The Bravest of the Brave

My poor baby girl is so sick. I mentioned that Carson had a high fever on Wednesday, but that same afternoon it disappeared and it was as if it had never even been there. Then, on Thursday morning it was back. It was still in the 102-103 range so I decided to try and conquer it myself at home rather than risk even greater illness by taking her to the doctor. In hindsight, this was a mistake.

I alternated tylenol and motrin every three hours all day and her fever would only come down into the high 99s. Not bad, so I put her to bed last night with her final dose of tylenol for the day.

Right on schedule, at a little after midnight she came into my room and was burning up. I took her temperature and it was an alarming 104.4. I immediately started getting dressed to take her to the ER.

Upon arrival, we were promptly whisked back into a room because Carson's heart rate was 175. They set us up for an incredible array of tests over the next hour. First, we had to collect urine, then she had to have an IV placed from which they drew a lot of blood. When she realized what was going to happen, she begged me to not let them put that thing in her arm. Talk about breaking my heart, but she forgave me and even told me she loved me after it was in.

Then we were off to x-ray. They took Carson (clad in her "new blue dress," aka awful hospital gown) in a wheelchair and when the nurse asked her if she wanted to stand up for her picture, Carson responded, "No, thanks." At least she's honest.

We went straight from there to CT where Carson had to stay strapped onto a moving "bed" all by herself in a huge room while holding very still for the scan. She did so good. I was standing helpless on the other side of the wall watching her through the window, amazed that she was doing so well and sad that I couldn't hold her hand. I know she had to have been scared.

When we got back to our room she was hooked up to IV fluids. I had just finished telling her that we were all done with tests when the nurse came in to do strep and flu cultures. Again Carson told her, "No, thanks." She told Carson that she was going to tickle her nose and throat and Carson took it literally, even laughing when they "tickled" her nose.

She spent the down time looking at her reflection in my eyes and telling me that she could see herself in my eyes. I told her I could see myself in her eyes too. She got to go to the bear closet and pick out a new stuffed bear for being so brave. She had the choice of several homemade bears, some beanie babies and several other cute bears and she chose the same one we had just received in a happy meal a couple of weeks ago. Go figure.

Word of her sweetness spread quickly and when my mom showed up, the lady at the information desk said, "Oh yes, that cute little blond. She's so sweet."

Everything came back normal except for the urine and so we were sent home at about 4:15am with a perscription for an antibiotic and instructions to return if her fever rose above 102. You would hope this was the end of the story. I did.

She awoke this morning at 102.8 and so I gave her some motrin and made an appointment with our pediatrician. Half and hour later her fever was 105.6. I'm not sure fear has ever taken me over so quickly. It is a miracle that I didn't get a ticket on the way to the hospital.

Fortunately, our doctor is wonderful and told me not to worry, kids come in with fevers of 105 and even 106 all the time. She checked Carson over again and said it looked to her like she has a virus.

I know that was a long story, but it all seems like kind of a blur now. Since then we have just been fighting the fever. She doesn't really have any other symptoms and we're told that the fever could last quite a few more days. We're just crossing our fingers and hoping it doesn't get that high ever again.