler.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Didja see that cottonball above? That's only HALF of a regular cottonball, and look how much it sticks out. I'm pretty sure we can't forget it, and that is a good thing. ;-)

[jillerbob.livejournal.com]

lol all of the sudden im singing the lite brite song.. and i have a feeling it will be stuck in my head alll day.

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Lite-Brite, Lite-Brite, turn on the magic of colored lights! :-D

[greencow.livejournal.com]

poor jack! i hope he feels better soon. i remember getting ear infections a lot when i was a kid...i found a heating pad helps tons!

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

I always hated taking out one cottonball to swap it for a new one - the old had warmth that was so comforting, and the gush of air plus the cold new cottonball - painful!

[ascendinginto.livejournal.com]

awww poor Jack. Although you'd never know to look at him how sick he is. What a trooper. Hope he feels better asap!

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

You could definitely tell when the ibuprofen would wear off, though. Thankfully, he's much better this evening, and he'll be heading to school tomorrow. :-)

[shoebox_addict]

Ohhh, poor Jack. :( Give him a hug from me!

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

Awww, I will. He's doing better now, and he should be back at school tomorrow. :-)

[bydaylight.livejournal.com]

Aaw, I hope he's feeling better now.

♥

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

He's much better this evening, and he'll be heading off to school tomorrow. :-)

[the-mommy-in-me.livejournal.com]

Poor Jack! I hope he feels better realy soon!

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

He felt much better tonight, and he should be going back to school tomorrow. Yay!

[mrs-picasso.livejournal.com]

Poor kiddo. Hope he's better now!

[navygreen.livejournal.com]

He finished up the last day of antibiotics today - finally!