Schizamore: December 2009 Archives

I had the extreme pleasure of celebrating an early Christmas with my Other Family. 

My Brother From Another Mother - Logan, my niece - Cassie & nephew - Walt. 

This year, with things being what they are, I had the great fortune to be reconnected with a very old friend.  His class at church titled "Come As You Are" were looking to spread a little Christmas Cheer. 

I knew just the family that could use some! 

It was absolutely outstanding to see the kids' faces light up as they opened their gifts. 

I spent at least a couple of hours surrounded by family, old friends, new friends & happy faces. 

From Charleston, we made our way to Baton Rouge on the 18th.  By the time we arrived in the wee hours of the 19th, I was ready to drop.  I managed to get a few hours of sleep, but I knew I needed to wake up relatively early. 

After a visit with my niece & nephew with everyone, I dropped the boys back at the grandparents and decided to completely and totally veg out in quiet while Logan & The Girls went to church.  After some very complicated "Cat Math", I lay down for a VERY long winter's nap.

Shortly after all this furry math, I receive a phone call that Max's ear is hurting.  I ask the vital medical questions.  There is no fever.  I am told he was given Tylenol.  I advise some Ibuprofen and a decongestant.  Turns out, he was given Tylenol Cold & Flu that contains a decongestant.  The beginning of the phone call was fairly panicked and included "You must come right away!!!"  I wasn't able to leave right then and requested to be kept apprised of the situation should anything change. 

After years in the medical field, there is a large difference between an emergency and discomfort.  Though I never wish for my children to be uncomfortable, I refuse to rush off to the emergency room for what was likely a result of him having flown with a minor cold.  15 minutes or so later, I'm informed "I'm fine now, Mommy.  I burped and it stopped hurting."

The next day, I discovered quite a bit of blood on his pillow and realized that his TM had likely burst.  Max spent the next several days in no discomfort but with a very noticeable drainage from his ear.  He stated he had some muffled sound in that ear.  Very classic signs of a ruptured eardrum.  I called the doctor and was told what I was already fairly certain of.  Not much to do but keep it clean, avoid water in the ear and keep checking on his hearing. 

We will have him checked out and cleared for flight before our return to Germany. 

He currently reports complete return of hearing, no more drainage, but I'm still concerned a bit by the spots/sores around his outer ear.  I'm not sure if they were brought on by itching while the ear was draining, if the itching/sores are PART of the problem or a combination of the two.  We'll find out when he goes to the doctor.  In the meantime, he seems to be on the mend.   




Coming soon...A short reprieve...

 

 

Over the weekend before we left Germany, I got some sort of a bite on my left heel.  It was far too cold for mosquitoes, but it resembled a mosquito bite. 

The day before we left, this started to develop into a rash.  The rash spread up my legs.  I started to wonder if there had been a change to the formula of my detergent. 

By the time we got to Charleston, I was a wreck.  The rash was now on my arms and legs.  I was convinced it was something horrible.  I'd dealt with "worst case scenario" before and was in a panic.  I launched an all out offensive. 

I went to the Doc-In-The-Box in Charleston.  Without actually doing any tests or really looking at it for more than a few seconds, he confirmed my fears and gave me a prescription.  However, he only gave me enough for myself.  If it was what I feared, then I needed enough for the whole family. 

I spent my entire time in Charleston panicky, upset and with a very decided lack of enjoyment.  I'm sure I was making everyone nuts.  But, hey.  If you're gonna go down, why not take the whole world with ya?  (KIDDING!)

The good news was that the medication did NOTHING for the rash.  Meaning...the "OHMYGOD WORST CASE SCENARIO ALERT!!!!" was completely unfounded.  Yes, I still had a rash, but now instead of being panicked over it, I got to do what I do well and figure out this little puzzle. 

I found out that they did, indeed, change my detergent.  I also suspect that when they worked on the pipes in my building in Bamberg, they may have contaminated the water.  I found a few large bits of some sort of metal impaled in my jeans that were bothering me the worst. 

I changed my detergent and all was right with the world again.  I have some scarring, but it is minor and I think it shall surely go away eventually.  The majority of the scars?  On my poor brain. 

Not all the mental scarring is due to the rash, mind you.  But that's for the next story...

Though I was excited about the gifts I had gotten for the kids this year, I was extremely lacking in the Holiday Spirit.  I'd jokingly told someone that my Christmas Elves were too busy getting drunk to visit and share the cheer.  I think that managed to anger the Gods and they spent their holidays uproariously guffawing at my Epic Screw-Ups Challenges Comedy of Errors!!!