- ...and settling OUT of September! -

Well Juliette awakened from her nap at just the right time last week, leaving me NO CHANCE to dive into the details of Scarlett's saga. I had mentioned at the end of the last post that she had an ear infection and made it through 8 [of 10] days of amoxicillin before waking up on a Saturday morning covered HEAD to TOE in hives of every shape and size! I talked to our pediatrician via her exchange later that morning, and she instructed me to administer Benadryl every 6 hours as needed for itching and to watch for other more serious reactions/symptoms throughout the day like nausea/vomiting, fever, shortness of breath [and also joint swelling, which would be "more rare but very serious".......................]

So, we gave the Benadryl as instructed and hit the road to celebrate our niece's wedding later that same afternoon.  Excited for the festivities, Scarlett donned her blue frilly dress and silver sparkle heels ready to conquer the world. She made it through the ceremony [pausing many times to scratch her poor hives] and danced her little booty off at the reception [running over many more times to ask if it was time for more medicine yet]! 

 

Around 9:15pm, Scarlett approached me and said she wasn't feeling well and wanted to leave the reception.  She had been taking Benadryl as directed all day, but the hives continued to look horrible and the itching was relentless.  We packed our things and hit the road for Grammy and Papa's house, where we planned to have a sleepover.  By the time we arrived there 20 minutes later, she was fussing for me to get her out of her car seat because "her yegs [legs] hurt."  I figured she was just tired/exhausted from a full day and not feeling up to par, but when I set her down inside she fell to the floor screaming and crying in pain and could not stand or put any weight on her legs!  I noticed that both ankles were red and puffy, so extremely swollen that the "ankle bone" was hardly visible at all.  Her right foot had areas of purple bruising, and she was covered in goosebumps and shivering.  In 10+ years of being a nurse and 7+ years of parenting, I had my first "oh, sh*t!" moment and knew I wanted her seen/evaluated by a physician ASAP.  If the allergic reaction had "amped up" that much in our 20 minute commute from the reception to my parents', what would happen overnight?! Would it start causing shortness of breath while she's sleeping and would she die in her sleep?! ...More realistically though, would she be able to tell me if things were actually getting more intense/more painful if she was asleep?  By then, it was already about 10:00pm; all area Urgent Care clinics were closed and I decided to pack her up and take her to the E.R. back home [45 minutes south of where we were when I noticed this issue!].  To top it all off, the AT&T cell towers were down in my parents' hometown, so I couldn't call Brian [still at the reception with Harper] to tell him what was going on OR get a hold of the pediatrician's exchange [to see if they had any recommendations] from any of our phones! 

 

Halfway home, my cell service resumed and I got in touch with Brian and also with the pediatrician on call. She agreed that Scarlett needed to be seen, and we arrived to the E.R. at ~10:45pm. 

 

Long story short:  checking into and being evaluated at our hometown E.R. was the most underwhelming experience ever!!! I mean, I do realize that I brought in a 4-year-old with an allergic reaction while other people were in there complaining of drug overdoses and severe COVID vaccine reactions, but after waiting for 3.5 hours in the waiting room and observing that her ankles were not getting any worse [though certainly not better, either] and her breathing had not changed, I did consider walking out and taking her to Urgent Care in the morning [which would've only been a handful of hours later by this point!].  Also!  While it probably worked in our favor, this E.R. took patients back IN ORDER OF ARRIVAL, which is kind of ridiculous, right?  Triage, who?!  ...Just saying, if I was the drug OD shivering in the corner or the COVID vaccine reaction with a 104* fever and shortness of breath who couldn't feel his left arm at all, I'd be freaking out that a girl with hives was being seen before me. That's all.

At 2:00 am, we were summoned to an exam room; and 15 minutes later, the attending pediatrician came to the bedside for a grand total of TWO MINUTES. He did not even look at any of the hives on Scarlett's body [just glanced quickly at the ones on her lower legs that were sticking out of her pajamas] OR have her stand on her feet to evaluate our chief complaint.  He gave her a dose of Benadryl and prednisolone right then and a couple Rx's to fill and continue at home.

 

Then! There were two discrepancies in med dosing on discharge papers... Like whhhhat in the world?!  I asked the nurse for clarification when I noticed them, and she just blew some smoke which totally rubbed me the wrong way.  This is what the discharge paperwork said:

 

But since we were seen at 2:15am, it was technically already "tomorrow"...so when do I give these steroids again?!  I read it over real quick when the nurse gave it to me before I signed:
Me: "Benadryl 2.5mL? Is that what he recommends?"
RN: "That’s what he wrote..."
Me: "Well I’ve been giving her 7.5mL at home for the weight based dosing..."
RN: "Well we gave her 12.5mL here tonight."
Me: …..
RN: …..
Me:  "So do you think he meant to write 12.5mL, then, instead of 2.5mL?"
RN: ……………."Probably, knowing him." 

 

SO HOW MANY MLS IS IT??!  Yo' numbas don't add up, dopes. These people better count their lucky stars that I'm a nurse with some common medical knowledge and wouldn't take my kid home and OD/UD her!!!

In conclusion:  1 out of 5 stars, do not recommend this E.R. for multiple reasons!!!!! ...including the filth factor, which was highlighted by a bloody gauze face up on the ground in our exam room when we walked in.  In retrospect, I definitely wish we would've rolled when my gut told me to roll and gone to Urgent Care the next morning for a way better experience with the same outcome and probably 1/8 of the bill!  

But this is life, right?  Live and learn [and try not to die of an allergic reaction in the process!]!

Scarlett and I made it home a little after 3:00, pulled down the blackout curtains, and crawled in bed together.  

What a night! :/

Oh! And to round out the month, Juliette's babysitter gave us notice on that next Friday afternoon that she was no longer able to watch our girl on Mondays, effective the very next Monday [so, you know, like 60 hours later!].  I hate to be a whiner but IS THIS FOR REAL RN, GUYS?!

Sadly, it's real! 

WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS...

...or, maybe just let me get a taste October first and see if I want to sleep until November instead...!

I kid. Sort of. ;) :) 

October 1 was the Feast Day of St. Thérèse who is the patron saint of our beautiful Juliette Thérèse... She is well known for her flowery outlook on life, and I'm gonna cling tight to her ways of living with simplicity and keeping Love at the forefront!  

To God be the glory!   

St. Thérèse, pray [so hard] for us right now, and BRING ON OCTOBER!!!