This past week has been a whirlwind to say the least. It's always a heart ache when you have to watch your children suffer when they're sick, but it's a completely different feeling when you have to leave them with someone when they're sick- so that you can go out of town. Im always apprehensive when it comes to our children getting sick. No matter what the illness may be I tend to go a little overboard on the germ killing. I mean, I feel like a special ops soldier sent on a top secret mission to kill every germ within a 100 mile radius. To say that I use lysol is an understatement. Our kids will tell you that when I get in lysol mode... no-one is safe.
A week ago today our sweet, little, full-of-life Carsey came down with what we thought was a typical virus. Possibly even some type of exhaustion from the constant traveling we seem to do throughout the week. At any rate, she started running a fever Sunday afternoon. We immediately started her on a medicated regime to lower the fever like any good parent would do. While this lowered her fever slightly it wasn't quite enough for us to feel at ease. Monday morning Amanda took her to the pediatrician in hopes of getting some answers. While they poked and prodded her soft precious fingers, they began a series of muscle test. They had her move her neck up and down while starring at her legs, at which time they brought in a second physician. While we appreciated the thorough examination the thought of having two observant but answerless doctors was a bit unnerving. At this time is was obvious that she was not leaving anytime soon. We assumed everything was going to be ok but were unsure of why the extra examination and opinions were needed for a common virus. Im sure you can relate to the excruciatingly long doctor's visits. I still cringe at having to take them to the doctor at all- I mean for a germaphobe... it's a living nightmare. I literally want to lysol every person in the waiting room (haha).
By this time, nearly 3 hours had passed between the first couple of doctors and the 3rd doctor. Yes, a 3rd doctor was called in to asses our precious Carsey. They started mentioning the possibility of meningitis (while in front of Amanda) without any confirmation. As you can imagine, a heightened sense of fear overwhelmed Amanda. The tension was short lived though. The 3rd physician immediately saw the disassociation of movement between her neck and legs. He looked her over once more for a third time and stated "she has the enterovirus". Obviously we were relieved at her not having meningitis, but to have enterovirus ... what was that? The doctors wrote her a prescription for a stronger concentrate of children ibuprofen and sent them on their way. Carsey's fever had reached 101 by this time so time was of the essence in getting this medicine in her.
As a parent unable to bring a quick fix to your ailing children, you feel completely helpless. We kept cold juices in her around the clock, tried to encourage her to eat crackers and toast and kept the regime of medicine on going as well. She would rest for a while and then wake up complaining of her "belly" - which only confirmed in our minds that it was some type of stomach virus. On Tuesday everything changed.
Tuesday morning arrived and we were scheduled to be out of town for three days. We made arrangements for the kids to stay with Amanda's grandmother through this trip hoping that it would be a good stay. Still assuming that Carsey had a contagious virus, and showing symptoms of the virus through a fever, achy stomach and at times vomiting we were leery about keeping her cooped up in a car for 2 hours much less bringing the germ to Amanda's grandmother. But, we did what any parent would do- kept to the plans. We made the journey down to Carrollton and gave the instructions for the frequency of her medicine and left for the trip. Trying to focus on the trip that was ahead, it was difficult not to hold guilt over our own heads. Sure, a grandmother might be the greatest person in the world to care for your children while you're away- but no one compares to a mommy's touch. As we pushed through to ensure that this trip was not filled with depressive thoughts and guilt of leaving a sick child in someone else's care we kept having this sinking feeling that something else was going on. Our kids usually bounce back within a 24 to 48 hr period of any virus once the fever is contained. This one was different. Her fever never became controllable and it seemed like each day she digressed with a new symptom. She all but stopped eating, couldn't keep her medicine down and lost energy rapidly. While we were away, we called often to check in. It was so hard being away and not able to hold her and care for her while she was hurting.
