A Rough Week

Most of this week I spent at home sprawled on the couch. I returned to work on Tuesday but shouldn't have. By Friday I was much better and returned to work. Unfortunately due to my own illness and taking time off for Betsy, I'm now 9+ hours Leave Without Pay on this time sheet.

Lab results came back and I don't have C-Diff or salmonella or any other of a host of things they checked for. Just a really bad case of the stomach flu. Really bad. Really. Bad. Really.

We planned to celebrate Cassie's birthday on Saturday, but since I was down all week I hadn't done any shopping on behalf of me or Mom. So Friday night Cassie spent the evening at Grma's while I quickly hit Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble, Target, etc with list in hand. There's not a Ken doll to be found in Lincoln, that's all I can say. Luckily Toys R Us and B&N pulled some items that I wanted and held them for me so I just had to swing in and out. (Yeah, like I can ever just pop into B&N...)

Earlier this week Betsy was moved from Bryan LGH East to Lancaster Manor. She's not happy about that and finds fault with everything. Friday she was taken to Bryan LGH West complaining of chest pains and difficulty breathing; they chose to admit her.

Mark's Mom is still having a rough time of it but has finally returned from the Norfolk hospital to the nursing facility in Verdigre. She's also convinced she gave C-Diff to Cassie who then passed it on to Betsy, so she's refusing to see Cassie to prevent spread of disease to anyone else. This is not true but we can't convince her otherwise. I'm trying to get Mark to go up to visit, but so far our next scheduled trip is at Easter.


Medical issues have been the theme since February. With luck, Cassie's birthday party can get us switched to a new state of mind and moving in a different direction.

Not the Weekend I'd Planned

Betsy went home from St. E's last Thursday evening. I was very surprised they released her but the doc okay-ed it so I had to follow through. Cassie and I picked her up after I got off work, hit the grocery store for a few basics for her fridge, then got her settled at home. After ensuring Betsy was fine, Cassie and I had supper at Taco Inn and went right to bed. It was past her bedtime and I was very tired - too tired to pack for my weekend quilt retreat.

Friday was Cassie's 7th birthday. I sang Happy Birthday to her, we let her open one present (a pillowcase made out of Hannah Montana fabric), and she and I gathered around the radio to hear her birthday announcement on KFOR. Got Cassie to school by 9am and I headed off to pick up Betsy's antibiotic prescription. Then I could pack and head to retreat.

Not to happen.

Betsy's home health care provider called. Betsy had exaggerated her condition because she wanted to be home (and I can understand wanting to be home), but now she recognized this was a mistake. However, now that she was home the hospital social worker would not be finding a nursing home for her, it was now MY job to call around. Long story short, the visiting nurse arrived early and agreed Betsy needed care. She suggested we just call 911 to have her transported back to the hospital - there was no way I would be able to get her to my van. We ended up at the ER at Bryan LGH East.

Cousin Bob called me in the afternoon to kick me out. He reminded me I'd been caring for Betsy almost nightly for most of February, and that I needed this quilt retreat for ME. He promised to take over until I returned Sunday and I was to leave town and forget the worries. So I headed home to pack and take the 30-min drive to the 4-H camp outside of Gretna while listening to a book on CD.

I arrived and unpacked in time for supper. I didn't eat much but then I'm not a fan of jambalaya. At 8pm I was very tired so I headed to my cabin, showered, and went to bed. At 1am I awoke and spent the rest of the night in the bathroom with my cabinmates peeking in on me occasionally. I called Mark at 6:15am to say I needed picked up. He and Cassie finally arrived at 7:45 to take me to Bryan LGH East. I was concerned I'd contracted C-Diff from Betsy and wanted to be tested, and if they decided to admit me I wanted family to have to visit only one hospital.

The ER staff really hopped to it when I announced I'd been exposed to C-Diff. I was so dehydrated they had difficulty finding a vein for an IV, but finally I got hooked up to fluids, electrolytes, and an anti-nausea med. By noon I was stabilized and could go home with an anti-nausea prescription. It takes two days for the lab to test for C-Diff so I'm still up-in-the-air about that diagnosis. I spent the rest of the weekend on the couch, mostly sleeping, dozing, being read-to by Cassie, and catching the Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family.

Sunday I could stand and had tolerated a piece of toast for breakfast, so I had to accompany Mark back to the retreat to collect my things plus the van was still there. My quilting sisters had kindly packed up my stuff so all we had to do was load the van. Cassie chose to ride with me - my having the retreat snacks might have had a little to do with that - and she happily munched on popcorn, coke, and a candy bar on the way back to Lincoln (Mark drove the Neon down I-80 but I took the van down the more scenic route on Hwy 6). Then I hit the couch again and slept hard.

I was able to eat chicken noodle soup and later some rice. Now Monday morning I still don't have an appetite but need to eat something to get my strength back. My quilting stuff is still in the van (though I did bring in my sewing machine) but I'm not gonna worry about that yet. I'm just disappointed I didn't get to attend retreat. Last year Diana D. just got unpacked, was ill during the night, and her hubby retrieved her; this year it was me. I hope we don't have a Hat Trick next year.

Unprepared for Quilt Retreat

I kept Cassie home from school on Monday and Tuesday. Her temp was down to 99 Monday morning but back up to 101 that night. By Tuesday late afternoon she was feeling better and I sent her to school on Wednesday. She is still coughing, her sinuses are full, and she tires easily but she's doing much better. Thankfully I was off Monday and Tuesday since I'd worked the weekend, so I didn't have to use leave time.

But nursing a sick child put me behind on my preps for quilt retreat. I got some bedding washed, but I haven't begun to pack nor gather my projects. I leave in the morning and I'm not ready to go!

