The Bug that Wouldn't Go Away

To celebrate Labor Day today, we decided to head to the zoo. And I can honestly tell you that we enjoyed the sunshine, warm air, and cool breezes more than we have enjoyed them in a very long time. This past week, we have been couped up, worried and ill. Last Saturday, Will started complaining of not feeling well. By Sunday morning, he was complaining of his throat hurting and by Sunday night, he had started running a 102 fever. We've had more than our fair share of strep around here in the past couple months, so I immediately took him to the doctor Monday morning and, sure enough, he had strep yet again. The problem was that the magic medicine the doctor always gives that normally makes a child better by the next morning (I love that stuff) didn't seem to be working. By Wednesday (the day he was supposed to be OK to return to daycare), he was still running a fever of 102 and couldn't seem to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time each night before waking up in a drenching wet sweat and crying because of his throat. Something was not right. So I took him to the doctor again Wednesday morning thinking that his medicine wasn't working. She took another strep test but this one came back negative, telling us that the medicine was indeed working. She said that the fever could possibly last one more day but that, if he still had it by the next morning, we knew that he had a virus on top of it which she predicted would last anywhere from 7-10 days. Sure enough, we woke up Thursday morning (after 30 minute snoozes throughout the night again), to find out that he was still running a fever.

To make matters worse, Brian's throat started hurting by Wednesday night. He went up to the local walk-in clinic after I got home from work and...yep, you guessed it...he had strep too. So the two boys got to be home sick together all day Thursday and Friday. By Saturday morning, Brian was feeling better. Will was not.

It never ceases to amaze me how strong my feelings run in me for my kids. Sure, they drive me nuts occasionally (well, more than occasionally lately). They sit around the house whining and complaining. They pick at each other and torment each other. They come screaming to me, wanting me to give each of them their way. I roll my eyes, I huff and puff, and occasionally I even raise my voice. But then something happens like an illness and suddenly, my heart is broken for my babies. By Saturday morning, as I watched my sweet boy with a very pale little face and deep, dark circles under his eyes simply lay on the couch watching cartoons and not having any energy to run around the house and drive me crazy, my eyes started to tear up a little. And when he told me he was cold and allowed me to pull up my favorite blanket on him, I watched as he dozed off to sleep and I started to cry a little bit more. A week of watching your sweet little boy run a mysterious fever that just won't seem to go away and, worse still, not seem to have any cause or any end because the only thing which can heal it is time, will break a momma's heart worse than anything. You want answers and you want it to go away. You want medicine that will work and you want to know when it'll end. And, as a working mom, you're even further torn in half because you know your office is trying to be kind but is impatiently waiting for your return.

I have spent this past week battling my emotions, feeling bad for the work I was missing and leaving to others to tend, and praying that God would simply take this strange fever away from my sweet little boy's brow.

Yesterday, we knew we had to skip church yet again. Originally I was going to stay home with Will while Brian and AC went to church but, after getting a very nasty burn on my arm from the oven, I knew I was going to be useless and Brian stayed home to help out. And God apparently decided to bless us despite it. Will woke up at 8:30 (very late for my little early-riser) with a grin on his face...a first in a week. He jumped out of bed and spent the morning hopping on the couch. He harassed his sister and he tried to attack the dog (in a loving way, of course). And, for the first time in a week, he spent the day with a smile on his face and a very cool brow.

And today, we decided to celebrate by leaving the house for the first time in a week! It was so wonderful to get out into the fresh air for once, to feel the cool breeze and to enjoy the sunshine on faces. We gathered Brian's parents and headed to the zoo and spent the morning walking in the sunshine and simply enjoying the day and our health. It's amazing how much we take those things for granted until the day arrives when you lose them for a time.