Hit Me Baby One More Time...

Because, of course, Hubby and I are FINALLY (maybe) seeing the light at the end of the tunnel from the respiratory flu/bronchitis that we had over the holidays [I've been dealing with it since 12/23/14; he since 12/26]...

Because J-Mav had the same crud for a couple days right after Christmas, too, forcing him to miss a couple of games during his hockey tournament...

Because I had a big deadline at work today and didn't get home until 2:30am this morning...

Because [total First World Problem alert] we are still down a car and the logistics of getting Keeper Boy to work and hockey practice and doctors appointments -- when we are now accustomed to him driving himself -- is monumental...

Because that's not enough, J-Mav woke up this morning with a throat so sore that he immediately started crying.

Woop! Woop! Woop! Danger, Will Robinson!

I know it's not a well-kept secret, but my kids are not normal. They've both had strep several times. Neither of them exhibits "normal" symptoms. For Keeper Boy, it's vomiting. Maybe a fever and maybe a sore throat. Maybe. For J-Mav, it's just a sore throat. Nothing else. No white spots. Nothing.

So, I called the attendance line and told the school J-Mav would be, at best, late; at worst absent. And off to the Minute Clinic we went. We had to wait about 40 minutes (way shorter than when Hubby and I went last weekend), but she didn't even bat an eye when I requested a strep test. (Often healthcare providers will fight me when I ask for a strep test based on MY kids' symptoms and my intuition, because MY kids' symptoms are the normal symptoms.) This lady actually said, "Moms usually know their kids best." Refreshing.

Anyway, she did the swab and then did all the administrative stuff; looked at his eyes, nose, throat; took payment... by the time she was done, the timer hadn't gone off yet, but the test was already positive. We have a winner! And a 10-day supply of Penicillin.

Because it was already 10:30 at diagnosis time, no school for J-Mav today or tomorrow. No issues there. I was already home today, though I had planned to sleep a little. Eh... who needs sleep? I contacted the school again and updated Jack's status to out for today and tomorrow, and then emailed his teachers to ask them to either email me his classwork/homework or leave it in the office for me to pick up for Jack. (He was concerned about getting behind, and the fact that he had a test today and one tomorrow.)

Gotta love technology. His Social Studies teacher came back and said he could take today's tests (two 30-question tests on Colonial America) online through his Blackboard account. And she said she'd leave his textbook in the office as there's a reading assignment. His Math teacher said there was a worksheet in class today to prepare for tomorrow's test. She would leave that and his book in the office, and he can take tomorrow's test online through Blackboard, just like he did today for Social Studies. His Science teacher said no work to be made up. Just need to hear from his Language Arts teacher, but it sounds like Social Studies and Math were the big ones. Love that he has the ability to stay caught up online!

So, it's been a lounging around kind of day. His throat is feeling a little better. I'm sure once we get another dose or two of Penicillin in him, he'll be good as new.

And those Social Studies tests? Rocked 'em both. 90% on one and 93% on the other. Strep throat can't keep him down!

Momma: 1 / Doctor: 0

Yesterday J-Mav woke up with very puffy eyes, congestion, and a sore throat. Not unusual for this time of year for him. What WAS unusual was the three-hour nap he took in the late morning/early afternoon. And the flushed face and low-grade fever.

By the time we determined that he had a fever, the Minute Clinic was already closed for yesterday. He was acting fine and said he didn't feel sick. He had appetite, but not as hearty as usual. So we all watched a movie and we put him to bed with some Tylenol in his system.

He still had a low-grade fever this morning, so we kept him home from his hockey game and I took him up to the Minute Clinic. After waiting for almost an hour, we were called in. We went through the preliminary questions and they took my insurance card information. The nurse practioner looked at J-Mav's throat and got the swabs (one for the quick strep; one to send out as a back-up).

Nurse Guy: "I don't really expect the Quick Strep to come up positive, so we'll send the backup out to the lab, as well."

