...spending 3 hours at a doctor's office to get a rapid strep test for Kyle. He woke up today with fever (well, he felt hot but I don't have a thermometer here so I guessed he had a fever) and a very bad sore throat. His voice sounded thick and his breath stunk even after he brushed his teeth. He said his entire neck hurt and pointed right over his trachea moving his finger up and down. Then, he would hold his neck and every time he tried to talk, he would cringe, hold his neck, and say "accchhhh" almost like he was trying to scratch his throat in some way. He was absolutely miserable and I was concerned that he had strep. I tried to look at his throat but he couldn't keep his tongue down and I decided not to be more intrusive, so off we all went to a doctor's office. At the office, I sat next to a woman who has 2 adopted children and we had a great conversation. It is fairly obvious to most that at least 2 of my children are adopted. Some people are very blunt in asking about it but this lady was nice and really respectful. I enjoyed talking to her, though, Kyle did not enjoy sharing my attention with a stranger. The other thing that was interesting was that one of the employees recognized me from our (her old) neighborhood! She remembered seeing me putting Charlie on the bus when he was in Kindergarten. Turns out, she and her husband moved to Myrtle Beach a year or so ago. It is a small world!
Well, Kyle did not have strep. Turns out he has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, a fairly common viral infection in kids. He doesn't really have the rash on his hands and feet (maybe a few places just starting) but he does have the lesions in his throat. I could kick myself for not getting a good look at his throat before we went to the doctor's office! Had I seen his throat, I would've know it was viral!
So, as all vacationing people do, well, maybe not all, but this one!, we went to the beach late this afternoon. Kyle was feeling better after some ibuprofen and he did not have any fever (he was 98.5 in the office and I did not give him ibuprofen before we went to the doctor), so we played. The kids worked on sand castles and sand-writing while I took some pictures. Even Kyle seemed to forget about his throat for a little while and drew some cute pictures on the beach. He also wrote "yes" for who knows what reason but he did a great job! Joanna had fun building in the sand and spending about 15 minutes (at least!) rinsing the sand out of her bucket. For the life of me, I couldn't find a spec of sand in there but she kept rinsing nonetheless. It must be nice to have a little body with pliable bones -- she stayed in the same bent-over position the entire time she was rinsing her bucket. Marcie collected sea shells then started a sand creation and Charlie just had a ball standing in, and watching, the water. Just call him Poseidon, Jr.!
Oh, I almost forgot, we saw an older man sweeping the beach with a metal detector. Charlie asked what he was doing and he said that he was looking for treasures. He showed them some coins, then said he sometimes finds rings (showed one) and shark's teeth (showed a necklace). Then, he looked at me and said, "but the biggest treasure I found 54 years ago was that little lady in pink over there" gesturing at a woman sitting further up on the beach. He then said she had Alzheimer's but quickly said that's okay and smiled. It was so sweet!
No comments:
Post a Comment