I'll Never Learn, Vol. Ten Million

Honestly, sometimes I really wonder why I come on here to complain. I always feel better after I hit publish, and when I get responses in the comments and on facebook, I feel even better and usually have some things to laugh about, but it always seems to come back and bite me in the butt.

First the not-so-tragic things that happened yesterday: After I complained about my shoulder being messed up from falling down the stairs, I slipped on the ice in our driveway, and in order to not drop G, I flung my arm out and ... you guessed it, hurt my shoulder again. Then, I ... well, I fell down the basement stairs and HURT MY SHOULDER AGAIN. Jeremy called on his way home, and when I told him what happened, he said, "Veronica ... no one is EVER going to believe that." 

So, I get it. I shouldn't have complained about my shoulder. POINT TAKEN.

But, hey universe. Why did you have to take it out on my kid? 

Yeah, Genevieve woke up from her nap with her face so covered in the rash that her eyes were swelling shut. Her prescriptions were finally ready at five, and I gave her the first doses, but at this point, she was shaking. An hour later, she was still shaking, her fever had spiked to 102, her heart was racing, and she was just a limp pile of goo in Jeremy's arms. I called the after-hours nurse line, and as she was recommending I take her to the ER, Jeremy whispered "her breathing is kind of funny."

It made for one exciting night. Luckily, they got her fever under control and all her vitals were fine after that and we got sent home. I resisted the urge to post a picture of her, because she looks truly awful, but I will tell you that she has Erythema Multiforme, which is a horrific-looking rash that is triggered by an autoimmune response in the body that is likely triggered by a virus or other infections. Based on her other symptoms, our pediatrician thought it was triggered by a mycoplasma infection, which is why she started her on antibiotics right away. The steroids were supposed to slow the rash so it didn't overwhelm her the way it did last night, but since the first doctor we saw delayed her treatment by 52 hours, it was a bit too late.

I'll tell you what, I was thinking some truly terrible things about that man as I was packing up my sick daughter to race her to the ER in the middle of the night. Especially since my pediatrician took one look at her and knew it was not just typical viral hives and was Erythema Mulitforme, and the same thing happened with the physician's assistant and then the physician and the hospital. One look and they knew what it was. 

BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT.

Little Bit is doing a little better this morning. We kept her fever down, and for the first time since it started, it hasn't spread in twelve hours, so I am counting this as a win. The problem that remains is it could last as long as four weeks, but it's not contagious, so if she feels better and we want to go out into the larger world, we might get some pretty dirty looks. My friend said we should just have a shirt made that say "IT'S NOT CONTAGIOUS." I'm looking into it.

In the meantime, if you could think non-rashy and non-fevery thoughts, we'd take them. I'd like to say I'll never complain again, but .... nah.