Me (with a knowing smile): "OK."

He took the swabs and we talked about the Caps while the Quick Strep "festered." The timer was set for five minutes. Not even 90 seconds in, it was apparent that it was positive. A prescription was sent to the pharmacy, and the backup swab was discarded as it was, at that point, unnecessary.

It's good to be the Momma.

SnOMG!! '10

TUESDAY, 2/9/10

8:30am: Awoke a little bit ago to, "Mama, I think I'm going to throw up" as J-Mav is standing next to my bed. He didn't.

9:00am: Now he did. BTW... Day 4 of Snowmagedan... AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

9:30am: And now he did again.

10:00am: And again.

10:45am: Finished editing first document of the day. Getting a quick shower and taking J-Mav to the Minute Clinic for a strep test.

2:15pm: Back from Minute Clinic (and three more rounds of throwing up) and Giant. Hubby met me at CVS and brought J-Mav home. Quick strep negative, but she sent it out to fester overnight, so we'll see. Got next round of provisions at Giant. Ready for the next round of snow. Roads in our subdivision are horrible. Got stuck leaving our driveway.

3:30pm: After a long nap and some Spongebob, J-Mav is BEGGING for food.

4:05pm: Saw a snowflake.

5:30pm: Deck cleared off and ready for the next two feet of snow. Opening to street widened to avoid getting stuck the next time I attempt to leave... whenever that will be. Hubby's office closed tomorrow. J-Mav acting COMPLETELY normal again.

9:25pm: There's a good couple inches on the ground. Ugh. I'll be happy when Hubby and Keeper Boy are safely home from the rink...

10:10pm: They're home. :)

Strep update

I am happy to report that, this time, we were wrong. We never received a call from the Minute Clinic yesterday, which means the overnight strep tests were both negative. So maybe my kids aren't as "not normal" as I portray them to be...

My children are not normal

We walked into the exam room and the nurse practioner (Mary) assumed we were there for flu shots. Afterall, two healthy-looking boys who are bouncing around like maniacs because they've been forced to spend the last hour waiting their turn and listening to every Hoops & Yoyo card in CVS can't be sick. Can they? Well, I don't know. The jury is still out on that one. Results due today. So why then were we at the Minute Clinic on Monday night?

The short answer is because my children are not normal. The long answer follows.

I was driving home from work on Monday evening and replaying the morning's and weekend's events in my mind. Those events included the normal myriad hockey and soccer events (as you would expect). However, also included was a very late night vomiting incident from Keeper Boy on Saturday (he made it to the bathroom) and a right-before-it's-time-to-leave-for-school-just-ate-yogurt-and-drank-milk-for-breakfast vomiting explosion from J-Mav on Monday morning (he did not make it to the bathroom... at least the sofa is leather). Both were once and done. Neither had any symptoms other than the vomiting -- not even an upset stomach.

Either incident on its own could be rationalized and explained away. For instance, Keeper Boy had eaten greasy food twice on Saturday between all of his activities... way more greasy food than he's used to. And sometimes yogurt on an empty stomach is not a good thing.

But as I said before, my children are not normal. And as I was driving home on Monday night, I had an "oh my Lord" epiphany.

You see, both boys have had strep throat many times... Keeper Boy more than J-Mav, but they've both had it. They NEVER have the "normal" symptoms. Neither has ever had the tell-tale white spots in the throat. A slight sore throat, maybe; but no spots. Neither usually has a fever. Neither usually feels sick in any way. J-Mav just acts lethargic. But they have almost always thrown up. And usually it's a once and done situation. That's like our warning flag to take them to the doctor. Usually we are greeted with doubt. "But he has no symptoms of strep throat." I have always insisted on the test and every time it has come back positive. Every time. Sometimes the quick strep wasn't positive, but the one that was sent out to the lab was positive the next day. But always positive. The last time I took them for strep tests was the last week of school this past June. J-Mav's quick strep was positive right away. Keeper Boy's (two days later) had to be sent out to come up positive. They both ended up on antibiotics for the end of school and a little bit beyond. And you'd never have known that either of them was sick!

