First change:
I had been planning a vacation to see my brother & his family (mostly his wife - we are best of friends) for over a year. Then my friend decided to get married that weekend. So we postponed the trip - just long enough that we missed the balloon festival that we had planned to see while we were in Albuquerque.
Second change:
My trip plans were to go from Albuquerque (brother's house) to Portland, to Spokane so we could drive down to Mike's dad's house in Pendleton. The second day we were in Portland while we were at the Children's museum (wonderful place, be sure to go there if you're ever in Portland with small children) Josh developed a fever - and started tossing his cookies. I wouldn't have worried too much about that, but he also wouldn't eat. This is a sure sign in Josh that he is very sick.
So we took the 45 minute train ride back to the hotel. I had to wait for Mike to finish working and come back so I could get Josh some ibuprofen from the store.
I gave it to him, and waited. His fever came down only marginally. It was really really high. It was so high that I was pretty sure I could cook an egg on him. He was bright red - literally. I knew that it's usually a bacterial infection that causes such high fevers that ibuprofen can only barely dent. And we were more than 500 miles from home. I would have to take a plane to get him home... and if it was an ear infection it would be torture for him. Then I thought maybe it was just food poisoning, and maybe it would be out of his system by tomorrow afternoon. I got the strongest impression from the Holy Ghost that I needed to get him back to Salt Lake ASAP.
So I asked Mike what flights we could take the next day - without any stops. There were 2 choices: 6:45am, and 5:55 at night. I thought maybe it would be ok to let Josh rest in the hotel as long as possible and just take that evening flight. That way Mike could still take the kids swimming this night and they wouldn't be overly tired. So while Mike took the other kids swimming I stayed with the sleeping Josh and Charlie. I had thought I'd read or watch TV while my boys swam, but I felt compelled to start packing - just in case.
When Mike came back we talked about our options - splitting up the family to still have him see his dad - taking morning/evening flight - which kids I would take/leave to go with him. I felt so very unsettled, and I wasn't sure why. By the time we finished talking and decided that I would wait and see, it was quite late.
After Mike had gone to sleep I got the impression that it would NOT be ok to wait - I needed to take that morning flight. I was concerned that I wouldn't wake in time to get everyone packed in time - that I wouldn't wake in time. I went to sleep and then woke at 4am and felt Josh's forehead. His fever was still sky high and from when I gave him the medicine it should have been down at least a good bit. Then I felt like I was being catapulted out of Portland. I had to get up NOW and GO! - and I needed to take Mike with me. I was done questioning, so I finished packing quickly and woke everyone to go to the airport. Mike went along with it but grumbled a bit when I seemed to have everything in hand. Michael was causing problems because he was just so very tired (he kept laying down in random but bad places.) Indeed I wondered why I had had to bring them along. Then Josh tossed his cookies once more in the airport, and I had to rush him off to the bathroom. If Mike hadn't been there I wouldn't have been able to whisk Josh off so quickly. The boys all slept on the plane - no surprise there after getting them up at 5:15 - Michael had been shocked that other people were actually awake too!
Third change:
When we got home Thursday morning I decided rather than take him to the doc right away I'd let him rest and then wait and see if he would be ok. By 3:30 though I felt I needed to call the doc, despite feeling stupid doing so. Josh's only complaint was that his ears kinda hurt.
So we went. And the doc checked his ears. No, not them. So he checked his throat - because pain from the throat can radiate up there. No - didn't look bad. Did a strep test anyway. Negative. So we went home figuring that this was just a virus. I was perplexed as to why I had felt that impression to go if it were nothing. Perhaps just to confirm that I was doing all I could?
Fourth change:
Josh finally said he was feeling better Saturday afternoon. He ate soup and said he wanted to ride his bike. I told him no, of course. I wasn't about to let him do to much right away and relapse. I did need to go to the store - we were out of bread and milk. So I took him there. I got a pizza and we did a movie night. Josh even ate 2 slices, and it looked like his fever was all but gone. I thought, "Well since we're home and Josh seems to be doing better, I guess we'll go to church tomorrow."
I then got the impression that we should NOT go to church tomorrow. I thought that was a little weird. Why would the Holy Ghost tell me NOT to go to church? I brushed it off thinking I was probably just being a little lazy because I didn't want to drag 3 small kids to church, but after these trying few days perhaps I was entitled to a bit of laziness... just a bit.
Fast forward to Sunday morning - I woke to a phone call from Josh's doctor. He informed that Josh did in fact have strep and needed antibiotics right away. I was surprised because I had thought Josh was getting better, but I concurred. He told me I should watch for the symptoms in the other kids too. Then I felt I should tell him about Nathaniel's fever last night - I felt silly because I wasn't 100% sure it was even a fever - could've been just him running around & hot. The doc said he'd call in prescriptions for both.
Just now I held Nathaniel because he was being cranky.
He has a fever.
All I can say is, despite my doubts and reservations, I'm glad I listened.
Now I'm off to get some prescriptions - and some redbox movies. I hope I can keep them down long enough to actually get them better.
Wish me luck.
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