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Friday, December 16, 2005

Flashback Friday -- This week's theme: Christmas!



So I decided to participate in this fun little activity.... And the theme is open - Christmas....anything I have a memory about christmas....wow, that's hard....

I decided to to tell about this: The Christmas Emily Got Sick - it lasts past Christmas, but it is the first thing I could think of....Be prepared. It is not a pleasant story....

It was 2001. Not so long ago. We were living in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was 2 months after Spetember 11th. Hubby was out on a 6-month deployment, and would be back in a few weeks. it was also Emily's 1st Christmas. I of course spoiled her...she was only about 9 months old, I had to do SOMETHING crazy....she opened her presents, played with the boxes and wrapping more than the toys, of course...then I made breakfast, and we played some more...called relatives, etc. she went down for her mid morning nap...


When she woke up, a little after I had eaten my lunch, she was clingy. I thought that odd, considering Emily was an incredibly independant child, who liked to play on her own, and was generally a good natured child. now she was being whiny and clingy...and she fell asleep soon after she had her lunch and bottle...VERY unlike her.... I realized she hadn't really had a diaper change, so I nudged her awake to do so. Her diaper was just a little damp. Hmmm...wierd I though...but didn't anything of it until later on. After her secod nap of the day, her diaper was still pretty dry. And she wasn't drinking much juice or formula. or eating really. She was being more clingy than before. She slept with me that night.

The next morning she was lethargic. I couldn;t even gte a smile from her. I called the Clinic on Base for an appointment. I got one for the early afternoon. I had changed her diaper once in the last 2 days, and I didn;t really need it. She was the same clingy and whiny as the afternoon before, only it was more subdued, because it was too much effort for her lethargy. after waiting nearly an hour I finally got Em in an exam room. The docotr came in, didn;t even TOUCH her. Just looked at her and said "Oh she's got a little virus. Give her some tylenol, and plenty of fluids, and she'll be fine." She walked out before I could even tell her abotu the lack of diapers, and her odd eating, or lack of rather. I did get Tylenol, and tried to get Emily to take it, btu she was not interested.

By that night, I had had it. My Mommy insticnt kicked in and I took her to Tripler ER. I waited a long time, and it was ok, becuas they got a real pediatrician to talk to me.....she asked her abotu diapers and liquid consumption. Everything I could think of I told her. Then the doc said she needed to put a catheter in Emily. Because of the holidays, they were short staffed, so I was going to have to hold Emily down while they took blood and put in the catheter. Well that was insane....Emily was screaming like a banshee, flailing, trying to push me and the other orderly off her. Her I am, a young new mother, who's baby is sick, and I am trying to hold her down while tese people invade her body with needles and the like. It was all too much for me. The screaming, crying...then the needle. I could see the world going black. I tried to warn them....

I woke up in a chair nxt to the bed. Emily was still crying, but apparently they got what they needed from her. I was inhaling smelling salts - not pleasant. finally they let me hold her and comfort her. The long wait from the doc on diagnosis was excruciating. Finally the doc comes in.

"You have a very sick baby," she says solemnly while I am cuddling my child, trying to be brave for the both of us.

"Oh my god, she has cancer, doesn't she?!"

"No, no, not that serious, however...it appears she had a bladder infection....and it went untreated, so it's spread to her kidneys, and they are shutting down. That's why she hasn't been filling diapers or eating or drinking. We are going to admit her...."

This gets worse......but that's all I will share about it for today....

To lift your spirits from the Sad Christmas Story....Here's a Picture of Our Tree!

4 flame(s) added to the fire:

Anonymous said...

Don't leave us hanging for too long! Poor little thing. Some doctors need to be smacked upside the head I think. I'm looking forward to the happy ending, though. Thanks for playing.

Shannon said...

I never really like to use the clinics on base. I used the ER in the base hospital quite often because I always received much better treatment and found out the exact problem right away.

I'm looking forward to a good ending.

Bilingual Blah Girl said...

The tree looks very glamourous! We haven't put ours up yet.
Sorry I haven't read the whole post. I think ever since I started being addicted to the internet, I have had attention disorder or whatever that's called. I can't read long texts. Not even when I have a flatrate and it doesn't matter how long I'm online (which at the moment I don't have anyway).

Rebecca said...

Pretty tree!

I'm nervous to read the rest of the story.... I've had a kidney infection before, I didn't even know I had it which is bizarre. I must have a pretty high threshold for pain because I had no signs until I needed to be sent to the hospital. Anyway - I can't imagine a little baby with one...
:(