I am not one to high tail it to the doctor at every sign of sickness, so the fever ran a 72 hour course and was on it's way, leaving no trace of sickness behind it. Things were all great and happy until about a week or so later when Big D spiked a high fever again. This time the fever lasted about a day, and once again disappeared. It's been a couple of weeks and guess what? Yup, high fever accompanied with glossy eyes and a massive headache.
Thursday, she came home from school and went to bed. I went in her room to wake her up and remind her that we shouldn't take naps on school nights because it will only make the next day worse...blah, blah, blah...
So she slowly climbed out of bed mumbled something to me about a headache. I felt her head and she was burning up. Like freaky hot, burning up! I took her temperature and sure enough, 104.something! I gave her Motrin, pumped her full of Popsicles and laid her on the couch. An hour later, she still complained of a headache. I took her temperature and it was still 104.something! I said screw it, gave her Tylenol, and put her in a luke warm bath. That seemed to do the trick and she was fine for the next four hours. This little fever pattern continued for the rest of the night and part of Friday.
Friday, at about noon, her temperature was normal. She was still "normal" at 5:30, so my idiot self said it would be OK for her to go with the youth, to the football game that was an hour away. At 6:30 we stopped for dinner. She complained of a headache. I checked her...fever. I gave her Motrin and things seemed to go down hill after that. When we got to the game, she was burning up. Her face and mouth were swollen, her eyes were puffy, and she was as white as a ghost. She looked like a little fat kid! I thought she was having an allergic reaction to something. I didn't have benadryl but we were literally six feet from the EMT's so I figured we would be OK. An hour into the game she was still burning up so I gave her Tylenol. We put a bag of ice on her head and rubbed her down with cool paper towels, waiting for the meds to take effect.
At one point, I helped her get up to go use the bathroom and she almost fell. She couldn't get her balance. I had to literally hold her up and help her walk. I was pretty freaked out at this point and good and ready to take her to the hospital.
Ten or so minutes passed by and she was fine. Fine as in "Yay, lets go out onto the field and cheer the Bear cats on!" I passed on the hospital trip and we went home.
Saturday morning she woke up with a 103.2 fever. That was lower than the past couple of days so I figured we were on the mend....But I figured wrong, she continued to run a fever all day and through the night. I told Steven that if she woke up Sunday morning with a fever that I would take her to the E.R. I was going to wait till Monday and just take her to the doctor...but the whole "Labor Day Weekend" thing kind of threw that plan out the window.
This Morning Steven went to wake her to get ready for worship, and she was burning up...again. I was in the kitchen, so I called for her to come in there with me. She wobbled her way into the kitchen and almost fell. She said she was dizzy and her head hurt. I sat her down at the table to take her temperature. It was 104.9! I gave her some water so she could take her Tylenol. She stood up, walked to the trashcan, and threw up. So, I put her in a luke warm bath and gave her some liquid Tylenol. She managed to keep that down long enough to put a dent in her fever.
We got to the hospital and waited about an hour before she was seen. The lady in triage was nice enough to remind me that "Devan was not an emergency case and next time I should probably take her to the walk-in clinic". They put us in a room where we sat for another hour before anyone came in to check on her. The doctor finally came in and asked all the normal questions. Big D answered, I answered....we answered. And then the doctor tries to tell me that it's possible that Big D has mono. She asked my daughter who she was kissing at school? She told her that she could tell her the truth and that she wouldn't tell Mama! I interrupted, "Um, she's nine!" She proceeded to tell me that thirteen, fourteen, fifteen year olds often kiss at school when no one's looking. I interrupted again, "Yeah, but she's nine!"
begin rant:
{Can't you get Mono from drinking/eating after people? Water fountains?...etc? Why do you have to put ridiculous thoughts into my innocent nine year olds mind? Get a life, lady!...or your mind out of the gutter!}
end rant:
She checked her out head to toe. Had her blood checked, swabbed her throat, did a urinalysis. She was pretty convinced that Big D had Mono or strep throat {even though she didn't ever complain of a sore throat}. By the end of the visit I was, too. She had all of the symptoms. Sporadic fever, headache, lethargic, no appetite, swollen glands.....but thankfully both her strep and mono tests came back a big ole negative! Doc was surprised, but sent us home with a "tonsillitis" diagnosis and a prescription for antibiotics...
...She also said that if Big D should break out in a rash or have trouble breathing, that her original diagnosis of Mono was prolly the real problem and that we should discontinue use of the antibiotics and follow up with her pediatrician sooner than the recommended "in five days."
...{Yeah, lady thanks and everything, but I'm gonna follow up with her pediatrician as soon as they open their doors, Tuesday. Because, I'm pretty confident that you didn't give my daughter the proper care and attention that she needed.}
Happy Sunday!
poor Devaroo
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