Who was it that said Swineflu--Schmineflu?

Oh yes. It was me. Who was it that has been eating her words for the past five days? Yep, that's me as well. As if we don't have enough going on, I woke up with the flu in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. I've been cooped up in our bedroom attempting to keep my germs to myself while the Chief has muddled through without me. To his credit, he's taken excellent care of all four of us. Thankfully I think I'm on the downhill now. I said I wanted to catch up on my sleep but this isn't exactly what I meant. Be careful what you wish for. As for Mei Mei, today is the first day the Chief has "allowed" me out of our room. Apparently she has decided after five days of my absence that I'm not allowed to come near her again. Ugh! One tiny step forward. One huge step back.

"Mrs. Womble, this is Nurse Sue"

Nurse Sue: I have J in my office right now. He has a fever of 103. Could you please come pick him up right away?
Mommy: Yes, ma'am. I'll be right there.

Guess who has hand-foot-mouth just like his sister? He was DEVASTATED that he had to leave early. He said, "I’m missing art and recess and Makenzie's snack and rest time and orange car rider line and..." as he cried his little eyes out. If he was so sad to leave, I think it is safe to say he was having a good day at school. Wooohooooo!

Dear Parents...

"We would like to report three cases of hand-foot-mouth disease..." was the opening line of a letter I received today at MDO pick up. Hmmmmm...do you think that has anything to do with the random fever MG had on Tuesday evening? Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-we-have-a-winner! By 8:00pm we discovered that they now have FOUR confirmed cases of hand-foot-mouth disease. One case belongs to this little cutie (who obviously hasn't seen Mr. Hairbrush today)...

On the Mend...

We wanted to let you all know that MG is feeling much better as of yesterday. Fever is gone. Respiratory rate is down. Lung still sounds crappy but it probably will for a few weeks. Saturday morning she was back to her usual girly shenanigans of playing babies, copycatting her brother and I even saw her sassy side as well. She’s back to her old self. J She will continue to take antibiotics by mouth for a total of seven days. As long as nothing changes, we’ll go back in a few weeks for another chest xray to be sure the pneumonia has cleared up completely. It can take 4-6 weeks for the xray to return to normal after an extensive pneumonia. Thanks to all of you for praying for MG. Last week was a tough week but thankfully Little Miss is back in business.

Sick Sick Baby...

Daddy and I would like to ask you to pray for MG. She has been sick since Friday with a 101-105 fever, tummy ache, vomiting, soreness, cough and just generally feeling like crap. Daddy took her in on Saturday morning with a 105.4 fever. Pretty inconsistent symptoms, strep negative, lungs and ears OK, so they chalked it up to a viral illness that is going around and back home he came. She should have shown improvement in 2-3 days. Didn't happen.

She was miserable yesterday. Today was even worse so I took her back in this afternoon. After a few tests and a chest xray, they determined she has pneumonia and a pleural effusion. Basically, the right lung isn't working right now. The pleural effusion is a small area of lung tissue that is being squished by fluid building up between the lung and the lining that goes around it.

She received an injection of Rocephin in the office and we go back tomorrow afternoon to reevaluate. Considering all of the poking and prodding that happened today she's going to FREAK OUT when I have to take her back there tomorrow.

Anyway, we know she's going to be fine but if you have an extra minute please pray for her tonight. A high fever, a lethargic baby and a lung that isn't working makes Mom and Dad a little nervous. She has never been this sick before and we're ready for this to go away.

Hello again Emergency Room...

Today we had big plans to hang with the grandparents in a quaint little town nearby. JimPa and NeNe had it all planned out and we were along for the ride. Plans? HA! So, J wakes up at 8 AM, after he finally went to sleep at 3 AM, complaining that his finger hurts. Ugggghhhh! It's not just any swollen finger...it is HUGE and has nasty green and white pus pockets all over it (I know that is TMI). Anyway, it was disgusting and he was really complaining about it.

So picture it...It is Sunday morning. We are hours away from home and can't find any type of urgent care in the phone book that will see children. NeNe is an RN at the local hospital so where did we end up...the Emergency Room. The MD knew immediately what it was when she saw it...a FIRE ANT BITE! What? He played in the yard briefly after we arrived last night but he never complained about being bitten. You would think he would have known he had been bitten by several fire ants but apparently not. She was certain by the looks of the bite and the fact that they are common in their area so we went with it. J was back in business after a couple hours and a prescription for 7 days of Amoxil. The best part? Small town ER's have their perks...in and out the back door without a copay to show for it. If you have to visit the ER, free is always the way to go. :-)

And for your viewing pleasure, I found a photo online of cellulitis from a fire ant bite. J had four of these on the inside of his middle finger. Just add a little green to the middle and you'll get the visual...

Sharing the love...

FYI: If Child B drinks from Child A's juice box while he is being treated for strep, Child B is going to get sick about 5-10 days later. After a fever filled Sunday I took her in yesterday and her rapid strep was negative. I thought we were in the clear and it was just viral. Ha! They called this morning and the culture grew overnight. Lovely. After 22 months antibiotic free, MG is experiencing the joy of bubble gum medicine like her brother has so many times before. She is so excited that it is FINALLY "Nonnie's mecin" instead of Zsa Zsa's.

Staph-no-cough-a-luss strikes again!

I am officially adding a category to the blog entitled "Cootie-bugs abound". That's pretty much my life these days. Nothing new at the Womble Times except who has the cooties this week. I know none of you care about our cootie bugs. It's OK, really. Since this blog is the life and times of our family, well, this is part of it.

J has the "step-toe-cough-a-nuss" again. You can read the significance of that here. How funny is it my five year old knows the meaning of that word? He does. Just ask him. He'll tell you he has germs on his HUGE tonsils and sometimes he has to take the bubble gum medicine to make it go away. I'm beginning to wonder if it ever REALLY goes away or if it just hides and rears its ugly head whenever it feels like it.

So, I guess you people should start reading the topics first. If it says Cootie-bugs Abound just move on to the next blog. Hopefully, they'll have much more interesting things to discuss. :-)

Guess who's back?

Last week, Mr. Spring Allergies showed up for all of us. We bought our weight in Benadryl, we drugged ourselves and we we're good. Saturday, the EVIL stomach virus shows up. First me. Then J. Daddy and MG are safe...so far. Daddy leaves tomorrow for 5 days. Lord, help me (and Daddy too). Hope the EVIL stomach virus doesn't show up on his 5 hour plane ride. How many times have I said it this winter (now spring)...I am so SICK of my family being SICK!

the hands and the feet and the mouth, Oh My!

I've been wondering what has possessed my child over the past few days. A few days of fever and an incredibly whiney child with no explanantion. Welcome little red rash and the world of hand/foot/mouth disease. Nice.