Today is Monday and life is....real.

Zac had come down with a fever on Saturday. He felt terrible on Sunday and laid in the bed asleep all day. By Monday night, he had a horrendous fever (although I did not get the exact temperature because we did not own a thermometer at the time) and later that evening I noticed a rash across his chest. It was the rash and the memory of Emily and her run in with strep throat that caused me to move...to pack up my little one and head to the after hours urgent care.  The strep test came back negative, which was good news to the practitioner, but bad news to me. You see, had it been strep throat , we would have left there with either a big dose of Penicillin in the bootie or a 10 day supply of a liquid antibiotic.  Instead we left there with the same virus that we came in with and the promise of at least 5 to 7 more days of letting it run its course. Tuesday through Friday, Zac laid at home on the couch and in the bed feeling puny. He took Motrin every 6 hours to keep the fever at bay so that he could function without feeling miserable. By the weekend, he was not much better, but there was no more fever to speak of...just a worn out little boy who had been beaten down by a bad virus. We gave him a pep talk about heading back to school on Monday and told him to keep his chin up and he would soon be feeling great! 

Jonathan had been complaining about his right foot. Every now and then he would even limp a little. In the morning, he seemed fine, but by the end of the school day, he'd be complaining again. I encouraged him to go easy on it and let's just wait and see. He agreed but continued to say, "Mom, there is something going on here!"

On Wednesday, I was back in my car after running into Home Depot for 15 minutes without my phone. As I glanced at my phone, I saw 6 missed calls and 1 voice mail. The voice mail was from Zac, who was complaining of a headache. The missed calls were from Jonathan's school. When I called them back, they said he had been in the office complaining about his foot. 

So...on that day...we got down to business, finally, right? 

Within 45 minutes, Zac was sitting in front of the pediatrician. The scale showed that he had lost 5 pounds since the night we took him to the Urgent Care. He took a bunch of deep breaths while the doctor, who works with me at the hospital, listened...and then she looked at me...as if to say, "...Surely you own a stethoscope?" My child had pneumonia. No chest x ray was needed, but ...Yes! Finally, a reason for the puniness...and a reason for antibiotics!

By 5:35, Jonathan was sitting down for an X-ray. By 6:00, he was heading home with the results, a strained ligament in his foot and a boot to wear for the next 3 weeks. 

Sometimes, I totally blow it. I miss it completely. My children are so forgiving and they get me in my mess. They are doing much better now. Zac is perking up, fighting with his siblings again and that sounds almost sweet to my ears. Jonathan hates the boot and only wears it when he leaves the house, but he is much more careful and cautious with his activity. 

Sometimes, I want to write about only the good stuff when I get it right every time, but real is real...and real looks messy.  I am grateful that everyone is healing. I am not a lousy mom or a lousy nurse. I am moving ahead with more experience than I had before. I am learning to listen more carefully and bring my stethoscope home from work...and keep a thermometer some place that I can remember.

Life is real...and full!

Have a wonderful week!