We came home Thursday to a very sick Carsey. When we arrived at Amanda's grandmother's house Carsey was running a temp of 103 and had not eaten much in the past few days. We thought to ourselves, if she isn't better by tomorrow she's going back to the doctor. Hoping that her favorite meal of nuggets, fries and lemonade would sooth and entice her to eat we stopped at Chick-fil-a. Getting back on the road, we made it to 285N and something in Carsey switched. She became very agitated at the smallest things. She broke out into a crying fit over Canaan's carseat being too close, the radio being too loud or the air conditioner not on. Finally, as many parents do, we reached our limit and said ever so sternly, "Carsey, we know you're sick but you're going to have to learn to deal with certain things in certain situations. Now, we can't help that we're all in the car together riding for the next 2 hours, but you're crying is making it worse than it has to be". I felt bad for being so hard on her after being away for so long and her being sick too. What kind of dad was I? I retracted my emotions and encouraged her to sit up and try to eat her nuggets. She sat up and started to eat. After about 2 mins of her nibbling, she burst out loud "IM BLEEDING" We turned around to see her nose gushing blood. This wasn't a typical nose bleed. Panic and adrenaline set in all at the same time and I became a driving maniac. Amanda found the nearest Children's Hospital ER on the gps and we were headed there quickly. While I was driving through Atlanta traffic like a lunatic Amanda called the on-call Pediatrician to inform them of the happenings. After a conversation of confirming that the bleeding had stopped, turning the car around to head home and attempting to slow my heart rate down- the on-call pediatrician lightly asked Amanda if anyone had called her from the office? Amanda stated that we had been out of town and thought she had a miscall but no one had left a message. The pediatrician then proceeds to say "oh, well we received her test results back and she doesn't have a virus, she only has a bladder infection" - Talk about relief! Carsey was still hurting and feverish- but at least it was something that was easily treatable. As soon as we returned home that evening we picked up her antibiotic, immediately medicated her and put her to bed. What a difference the right medicine makes. Our little girl woke up Friday morning a brand new healing 8 year old.
I am grateful for the thorough examination, but wished the results would have come a bit sooner. As parents we feel helpless against an unseen force invading our children's health. We have to swallow our pride, take them to someone with a greater insight into their sickness and trust them with our child's life. I often ask myself, why am I so quick to pack up my pride as a father and run to a physician here on earth; when my earthly Father has been on standby waiting on me to do the same with Him? Don't get me wrong, we relentlessly covered Carsey in prayer day in and day out. There were times that I would even wake up to pray for her. But the reality is, most of the time I only run in desperation to Jesus when there's a crisis. What if I had bathed my children in as much prayer daily without them being sick as I did when they were sick? Busted! No, we're not super parents. Not even close to being perfect parents- but thank God we know a perfect Father that watches over us day in and day out reminding us of His unfailing love. It's God's perfected parenting over my life that inspires and encourages me to be the example to my kids as He is to me! Loves covers the multitude of sickness.. including sin! Be encouraged parents and future parents- you're not in this alone and you never will be.
A week ago today our sweet, little, full-of-life Carsey came down with what we thought was a typical virus. Possibly even some type of exhaustion from the constant traveling we seem to do throughout the week. At any rate, she started running a fever Sunday afternoon. We immediately started her on a medicated regime to lower the fever like any good parent would do. While this lowered her fever slightly it wasn't quite enough for us to feel at ease. Monday morning Amanda took her to the pediatrician in hopes of getting some answers. While they poked and prodded her soft precious fingers, they began a series of muscle test. They had her move her neck up and down while starring at her legs, at which time they brought in a second physician. While we appreciated the thorough examination the thought of having two observant but answerless doctors was a bit unnerving. At this time is was obvious that she was not leaving anytime soon. We assumed everything was going to be ok but were unsure of why the extra examination and opinions were needed for a common virus. Im sure you can relate to the excruciatingly long doctor's visits. I still cringe at having to take them to the doctor at all- I mean for a germaphobe... it's a living nightmare. I literally want to lysol every person in the waiting room (haha).
By this time, nearly 3 hours had passed between the first couple of doctors and the 3rd doctor. Yes, a 3rd doctor was called in to asses our precious Carsey. They started mentioning the possibility of meningitis (while in front of Amanda) without any confirmation. As you can imagine, a heightened sense of fear overwhelmed Amanda. The tension was short lived though. The 3rd physician immediately saw the disassociation of movement between her neck and legs. He looked her over once more for a third time and stated "she has the enterovirus". Obviously we were relieved at her not having meningitis, but to have enterovirus ... what was that? The doctors wrote her a prescription for a stronger concentrate of children ibuprofen and sent them on their way. Carsey's fever had reached 101 by this time so time was of the essence in getting this medicine in her.
As a parent unable to bring a quick fix to your ailing children, you feel completely helpless. We kept cold juices in her around the clock, tried to encourage her to eat crackers and toast and kept the regime of medicine on going as well. She would rest for a while and then wake up complaining of her "belly" - which only confirmed in our minds that it was some type of stomach virus. On Tuesday everything changed.
