Need. Vacation. Now.

Overall, I would say this has been a pretty craptastic week. Save for Monday, as we know that's when I received news that the sweet little creature that's been perched atop my bladder for the last 8 weeks or so is a she creature. Now let's discuss how my week unravels from there... Tuesday I am to have another ultrasound, this time one on my kidneys due to what an ER doctor believes is a UTI that's been plaguing me for nearly three weeks now but my midwife seems to think may be kidney stones. So, I schedule the appointment for 8:30am, secure a spot at hourly care for Wyatt (by some miracle) and plan to be in and out of there in a half hour. And then Wyatt wakes up with a 103 degree fever and some kind of rash.



Plan B: Cancel appointment. Cancel hourly care. Tylenol for fever. New appointment, this time for Wyatt. Again, by some miracle, I am able to get Wyatt a same-day appointment in Family Practice. You may not be able to understand all the miracles here unless you are military. Making an appointment for daycare or to see a doctor in the military world is the equivalent of making an appointment to have cocktails with the president in the civilian world. Plus, you have the pleasure of talking to a bunch of people who don't give a damn about you or their jobs and who make it their personal missions to see how they can be of absolutely no help to you whatsoever. But Tuesday must have been my lucky day (hardy har) because some precious gem of an appointment scheduler was able to squeeze us in at 1. And by the way, "please be here 15 minutes early" even though everyone and their grandmother goes to lunch from 12-1 and you will be sitting in an empty waiting room, consoling your sick, miserable child, unable to even sign in because the receptionist is out to lunch until 1 o clock as well. But appointment time finally rolled around and the diagnosis was this, more or less - "I'm not sure what's wrong with Wyatt, maybe he has the flu? Try alternating Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever down, he should be better in a few days." To which I reply, "Right. So that might explain the fever, but what's with the rash?" He tells me it is, in fact, not a rash, just bug bites. He's probably got sensitive skin. BUG BITES. I'm no doctor, but this doesn't look like bug bites to me...



But we take the good doctors advice anyway and head home for more Motrin.

Wednesday: No progress, fever still high, rash the same.

Wednesday night: MISERABLE. Wyatt wakes up screaming at 1 am (which is terribly unusual for him) and stays wide awake, only screaming about half of the time, until 4:30 am. No fever, no obvious signs of physical pain, no teeth coming in... Mom's at a loss and sleepy. But because it's part of the job description and because Dad has to be up early for PT, Mom's got night shift. So Wyatt and I play firetrucks, share some Frosted Flakes, dance to some music, and just when I honestly think I can't keep my eyes open anymore, he comes to me, blankie in hand, and lays his sweet little head in my lap. Thank you Jesus! And he and I both sleep for the next 6 hours until the dogs simply can't hold it anymore and I am forced to get up and take them out. Which leads me to Thursday.

**Please note that Tyler is in the field all day Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday leaving me all alone with the sickling.

Thursday: 104 degree fever, rash - out of control!! Another call in to the doctor (same bug bite doctor, mind you) and he can see us at 11. So we rush in (it's already 10:30) and after a quick glance he says, "Well, looks like maybe he's coming down with the flu." Wait, what's that Doc? That's what you said Tuesday and I'm not buyin. And just like that, maybe it's strep. WOW. All these maybes are really blowing my mind. But we do get a strep test - negative - and we are referred to pediatrics. Hallelujah! That's what we've wanted all along but it's been booked. So at 1 o clock we are off to our second appointment of the day, Wyatt miserable and exhausted, Mom... miserable and exhausted. New doctor comes in, rules out flu and strep, measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, roseola and a host of other strange diseases I've never heard of. He narrows it down to Viral Exanthem and (gasp!) Scabies! Dear Lord, please don't let it be Scabies! I can't even stand to say that word! Luckily, the rash is not under Wyatt's arms or between his fingers (apparently tell tale signs of Scabies) and it doesn't itch so we are home free there. Turns out it's just some unknown viral rash, comes and goes, causes no real harm, isn't contagious, and will go away on its own within several days. And after several hours of keeping his fever down, here's my little patient now.



So, needless to say, after this week from military healthcare hell, I am SO ready for the vacation which awaits us TOMORROW! Well, technically Saturday, as there is a 14 hour drive involved (which will probably bring many unpleasantries of its own). But I don't care! We're getting the heck outta dodge, Florida bound for 7 glorious days on the beach! Or perhaps poolside, depending on the state of the beaches afer BP's little "oops" that is not so swiftly being taken care of. So wish us luck on the road, and more for the sake of the water and all the little creatures in it than ours, pray that the Destin beaches are oil free and sunny. So long, see you next week. Hopefully rash and fever free and bronzed and well-rested!