There is nothing that prepares you for a sick child. It’s emotionally draining. And when your child doesn’t understand what sickness means it’s even harder. Years ago I told Owen’s doctor that I was so happy he was able to tell me in his way that he wasn’t feeling well. He made the connection that if he sang “momma called the doctor and doctor said no more monkeys jumping on the bed” that I would know he wasn’t feeling well. I went on to tell her that it was emotional saying I was happy that he could tell me he was sick when he wasn’t feeling well. But those same rollercoaster of emotions happened last night. As Owen was falling asleep he made a coughing sound. I immediately knew it was going to be a rough night but prayed I was wrong. Almost every April the runny nose sinus stuff he had turns into an ear infection. He woke up a couple of times by midnight kind of disoriented but I got him back to sleep and then at one he came to me and crawled in next to me. He was hot. When he rested his face on top of mine I could feel the heat in his ear. I gave him some medicine, took his temperature, and got him back to sleep. He was running a temperature and it wasn’t long before we were up again. He threw up. My sensory baby does not understand this at all. I don’t want to even think about it. The one thing I have tried to avoid all my life is throwing up and as a sensory kid, well, he doesn’t understand that he shouldn’t touch it. How many sips of coffee can one take because I don’t want to think about it. So to the couch, we went. We laid there for a few minutes and then he said, “I’m sick no school today”. My heart crashed and was elated at the same time. Tears float in my eyes thinking about the huge progress in that one moment. School is everything to my sweet baby O and for him to realize that he was sick and sickness meant he wasn’t going to school was like a million steps forward had been marched. He went on to say, “I’m sad”. He’s learning how to process his emotions and there it was his emotions. Again huge. He continued telling me that he needed to go see his doctor and “ride the elevator”. When his doctor’s office opened I called to make his appointment. He was ready to go before I had even made the appointment. When I told him it was time to get dressed he said, “grey shirt” so I let him wear his grey shirt. I was about to put on his jeans and he said, “no sweatpants please” He then started talking about wearing his sweatpants. To say the least he wore sweatpants and a grey shirt to his appointment. He did well at there but was very lethargic. His doctor saw his ear was red and prescribed an antibiotic for him. Luckily his fever had gone back down and has stayed down. She gave him another medicine to keep him from throwing up and it is working. He slept most of the afternoon, woke up cranky, drank some apple juice, and then he took his bath. He said he wasn’t going to bed but within five minutes of being in bed, he was out. In the sadness of him being sick, I still see progress. There were numerous connections he made that will help us moving forward. I pray that he sleeps through the night and tomorrow he will feel a lot better after getting a few more doses in him. The growth that Owen is going through is amazing. His doctor was impressed with his progress as well. Never give up on the hope for tomorrow and dream the possible dream. Smiles to all and donut daze!
RSS Feed