On Friday morning Avery crawled into our bed at the wee hours of the morning. She does this fairly often now so I wasn’t surprised and just moved over so that she could fall back asleep. As she layed next to me I couldn’t help but noticed that she was radiating body heat.
A couple of hours later we got up for our day (the girls were off of school for Good Friday) and noticed Avery just seemed a bit down. She didn’t want breakfast and just sat on the couch cuddled up next to me. I felt her head again and she was burning up. I took her temperature and it was 103. I gave her some meds to get the fever down and just relaxed for the rest of the day. That afternoon Avery mentioned she wanted to take a nap (which she never does anymore) and wanted me to lay with her in her bed (she was very specific) so we did just that. She woke up that evening mentioned that her ear hurt. Of course it was right after our pediatrician’s office closed, so I took her up to the urgent care center by our house. The doctor looked her over and told us that her ear was pink and diagnosed it as an ear infection. We got her antibiotics and went home.
That night she mentioned that she wanted me to sleep with her, so I bunked in the bottom bunk and layed next to her while I felt her really hot body next to me. I woke up a couple of times that night to take her temperature and at one point it was over 104.
The next morning the fever continued and we continued our cycle of advil to bring it down. While she was on the medicine, she was acting great. Almost as if nothing was wrong. But the second that it started to wear off and the fever spiked again, she’d get really tired and just lay on the couch with her eyes barely open. This vicious cycle continued until Monday when I finally decided she needed to go and see her doctor. Things weren’t progressing, despite being on antibiotics and I was getting really worried (don’t use google when your child is sick.)
As soon as we saw the doctor Avery was in her bad moment. The meds were wearing off and her fever was spiking. He took one look at her ears and told me he saw nothing. He looked around a bit more and noticed that her throat was swollen with white patches all over her tonsils. She has tonsillitis. Unfortunately it’s viral, which means that it’s only a matter of time before the rest of us get sick (Harlan is already complaining of her throat hurting and has a cough, but no fever) and there’s nothing we can do about it other than what we are doing with the Advil. He said it lasts 5-7 days and if she wasn’t getting better by Wednesday then we need to bring her back in.
Today was day 5 and I saw a teeny bit of progress. Her fever is still around 102-103 but she was able to go further than she usually does without her fever spiking. She did throw up today which I thought was a set back, but it was a one time thing. Thank goodness. Her energy level is improving and I saw a smile for the first time in five days today. I am praying that tomorrow will show more of an improvement.
It’s been a long time since one of the kids has been this sick, especially for this period of time. I’m exhausted. Avery’s not doing much, but she requires so much of my attention. And of course I still have Harlan and Macks that expect me to be there for them as well.
I’m being pulled so many directions and seeing Avery sick has sent my anxiety through the roof. I feel helpless and my heart breaks as I see her in pain yet there is nothing I can do to make her feel better. It’s heart wrenching. These past five days it feels as if we’ve been treading water with no way out.
Now all I can do is pray. Pray that my little girl can fight this infection and get some of that energy back. Pray that I can get the strength to make it through these demanding days trying to juggle it all. And pray that the rest of the family stays well. We are headed to see my parents in Florida on Friday and I want it to be a vacation we can all enjoy. A healthy vacation for our entire family.