Tonight we had our Parent-Teacher Conference. I took off work an hour early, picked up Cassie from her After-School Program, and we hit the Book Fair before having our conference. We both selected several books. Mark had extra chores to do tonight so he opted to go straight to his part-time night job and skip the conference since we don't have issues to discuss with the teacher (Cassie is still doing very well).

By the time conference was done at 7pm, Cassie was rubbing her eyes. She wanted to go to Tico's Mexican restaurant for supper, but I said no and she began to bawl. She was so tired she cried all the way home and in my arms on the couch for 10 min. I tossed her in the tub and got her bathed and her hair washed (while she cried), then made her some chicken noodle soup for supper along with grapes and a slice of toast cut into small squares. We watched Wonder Pets and Blues Clues on Noggin while eating. And she fell right to sleep.

But I'm too tired now to do an adequate job of packing. Tomorrow morning will be very busy as well. A neighbor gave Cassie some McDonald's gift certificates for her birthday and I told Cassie we'd use them tomorrow for breakfast. I wanted to be on the road by 9:30am and after I drop Cassie to school I'll have only 30 min to do a 90-min job!

Partied Too Hard?

Very early Sunday morning I had a sick girl on my hands. By 6:30am she had a temp of 102.1, body aches, tummy ache, and stuffed sinuses. She felt so bad that she was lying in my arms crying. Got some Motrin down her and within a few minutes she was content to lie in bed with me and watch dvds all morning.

We started with Dora but after 10 min she decided against that. So we watched Harry Potter #4 (Goblet of Fire), and Shrek 1 and 2. By 11:30 she thought she wanted some breakfast. But the toast, oranges and water that she asked for mostly went uneaten.

I had to work and when I returned home her temp was up to 102.5. Gave her more Motrin to make her comfortable during the night.

Thank goodness this didn't happen a day earlier or we'd have had to postpone her party - and that would have been a major disappointment to her.

What will happen now is I'll catch it in time for my quilt retreat this weekend!

A Short Week

Tuesday Cassie was well enough to return to school, and packed two bags of critters and toys to take with her to Grma's in the evening. The weather turned cold and we both tried out the body glue to keep up our socks. That stuff works great! My socks didn't fall at all, and Cassie reports her socks stayed up as well. And it washed off easily with soap and water.

I got home at 9:15pm and grabbed my shower while Mark finished Cassie's bath. Her cough at bedtime wouldn't stop, so she cuddled on my lap while I watched my "House" timer tape. By 11pm the Dimetapp finally kicked in and she was able to lie down and sleep. I didn't take my Gabapentin so I could be aware of Cassie during the night. Sadly, this meant I got two hours of sleep while Cassie slept through the night with no trouble!

She awoke at 6:15am Wednesday and suggested she didn't need to go to school since she still had a cough. I reminded her there was no school today and she was going to Vickie's daycare instead. Cassie was so excited about going to Vickie's that she was up, dressed, her hair done and her coat on by 6:45am! And I hadn't managed yet to locate my clothes.

I had the Day From Heck at work. Ill-behaved patrons and computers that acted up were the theme. So I stopped at Tico's on the way home and got a small bag of chips, 4-oz of hot sauce, and three slices of chocolate mint pie. Cassie and I had a nice snack when I got home.

Then Cassie and I went to Target for laundry soap. We live on the wild side!

Thanksgiving Aftermath

I kept Cassie home from Sunday School as she was coughing up a storm. I did some work on my piles of paper, and wrote on the backs of photos. Also gathered up some laundry and ran a few loads. Mark was sprawled in the easy chair reading the paper.

Cassie had cabin fever and since I was planning to send her to school on Monday, I took her along with me to run a few errands. If nothing else, this got her acclimated to physical activity. We hit the post office, went to Mom's, looked at photo frames at Shopko (she's a great little shopper and found all the sizes I needed but one) and stopped at Taco Inn for lunch.

Deb S. and her hubby, Charlie, met us at Taco Inn to deliver my replacement Tupperware seal and my body glue. I also won the door prize at her open house! Can't wait to use my instant manicure.

Cassie and I headed on to Younkers and Dillards looking for a pasta pot, but couldn't get myself to shell out 120 bucks. Then on to Target, and back home to do four more loads of laundry. I made soup for Cassie and me, changed sheets, got us bathed and jammied and we were in bed snoring away in no time. I was still tired from Thanksgiving preparations.

Cassie's cough seemed worse on Monday so I kept her home again from school. Mark stayed with her this time. When I got home in the evening, I grabbed a quick supper, tossed in a couple more loads of laundry, then got Cassie and me ready for bed and we hopped into the "big bed" with our laptops. Cassie is no longer happy at playing with the surplus keyboard and mouse and pretending she has a laptop, now she asks to borrow mine to email Grma M.

There's something not right about a 5yo able to use the fingerpad and properly move the mouse.

Cassie and Her Cough

Cassie caught my cold and has been coughing all week, getting progressively worse. I kept her home from school last Friday, from Sunday School yesterday, and from school again today. We spent most of the time with the vaporizer running, I applied Vick's Vapor Rub to her chest all day, and we cuddled on the couch beneath quilts, watching her dvds. Just let me make this clear - I'm not a fan of Tom & Jerry cartoons.

Her Words of Wisdom for the day (noted during breakfast): "It's hard to cough with a full mouth."

Only to Drive...

I was down ill Monday and Tuesday. A cold/flu has been working its way through the library the past two or three weeks and it finally latched onto me. Monday night I managed to drag myself off the couch and get Cassie's bubblebath ready, but she proudly bathed herself. While I was drying her off I commented that it looks like she doesn't need me anymore. She paused thoughtfully then said, "I can't drive yet Mommy, so I still need you for that."