When we got there, however, he complained and asked if he could stay in the car to sleep while I did my nails. Since the front of the salon is floor to ceiling windows and my nail tech's station is the closest to the window, I agreed. So I rolled down the window a bit and went in for my appointment. I checked on him several times because he didn't move but he remained fast asleep. I stirred him to chat with him but he just wouldn't budge - he wanted to nap. I knew he must be feeling poorly because it was just approaching noon and he shouldn't be so exhausted. So after my nails were done, I asked Tayshaun if he wanted something to eat. He declined. I asked if he wanted a pumpkin pie, chocolate chip milkshake. He declined. I asked if he wanted a pina colada slurpee. He declined.
So we were off to my next stop....the deli for meat to take to my baby shower. While in the store, Tayshaun told me he thought he needed to vomit. So I sidestepped to the medicine aisle and picked up ibruprophen, cough syrup, sinex, and vicks, instead. We headed home.
After medicating him, I tucked him into bed with a stack of books and the dvd player going. He looked pretty shitty but didn't want to go to the doctor yet. I explained that the doctor would probably just give him new medicines and he wouldn't need a shot. If any of you remember his last episode at the doctor in "Screaming Like a Girl at the Doctor's Office", he wasn't too happy about those four shots. But he didn't think he wanted to visit the doctor, just yet. So I kept him hydrated but couldn't force him to eat.
That night his temperature shot up to 102 but by morning it had dropped. He looked and felt a lot better and insisted that we should go skating at Hollywood Connections, as planned. I had an errand to run beforehand so I dropped him off with Shalyse for an hour but by the time I got back at 1pm, he looked as ill as he had the day before. By this time, Tish, Jaz, and Shalyse were ready to go skating/movies with us but he decided to cancel and asked if we could go next week. I knew he MUST be hating it if he didn't want to go. He was really looking forward to this.
So I stopped at the store for a new thermometer and to get him some art supplies before getting him back home and tucked in bed. His temperature was now 102.5. But by 3:00pm, his fever had dropped again and he was back to his old self again.
By 4:00pm, he was begging to go skating. I didn't think he'd make it for long but I agreed to go because we were both stir crazy. He was very excited to skate and I think he put his icky-sickie feeling aside so he could have some fun. He was so excited he didn't even wait for me to get on my skates. After I got my balance again, I was out on the rink trying to duck and dodge to skate at a distance that was still cool for a 6 year old. Tayshaun skated for about 15 minutes before I realized that he was taking breaks more than skating. He didn't think I'd notice but, of course, I was watching. Finally he just sat down on a chair and pushed his fist into his stomach. I asked him if he was ready to go but he wouldn't give in. With a miserable look on his face, he pushed himself from the chair and went back out on the rink. I followed him for one more go-around and he was back on the chair holding his stomach. We decided to leave but not before those french fries he was craving since 9am this morning. But before the fries could be bagged, he was softly crying in a booth. He forgot about the fries as soon as they were bagged. So I hurriedly got his food and drink and we rushed to the car to get him home. But by now, he was ready for the doctor.
So I drove to Intermountain Healthcare to see if he could just see a doctor. Tayshaun had begun crying when we got in the car and hadn't stopped even while we were in the waiting room. The receptionist sensed the urgency for a dr and we were seen shortly. After describing his symptoms, the receptionist guessed appendicitis but the dr ordered a strep test. Then the dr came in for a visit. Tayshaun was burning up but when the dr pushed on his abdomen, T took it like a champ - so obviously not appendicitis. I asked if it could be a hernia but the dr didn't see anything indicating. He looked in his throat and ears and said he saw no irritation and everything looked good. The strep test came back negative. So the dr sent us home with an anti-nausea prescription and chalked it up to mucus dripping down to the stomach.
Luckily Tayshaun found some relief from the nausea pills and had stopped crying. Later that evening, Tayshaun stopped complaining about his tummy but now found a new symptom....his ears. By 2am, he was crying again and ready to go back to the dr. i didn't understand it because the dr had said there appeared to be no irritation in the throat nor ears. And here it was just 8 hrs later. By morning, Tayshaun's temp was still 102.5 and he wouldn't stop crying so I called his regular pediatrician for an appt. But we couldn't been seen until 4:40pm that afternoon. Tayshaun couldn't wait until it was time to go to the dr and neither could i. Thank goodness for nurses....i could never be one. My patience was thin. Tayshaun was sure there was a problem in his ear. "It feels like something is scratching in my ear." When I'd called for an appt, the nurse did say that an ear infection could develop within 6 hours - which was just about how long it was after the dr visit when Tayshaun began to complain about it. Unfortunately, everyone and their brother were sick at Dr Owen's office. So we waited for an hour and a half before seeing her. Luckily Tayshaun dosed. When Dr Owens arrived, we FINALLY found someone could see immediately that Tayshaun had a HORRIBLE ear infection....with a blister on his eardrum. After I interpreted it to Tayshaun, his reply was "see, Mom, I told you my ear hurt." :-(
Poor kid! i don't think i'll be visiting an Instacare a.k.a. Intermountain Healthcare anytime soon. I'm not sure that his clear throat and ears were so clear, afterall. Now, Tayshaun saw a means to the end and was patient about taking ALL those meds because he knew that by the same time the next day he was going to be feeling better. Fortunately it didn't take that long and Tayshaun gathered a little energy by noon. Unfortunately for his nursemail, I was multi-tasking as computer programmer, cook, nurse, maid, and mom....BUT work came first (right after breakfast and a load of clothes).
