Wit's End

I've reached my wit's end with illnesses around here. Davis has had a stuffy nose the past couple of days. Due to the drool he's also had and the clear drainage, I've been attributing these issues to teething. Yesterday evening, though, I decided it must be more. Our boy cried almost non-stop from 4:30 p.m. until I put him in the bath at 6:45. Those were two really long hours. Just ask Grace! He has been pulling on his left ear, so I decided I would call and make an appointment for today.

Then, at about 10:30 last night, Grace woke up screaming, absolutely hysterical, crying that her ear was hurting. She also had that funny sore throat voice. From that time on, she was back and forth from my room to hers, alternately crying that her ear hurt, that she was hungry or that she missed her daddy. I laid down with her in her room, she came into ours, she was alone in her room. Almost the whole time she was sobbing. Because after an hour or so, I realized she was not going to calm down for me to get any amount of sleep, I became less than sympathetic. I tried, I really did, but it was hard.

We finally fell asleep together at 2, then she was awake and crying again at 4. When I got up with Davis about 7, she was running 102 temperature. So, we're back to the doctor for the third time since Jasen has been gone. She just finished penicillin on Sunday. So, we've had scarlet fever/strep throat, a stomach virus, and now, I am pretty certain, an ear infection.

So I called to make the appointment. Can't see our primary doctor, so we'll be seeing someone totally new. The last time we were at the doctor, they couldn't locate Grace's chart, so I had to fill that doctor in on what had happened before. I am beginning to be concerned for Grace, especially since we were just on antibiotics. When I called her in sick to school, her teacher all but agreed with me. I had chronic ear infections as a kid (and tonsilitis), which ended up being attributed to allergies. Grace doesn't have those (the chronic ear infections), but something is up with her immune system. I am bound and determined to find out what it is. And if I can't get answers at the military hospital/clinic, Jasen's just going to have to suck it up and pay for us to change our TRICARE to something where she can see the same doctor. Because, as I mentioned before, I am at wit's end.

Oh, and to top it all off, I got a call from our rear-detachment officer yesterday. That's the guy left behind to help us out here. He said he's getting a lot of emails about making sure we have correct numbers for all spouses. He also told me to expect a 5 p.m. meeting sometime in the next week. That doesn't sound promising. I want to know if they are going to deploy, but if they've made us wait this long, I wish they'd let us wait until after Thanksgiving. Although, I know most of the families already think it's a done deal anyway.

Sorry this post was a downer. I guess I am feeling a little down. But hey, tomorrow will be a new day. Hopefully, the kids will get some good care at the clinic today. And Jasen will be home in less than a week. So there is always hope.