Monday, December 28, 2009

To the Doctor ...and again....and again.....

The last few weeks have been so busy.  
It all began when I took Isaac for his scheduled immunizations.  While there (of course I had all four children with me), it was brought to my attention that Malachi and Jacob were missing a few updated shots.  Nice....  So, I figured I'd get them all a seasonal flu shot and schedule a visit for the boys.  Unbeknownst to me, if you don't bring your child in for a couple of years, their file gets placed in storage and they are no longer in the system.   The nurse came back and everyone was all tense and ready to get the needle.   She then informs me that Malachi is no longer a patient there and I'll have to bring him back as a new patient to even get the flu vaccine.  Bummer.  Everyone but him got the shot.  Sooooo, I make Malachi and Jacob a well check visit appointment.  I bring Malachi back on the scheduled day ...again, I have all four children with me.  I suspected that Sarah had pink eye and wanted to get it confirmed and get a prescription.  We all go in and Malachi is tense, but ready to finally get his shots.  The nurse asks if he is having any problems....I say "No, just a sore throat"  ...she says, "Let me check him for strep to be sure."  The test comes back positive.  He has strep.  NO shots...again.  Poor guy.  They work Sarah in as we are sitting there  (so I can be charged for two visits instead of one, of course....I mean how hard would it be to just look at her eyes and call me in a prescription????....but, whatever....)  Anyway, she had double pink eye.  So, we left and went to Wal-Mart to get antibiotics filled.  That was on a Thursday.  Saturday morning, Isaac woke up and started screaming and holding his right ear.  So, knowing I could do nothing for that except Tylenol, I made him an appointment.  Good thing too, because he was diagnosed with both and ear infection and strep throat.  Oh goody, more antibiotics.  So, he gets started on his as Malachi and Sarah are continuing theirs.  Meanwhile, Jacob and Sarah are coughing repeatedly at night.  I tried vapor rub on the bottoms of their feet, cough syrup, and the vaporizer.  Guess which one helped??  None.  Okay, in the midst of this, my little Isaac who had been attempting to use the potty was no longer doing so...the antibiotics were messing with his system.  He now had diarrhea..  imagine my excitement.  I went through an entire tube of Balmex...with him screaming all the while.  Finally, a friend suggested Butt Paste. I thought it was helping after the first application.  I was sadly mistaken.  Ended up taking him back to the doctor to confirm what I already figured...he had a yeast infection.  Another prescription ~ yeah!  I asked her while I was there if I couldn't just use an over the counter yeast medication in the future.  That turned out to be helpful information.  I went through the yeast prescription and had to buy some over the counter to totally eradicate his infection.  Finally, we are through that whole ordeal....no strep, no pink eye, no antibiotics, no yeast infection....whew!  :)  You would think my story ends - Happily Ever After - here, wouldn't you?  It was not to be so.  I took Malachi back for his second visit to get the elusive shots.  He is once again, ready but tense.  We arrive...(they actually did me a favor and scheduled Malachi and Jacob's appointments on the same day and the same time....had to have Darren to meet me in case they went in different rooms...which they didn't ....which makes me believe I should've received a discount...but anyway....)  They both have their check-up and have their eyes and ears checked and settle in to wait for the nurse to come back and give the shots.  During this time, Darren leaves to go back to work.  I'm waiting with the boys and Sarah and the nurse arrives.  The boys decide that Malachi can go first.  He sits up on the table and mentally prepares.  He ends up getting the flu mist and two shots.  I help him down and notice his eyes start rolling around and he's groaning.  He starts slumping to the floor and my panic begins to set in.  (Okay, I have to tell you that as his head is going in circles and his eyes are rolling it looked like one of those cartoons where the character gets thumped with something and he groans and his head and eyes do exaggerated rolls and you see the stars swirling above their noggin...I had a fleeting thought that he was being funny....this all happened in a matter of seconds tho...his actions, my thoughts, his slumping....)  At any rate, he falls on the floor unmoving...I'm freaking.   Then he abruptly sits up and says, "I gotta get my shots"....as we are both trying to lie him back down, he goes limp, then gets stiff, his eyes roll back and he is looking like he's having a seizure.  Okay, I really freaked...the nurse didn't seem to be doing a whole lot better....I was saying over and over..."maybe you should go get someone"...  finally, he seems to limber up a bit and go into the pass out stage again.  She gets a chair and puts his feet up and he seems to be coming around.  At this point, she gets a doctor.  He comes in and Malachi is finally coming around.  Says that happens sometimes...not often mind you...but sometimes.  He said I needed to remember that in the future when he has shots.  (Like I could possibly forget to mention that)  At this moment, I realized I had lost visual on my other three children.  Jacob was huddled in a corner in a panic - remember, he is supposed to get his shots next...poor guy.  Sarah was hiding in terror out in the hall.  Isaac was hovering over Malachi saying "better now!"  in a more demanding than concerned voice.  The nurse put Malachi in a chair and sent for crackers and coke.  He sat there a few seconds and nearly passed out again....back on the floor with propped up feet he went.  Finally, he had to get back on the table and after checking his pulse and blood pressure, he was pronounced okay and it was time for Jacob's shots.  Can you imagine the poor child's terror???  He just watched his older, in control brother, get shots, pass out and have a seizure.  He panicked.  I felt so sorry for him.  He was holding onto me for dear life, all signs of "I"m all grown up and don't need my mommy" pretense shed.    He fingers clenched my arms in desperation...tears poured down his nine year old face and I could feel his fear.  They gave him his two shots and thank the good Lord in heaven his were uneventful.  I've never been so glad to leave the doctor's office.   Whew....my heart rate just accelerated in merely retelling the story.  Malachi is supposed to go back now that he has turned 11 and get his Tetanus and Meningitis.....  none of us are looking forward to it.......

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