So that's how we ended up in the Minute Clinic on Monday night with two boys who couldn't have appeared further from sick. I got a call yesterday afternoon that the lab hadn't shown up on Monday night to pick up the day's samples, so they didn't go until Tuesday morning. I expect that if anything grew, I'll get a call at some point this morning. But I'm actually HOPING this time I'm wrong. Given our history with strep, though, we figured it was better to be safe than sorry. My kids just aren't normal.

I spoke too soon...

So Keeper Boy's overnight strep test came back positive today. Now he and J-Mav are BOTH on antibiotics. Oh, and did I mention K-dog is on antibiotics for a UTI?

Keeper Boy looked at me like I was on drugs when I picked him up from school and told him he has strep. He feels completely fine other than a little congestion and a hoarse voice. I'll take that... usually when he has strep, he throws up.

Anyway... it's a crazy drug house around here right now. J-Mav has six days left, Keeper boy has nine days left, and K-dog has -- I don't know -- at least ten more days left. She had to take her meds for like three weeks. Poor thing.

John and I are washing our hands often...

Love it...

Maybe "Love it..." will become a new recurring theme (like "Heard..." or "Accountability" or "Seen"...). We'll see...

Friday night, J-Mav was extremely whiney and didn't want to eat his dinner. He asked to go to bed, and did so at about 7pm. Unheard of! Saturday morning, he woke up complaining of a headache and a sore throat. He didn't want breakfast; just wanted to lay on the sofa under a blanket. Didn't want to go to his baseball game or the birthday party he was supposed to attend that afternoon. (?!?!)

I drove over to the baseball field to inform J-Mav's coach that he wouldn't be there, while Hubby called for an appointment with the pediatrician. You see, our children tend to not have any symptoms other than a sore throat (no spots) and lethargy when they have strep. We figured it'd be better to be safe than sorry.

While at the field, the coach's wife told me about the Minute Clinic at CVS. No appointment necessary. Usually no waiting. Licensed Nurse Practioner. Takes insurance, so it's just a normal doctor visit co-pay... without all the sick kids hanging around in the waiting room, the long wait to see the doctor, or the resistance on the doctor's part to give the child the dang strep test (yes, I KNOW he doesn't have the normal symptoms, but trust me...).

I decided to try it, but I kept the 11am doctor's appointment just in case something didn't work out. We arrived, signed in on the electronic kiosk, and got called in to the exam room immediately. I told the nurse why we were there and she didn't bat an eye. She took J-Mav's history, did the throat swab and took my co-payment while we waited two minutes to see if the test was positive.

When the timer went off, she went and inspected the test (like a pregnancy test... red line for positive) and said, "we have a winner, Mom." She zipped the prescription 15 feet over to the pharmacy over the computer network and we followed to wait for it to be filled. Altogether, including waiting for the prescription, we were in and out in less than 30 minutes -- a full hour before we were scheduled to see the pediatrician. We cancelled that appointment. The nurse at the Minute Clinic was amazing with J-Mav, and it was just an overall pleasant experience.

And after a 2+ hour nap and a dose of Amoxicillan, J-Mav was a new kid!!

Keeper Boy had been congested and couging a little and complaining of a sore throat the past few days, too. This morning he said his throat was really sore. While I suspected that HIS sore throat is just a result of drainage and breathing through his mouth at night because of the congestion, I took him to the Minute Clinic this morning, too. Again, better to be safe than sorry. He has several important baseball games this week, plus the last two sessions of his hockey tryouts. Not to mention the fact that school is winding down and they're trying to cram everything in before the end of the year. His quick test was negative, though they'll send it out to the lab to fester overnight and make sure it doesn't come back positive tomorrow. I don't expect it to. But for $18 and 30 minutes of my time, I have peace of mind.

Love it!