The Plague is Running Through Our House

Since we've been homeschooling, I have to say that one unexpected perk is that we've been healthy. Sick visits to the doctor have been few and far between. Oh, we get the occasional cold, or one day stomach bug, but nothing drastic.

It's such a refreshing change from when K-boy was in school, and M-girl was at preschool. We got everything then, and it wasn't pleasant. Pink-eye, ear infections, strep...poor, baby D-boy got hit with them all when the other two brought them home.

The other day our lucky streak ended, and I should have seen it coming. M-girl got invited to the neighbor's birthday party. Contrary to a popularly held belief, we had firmly decided against locking the kids in the closet when we started homeschooling, so I let her go. It did give me pause that the party was being held at a germ palace bouncy house place in the mall, but I figured it's May. Nothing is going around now.

Was I ever wrong.

Poor M-girl woke up in the middle of the night after the party, coughing and wheezing, and burning up with fever. Did I mention that this was at the start of the long, Memorial Day weekend?

We monitored her symptoms, all ones that we had seen before with her - just not for years. I waited the requisite three days before calling the doctor about the fever. Amazing when you consider that my mother, the alarmist, was frequently calling to warn me what dire diseases the symptoms might point to.

When I took M-girl to the doctor, I was disappointed not to see our usual physician, Dr. Kim. Dr. Kim is my dream doctor, she listens, offers thoughtful suggestions, and actually talks to my kids. She's about the same age as me and also has three children, the same ages as mine. She's like my medical gal-pal, that I only see at the doctor's office.

Instead we met with her colleague, Dr. Not-Kim. She did not have the same bedside manner at all as Dr. Kim. I had to tell her three times that M-girl was having ear pain. When I pointed out a rash that I just noticed developing on M-girl's neck in the air-conditioned waiting room she replied, "It looks like a heat rash, maybe she was laying down?" Huh???? I think we were speaking the same language?!

At least they did a strep test, and looked at her ears. Both looked fine. Then Dr. Not-Kim told me, "I think it's just a cold."

"What about the fever that she's had for four days?" I asked.

"It's a virus," she replied.Then she gave me a prescription for cough medicine and told me to put cortisone cream on the 'heat' rash. She offered to give her steroids for her cough, even though she didn't hear any lung congestion, so they wouldn't do any good. I just looked at her in bafflement.

I miss Dr. Kim.

So now we're back where we started, except D-boy now has a fever too, and is vomiting in addition to that. Oh, and M-girl has her ballet recital coming up in a few days, and I have noooo clue if she's going to be well for it. I already bought the tickets too. $65 worth. Hmmmm.

Having graduated as a history major, I know that the plague was much worse than what we're experiencing, and we will come through this. I would just love to have a friendly chat though, with the parent of the Typhoid Mary that started this whole thing. I'd have a lot to say to her.