Welcome, Spring! Or Not

Marshall started complaining about a sore throat last week. Since we were all sick, I didn’t think much of it. I just mentally filed it under “Contact Doctor If Symptoms Do Not Improve.” He didn’t seem feverish, or incapacitated in any way, so we sent him to school as usual.

Then on Friday night he got a bad earache. He was in a lot of pain, but it was so late that the doctor’s office and the urgent care clinics were all closed. We knew from experience that the emergency room is a bad idea, so we had no choice but to wait for the morning. We gave him ibuprofen, but the doses just didn’t last long enough for him. He kept us up half the night with his crying. It was horrible for everyone except Livia, who seems to have slept through it all.

We called the doctor the next morning, and they told us to “wait and see.” But later that day, just after the doctor’s office had closed, he started leaking fluid out of the ear. At that point, I convinced my husband to take Marshall to the nearest urgent care center, which is not only very close, but dedicated to children’s care.

I’m glad that I did. First they told us what we already suspected: ear infection and ruptured eardrum. But then they slammed us with the unexpected part: walking pneumonia.

Walking pneumonia? That sounds scary! The word “walking” makes me think of the zombie show, “The Walking Dead.” That makes “walking pneumonia” seem like it must be the worst thing ever.

It’s probably not quite as awful as that, though. My research indicated that it’s a specific type of germ that causes it, and it’s considered a mild form of pneumonia. But still, it’s pneumonia, and that’s something that you don’t want.

The ruptured eardrum also sounded bad. But again, research was somewhat consoling. Ruptured eardrums seem to be relatively common among children (the same thing happened to me when I was a kid, and no one made a big deal of it). They’re usually small ruptures and heal up on their own, with no lasting hearing loss.

Anyway, to cure Marshall of his pneumonia, keep him breathing well, and help his ear heal, the doctor prescribed a bunch of medicines. It’s actually scary how many different meds he’s on. They seem to be working, though. He’s behaving like his usual self today.

But Livia, the poor girl, now has an earache of her own. And it’s too late to go to the doctor. And the nurse that we contacted through our doctor’s office says, “Wait and see.”

This scenario feels awfully familiar, and therefore sort of dangerous, and yet I’m not sure there’s anything to be done. When we researched ruptured eardrums, the information we found suggested that antibiotics don’t necessarily prevent it. And pneumonia, if she has it, can’t be treated until it’s diagnosed by a doctor. So there’s not much we can do. We’ll just have to “wait and see” and hope that things go better for Livia than they did for Marshall.

It’s likely to be another long night. And to make things worse, there’s a snowstorm bearing down on us. That could make a trip to the doctor’s office tomorrow rather difficult. The school board has already cancelled school for tomorrow, which is not a good sign.

This is no way to start the spring!