Day #358: No More Sick Kids

I was pretty distracted when I wrote the other day so I wanted to finish the story of the sickness since I sincerely hope we are through it now.

After the movie on Thursday afternoon James's temp was still high and he developed a stiff neck so I called the pediatrician nurse line. By the time they got back to me it was after 4:30 and she said with that combination of symptoms she really wanted him seen that day and suggested we make an appointment with the children's hospital urgent care. So he and I went there at 7:50 and Josh stayed with Max. That's probably the way we would have done it anyway but with Covid protocols only one parent was allowed in.

Josh and I talked after this was over about how lucky we are that we really have had overall healthy kids. Max had very minor surgery when he was one to remove a benign growth in his neck that he was born with and James spent the first three weeks of his life in the NICU because he came early but other than that we have been very lucky...the occasional bug. So I had never taken a kid to urgent care before and can't speak to what it's normally like but I'm recording here what this adventure was like for pandemic posterity.

First of all, the kid is kinda like a car that the instant you take it to the mechanic it stops making the weird noise. He was already feeling better by the time we left (it's about 25 minutes from here) When we got there we had an extra stop at security because they screen for the kind of symptoms he'd had (everything is a Covid symptom, basically,) but we got in, got checked in and the nurse came to got us.

Of course everyone at the hospital (this was in a clinic attached to a hospital) has the vaccine now, but the amount of PPE they have is pretty crazy. I mean, they've been doing this for a year. The front desk don't get the cool stuff, they get masks and plexi glass barriers, but when the nurse came to get us her getup was amazing. She looked like an astronaut. I can tell he still didn't feel 100% because normal healthy James would have talked about it constantly.

They basically wear what looks like a bicycle helmet with a plastic visor that goes all the way over their face to their chin. The helmet has an air system that circulates air in front of their face. So they aren't masked, you can see their face, which is kinda nice especially when you're dealing with kids, but they are completely enclosed. That plus a gown which they change whenever they leave a room. It's impressive.

By the time she checked us in, he had no fever. I mean, this was the kid who was running 102-103+ temps all day. I had given him Tylenol a few hours before, but like literally no fever. I was thinking, dude, what are we doing here.

We were the only ones in the waiting room but behind closed doors they must have been busy (you could hear patients in adjoining rooms.) It took awhile to see the doctor but he was WONDERFUL. So kid friendly. I could tell James was nervous but the doctor was great and that really helped. He cleared him for meningitis (which was my big fear) right away and ended up doing strep and Covid tests. None of us ever though it was Covid, it didn't present like Covid, but with a fever it made sense to both the doctor and I to run the test.

Poor kiddo! The Covid test was NO FUN. They had to nasal swab him WAY up for five seconds on each side. I had to hold his head. He was rewarded with juice. He earned it. They cleared us for strep, said we'd have Covid test results in 24-48 hours, diagnosed him with viral illness, and sent us on our way. I'm glad we went. It was hard to see him lethargic and sick like that...especially when his neck hurt and he was dizzy.

Friday morning he woke up chipper and excited. I was going to let him sleep as long as he wanted but he woke up and wanted to do school and so he did. He likes school on Fridays. School on Fridays is mostly science and art and all of it optional. Max felt a little yucky yesterday, especially late in the day. His temperature wasn't nearly as high as James, it stayed right in that not-really-a-fever 100 zone, but he didn't feel great. He woke up this morning chipper and normal, though. I'm grateful for my quick healers.

It took awhile to get the Covid results back. It was kinda annoying because no one thought he had it, the doctor even told me it was up to me whether we should run it, but I felt like we shouldn't do much until we got it. Trying to be responsible and all. So we went out and walking and stuff but stayed away from people...honestly not much different than any other weekend. I finally talked to the nurse this evening and he is officially negative for Covid and cleared since he has been fever and symptom free for 24 hours.

So that's my sick kid in the time of Covid story. I am sincerely hopeful that this is as close to Covid as we get because it wasn't that close. It's just nice to have James back. Frenetic, creative, chatterbox James makes me a crazy person but I will take him over sick, lethargic, not himself James ANY TIME.

Media consumption: so there's this series of books about a kid named Henry Reed from the 1960s that I loved when I was a kid and I picked up a couple of them at the used bookstore a few weeks ago and have been reading them to James. I had one with us in urgent care. They are quite dated but he enjoys them...they are about a creative kid. I relate this only because I have to say, we waited for awhile to see a doctor and we waited for awhile for test results and reading out loud while masked is HARD. I was double masked, too, which didn't help. But I did it because I love the kid. Feeling for the teachers and librarians who must do storytime in masks.

Media consumption for mom: I am just about to finish Moses, Man of the Mountain. What an impressive book, wow. I am also close to done with Wesley the Owl which I think I talked about the other day, a memoir of a wildlife biologist who adopted a barn owl. I got the book for free last year from a buy nothing group while the library was closed...I probably never would have read this book if it hadn't come into my life for free like that but I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm also still watching Doogie Howser, which is...meh.

Today I'm grateful for healthy kids, road trips, nice weather, a fridge full of groceries, people to talk to, good books, my family, and ice cream. Nothing like ice cream when kids are sick.