Tuesday morning arrived and we were scheduled to be out of town for three days. We made arrangements for the kids to stay with Amanda's grandmother through this trip hoping that it would be a good stay. Still assuming that Carsey had a contagious virus, and showing symptoms of the virus through a fever, achy stomach and at times vomiting we were leery about keeping her cooped up in a car for 2 hours much less bringing the germ to Amanda's grandmother. But, we did what any parent would do- kept to the plans. We made the journey down to Carrollton and gave the instructions for the frequency of her medicine and left for the trip. Trying to focus on the trip that was ahead, it was difficult not to hold guilt over our own heads. Sure, a grandmother might be the greatest person in the world to care for your children while you're away- but no one compares to a mommy's touch. As we pushed through to ensure that this trip was not filled with depressive thoughts and guilt of leaving a sick child in someone else's care we kept having this sinking feeling that something else was going on. Our kids usually bounce back within a 24 to 48 hr period of any virus once the fever is contained. This one was different. Her fever never became controllable and it seemed like each day she digressed with a new symptom. She all but stopped eating, couldn't keep her medicine down and lost energy rapidly. While we were away, we called often to check in. It was so hard being away and not able to hold her and care for her while she was hurting.
We came home Thursday to a very sick Carsey. When we arrived at Amanda's grandmother's house Carsey was running a temp of 103 and had not eaten much in the past few days. We thought to ourselves, if she isn't better by tomorrow she's going back to the doctor. Hoping that her favorite meal of nuggets, fries and lemonade would sooth and entice her to eat we stopped at Chick-fil-a. Getting back on the road, we made it to 285N and something in Carsey switched. She became very agitated at the smallest things. She broke out into a crying fit over Canaan's carseat being too close, the radio being too loud or the air conditioner not on. Finally, as many parents do, we reached our limit and said ever so sternly, "Carsey, we know you're sick but you're going to have to learn to deal with certain things in certain situations. Now, we can't help that we're all in the car together riding for the next 2 hours, but you're crying is making it worse than it has to be". I felt bad for being so hard on her after being away for so long and her being sick too. What kind of dad was I? I retracted my emotions and encouraged her to sit up and try to eat her nuggets. She sat up and started to eat. After about 2 mins of her nibbling, she burst out loud "IM BLEEDING" We turned around to see her nose gushing blood. This wasn't a typical nose bleed. Panic and adrenaline set in all at the same time and I became a driving maniac. Amanda found the nearest Children's Hospital ER on the gps and we were headed there quickly. While I was driving through Atlanta traffic like a lunatic Amanda called the on-call Pediatrician to inform them of the happenings. After a conversation of confirming that the bleeding had stopped, turning the car around to head home and attempting to slow my heart rate down- the on-call pediatrician lightly asked Amanda if anyone had called her from the office? Amanda stated that we had been out of town and thought she had a miscall but no one had left a message. The pediatrician then proceeds to say "oh, well we received her test results back and she doesn't have a virus, she only has a bladder infection" - Talk about relief! Carsey was still hurting and feverish- but at least it was something that was easily treatable. As soon as we returned home that evening we picked up her antibiotic, immediately medicated her and put her to bed. What a difference the right medicine makes. Our little girl woke up Friday morning a brand new healing 8 year old.
I am grateful for the thorough examination, but wished the results would have come a bit sooner. As parents we feel helpless against an unseen force invading our children's health. We have to swallow our pride, take them to someone with a greater insight into their sickness and trust them with our child's life. I often ask myself, why am I so quick to pack up my pride as a father and run to a physician here on earth; when my earthly Father has been on standby waiting on me to do the same with Him? Don't get me wrong, we relentlessly covered Carsey in prayer day in and day out. There were times that I would even wake up to pray for her. But the reality is, most of the time I only run in desperation to Jesus when there's a crisis. What if I had bathed my children in as much prayer daily without them being sick as I did when they were sick? Busted! No, we're not super parents. Not even close to being perfect parents- but thank God we know a perfect Father that watches over us day in and day out reminding us of His unfailing love. It's God's perfected parenting over my life that inspires and encourages me to be the example to my kids as He is to me! Loves covers the multitude of sickness.. including sin! Be encouraged parents and future parents- you're not in this alone and you never will be.