As the coffee brews, my girls sleep and the landscapers mow, I take a moment to thank GOD for this precious day and tell him how grateful I am to have these girls as my daughters. Friday I took the girls to get blood work and a ct scan. Surprisingly we were in and out in both facilities. The quality of care was ten times better and we finally got those tests out of the way. Now we could go home and get ready to see some family in Orlando. Not so fast. Really. While I was cooking dinner and playing a game with the girls the phone rang, it's 5 p.m. and on the other end was the doc. I thought this could not be good. What doctor calls this late. I was expecting results from the tests to be on Monday. She told me she had the results of the scan and Hannah needed to be admitted to the hospital. She explained that the girls have sinusitis and Hannah also has infected bones behind her ear. Chronic. Otomastoiditis. Took me a minute to learn how to say it. She insisted we get over to her office to have her examined and then immediately admit her. We gathered our things and headed right over. Of course I'm in tears because this was the last thing I'd expected. She explained antibiotics at home wouldn't be good enough. She needed strong iv antibiotics. Dad arrived home and we go straight to the office and then the hospital. Both girls are crying thinking my baby is going to die and neither of them feel well enough to handle any of this. As we finish admitting and get her in her room the first thing she says is , "I'm in a fish tank, Cool." The pediatric unit has murals of fish and her assigned room was the Manatee. If she only knew what she was in for at this point.
We let her play in the play room for a minute when the nurse came to get her to get the iv going and take blood. More blood. Gosh damn it. She told us to hang back and I thought NO PROBLEMO because Hannah had handled getting blood work every other time. BIG mistake. What seemed to be forever was probably about twenty five minutes when they carried her back to the room, tears rolling down her cheek, holes and bruises up and down her tiny hands and arms, the nurse says they couldn't get blood from her or the iv going. Her veins kept collapsing. I hurry and grab my baby from this nurses arms and I'm sad. But more pissed. Why the hell would you stab a baby fifteen times to try to accomplish your goals. Give her a minute to rest and try again later. When our doctor found out they did this to her she was fuming. She said after the third try they should have stopped. Friday night was pure terror for my precious little girl. They did not try again. They explained other routes to go and honestly I just wanted this to all go away for her. I wanted to say to hell with you people. Antibiotics did not start and my sweet little girl was in so much pain from them squeezing and poking her so much. No wonder they wanted us to hang back. I slept with my snuggle bunny and held her all night. Another nurse did come in to get blood from her thumb. Which was hell too. That was it for the night. Let her be.
The following morning a new nurse came in and I told her what happened. She asked if I was in the room when they were doing this and I said no the nurse told us to hang back. I said if I had been with her she would have probably been fine. She looked at her veins and explained that if she could get the iv going it would be the best for Hannah because the shots are painful, horrifying. I allowed her to look and try her best with me in the room. This nurse got it first try, no problem. As painful as it was to see my baby go through this, I knew it was for the best and she needed these antibiotics in her. Being in so much pain, not feeling well and diarrhea, all she had in mind was playing, reading books and looking at the murals in the hall. Kids with so much energy. I tell ya. No matter what,.. they just want to be a KID.
Family came right down from Orlando to see her. Which was extremely nice and thoughtful. They did not have to take time out of their vacation to drive 3.5 hours to come see us. And a big Thank You to Mr. B for making Hannah laugh. He is pure entertainment and it made me so happy to see them playing together. But at the same time it broke my heart that we live so far and they only see each other once a year if that. She definitely needed laughter and smiles after Friday night. What a way to take her mind off the pain.
Sadly, they had to go. We had hoped to get things rolling and have her feeling well enough to head to Orlando when she got out. At that point we had been told she needed at least 48 hours of antibiotics in her. Which would mean we could go home Sunday. The E.N.T. saw her late Saturday and said the tonsils/adenoids needed to be removed. He prescribed some nasal spray and wants us to follow up in ten days. All Miss H wanted was some good pancakes. And don't you know the hospital food is so freaking nasty she barely ate. I promised her some good food when she got out. Our doctor came in late Sunday and prescribed the oral antibiotic and a steroid to take at home. She discharged her that eve. Finally. Believe me a hospital is not where you wanna spend your weekend. But we needed to take care of our baby and now we can get her well again. Big sis was such a sweetheart. She stood by her side, stayed up late, played with her and shed tears for her baby sis, all the while she was feeling ill too.
That's clearly a bond no one can ever break. I raise my girls to have a stronger bond than ever because at the end of the day we only have each other and the love we have for one another is stronger than life itself. If anything, I think the struggles we face makes you stronger. Things could be worse.,anything at any given time could be worse. I'm glad it's not. I'm glad I still have these two girls and that we can spend each and every day in each others presence. They are my life, my world, my everything.
She did get some cute bears out of the deal.
So. About that food I promised. We went home Sunday night, actually got some sleep because at the hospital we probably slept a total of 2 hours. I got up Monday morning to get her prescriptions filled and ran into the school to talk to the principle. Turned in M's plane project for her and let them know the girls would be back as soon as they are feeling better. We then got ready to get some food and it was up to Miss H where we were eating. Of course. She deserved to pick. IHOP. She so badly wanted those pancakes. So off to IHOP. Good thing we live so close to everything, it's right down the street.
New York Cheesecake Pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. One hundred times better than the hospitals. I think she's a happy girl now. And I'm so damn happy she's on the road to recovery. We still have a ways to go but now that we know what is wrong we can finally take the steps to make her strong again.
I hate seeing her so weak. She's so small and fragile. I look at her and see a very sick little girl. I baby my girls like no other. I attend their every need and hold them so tight they physically have to tear away from me. Life is special. I'm not sure what God has in store for us but I dream nothing but good and pray for the ones that are hurting worse than her. Our babies are our life. We can't bear seeing them in pain. I only imagined what it would be like when I saw other kids so ill but I no longer imagine. I now know what other parents go through and I cry right along with them. If we could wave a magic wand and heal them that would be the first thing on our list. If I could move mountains I would. If I could make every aching pain go away, I would. Being a mother is the most wonderful joy of life. Even through the bad times I thank God he allowed me to be a mom. That's my purpose, my reason for my being.
