the e.r. and strep throat...

Taken with Daddy's iPhone right after they took the oxygen cannula off.
Happy Girl!

Good evening dear friends...Oh what a day it has been. I woke this morning with a spring in my step and hope in my heart that it would be just a usual weekday filled with work, errands and homemaking tasks. I was looking forward to maybe even being (shock) bored later this afternoon.

Ha!

Miss Courtney had a different plan.

I am a substitute teacher at Courtney's school. Right after lunch I was called to her classroom because she was having a seizure, her second one in 30 minutes. I went through my checklist and discovered she was a little warm. So we called the school nurse who checked her and determined she was running a low grade fever.

No worries...it happens sometimes.

Then she had another seizure. As her teacher and I were watching her, the little alarm bell in the back of my head started to go off. Something was not right but there were no tell tale signs of what the culprit was other than the low grade fever. Courtney was not giving any indication of being uncomfortable in any way so that didn't help.

One thing I have learned in 18 years of parenting this child through thick and thin, is when that alarm goes off, I listen. Boredom was NOT to be on my afternoon's agenda.

I called her doctor and was able to get her an appointment two hours later. I bundled her up and we left school. In the car she had three more seizures. My alarm bells were now shrieking loudly. Once we arrived at the Doctors office they took us right back and the troubleshooting began.

ears - clear.

chest - slight rattle but that's normal for Court who has mild pulmonary lung disease.

no rash.

tummy - a little sensitive to touch and Miss Court wasn't happy with that manipulation.

throat - a little pink but that's normal with all the saliva she creates and aspirates.

bowels - all good and no discomfort.

We were out of things to check for. We had a sensitive tummy, a slightly pink throat, a low grade fever and "little junk" in her upper respiratory cavity. So the doc suggested we head to the ER for blood tests, a flu test, a chest x-ray and also check for a urinary tract infection. There was nothing else we could check for in the peds office, and she continued to have cluster seizures.

Off to the ER we went. She had four more seizures in the next 45 minutes, each lasting 5-6 minutes. Something was going on and I didn't have a clue what it could be. I just knew we had to figure it out soon because the seizures were getting worse.

Upon our arrival at the ER given Courtney's seizure history, they took us right back. This is one of the few perks of her condition. No waiting in the ER. Hey, I'll take what I can get! We met the nurses and the doc and during our intake exam Courtney had another seizure. THAT got their attention and they moved like lightning.

An oxygen cannula was placed on her face, an IV in her arm, fluids were administered, Ativan given to stop the seizures and lots of questions being fired off by the team to me trying to get a grip on the situation.

Once again, I was Courtney's only voice, and in these situations, there is no room for mistakes. It is stressful and intense. When it's over it makes me want to eat gallons of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream to calm my nerves and mend my heart.

Sorry, no perfection here. Just honesty.

They got her seizure stopped, everyone took a deep breath and the troubleshooting started all over again. There were blood draws and a urine specimen taken. The swabbed for the flu and just to be safe, for Step as well. The Doc poked and prodded, Mom soothed and sang, Dad paced and waited. Then waited some more.

Courtney slept a little and hummed a little.  Mom prayed A LOT. Three hours, 5 blood draws, one catheter, and one bag of IV fluids later we had our answer. Strep Throat.

Seriously? All of this trauma and drama for Strep Throat???

Yes, God does have a sense of humor and my daughter has no immune system to speak of. Her throat was slightly pink and she was already reacting badly to the stress on her system.

After her diagnosis, things got even better. The ER sent us home with the wrong prescription, a narcotic for back spasms NOT an antibiotic for Step.

Oh yea baby, gotta love my life!

After another call to the ER Doc courtesy of our pharmacist, we finally arrived home and I have sufficiently buried my frustration and worry in a pint of Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch!

We're going home...Momma and her girl.

Once again, God's grace and mercy prevail and my girl avoids something much more serious.

Nope. No boredom here. EVER!

Oh happy Wednesday!

How did your day go? Anything exciting happen in your world?