Sunday, February 27, 2011
NYR 2-27-11 - cheap medical in Bogota
For a pediatric ER visit, complete with injection, that cost just $85 for everything, I am truly thankful.
thank goodness Daddy's on the way home
True to form any time Jimmy's on a long trip, we ended up in the ER this morning. Mac was fine all day yesterday - no complaints at all until about 9pm when he told me he had a sore throat. I gave him some hot salty water to gargle - my family's sore throat remedy - and sent him off to bed. He whimpered all night long and finally in the middle of the night I gave him some Advil, thinking that would quiet him down. That was wishful thinking.
This morning when I got up, I did a cursory temperature check on the forehead and he didn't seem hot, but an hour or so later, I checked his temperature - 102.2 - and I looked in his throat with a flashlight - very red and puffy and I could see some white pustules.
I decided to take him to the ER because my again wishful thinking was that if I could get the antibiotics started early this morning, he'd have 24 hours under his belt before school tomorrow. In mother language, that means he could return to school.
So much for that wishful thinking.
The doctor in the ER diagnosed "infection" but she didn't do a strep test, so I don't know if it's strep or what. To bring the fever down quickly, she gave him a big shot right in the backside - which I'm sure everybody else in the hospital thought was somebody having their leg sawed off without anesthesia based on the screaming coming out of his mouth, long after the shot was done. Seeing as it's Oscars night, I really thought his performance could win the "Best Dramatic Performance in a Hospital" Oscar.
Then the doctor told me what no mother wants to hear: he will need to stay home from school tomorrow and Tuesday. She spoke English so I can't pretend I didn't understand. I can hardly believe that she's not just being overly cautious.
Armed with our imaginary trophy and a prescription for zithromax, we left the hospital and Mac, true to his dramatic tendencies, limped along and dragged his leg behind him until we got to the car.
I'm planning to take him to the embassy's health unit in the morning for a second opinion on both the diagnosis and the medicine he was prescribed, but most importantly, to confirm that it's okay - assuming, of course, that he's fever-free for 24 hours - that he goes back to school on Tuesday. This is one tired moma!!
This morning when I got up, I did a cursory temperature check on the forehead and he didn't seem hot, but an hour or so later, I checked his temperature - 102.2 - and I looked in his throat with a flashlight - very red and puffy and I could see some white pustules.
I decided to take him to the ER because my again wishful thinking was that if I could get the antibiotics started early this morning, he'd have 24 hours under his belt before school tomorrow. In mother language, that means he could return to school.
So much for that wishful thinking.
The doctor in the ER diagnosed "infection" but she didn't do a strep test, so I don't know if it's strep or what. To bring the fever down quickly, she gave him a big shot right in the backside - which I'm sure everybody else in the hospital thought was somebody having their leg sawed off without anesthesia based on the screaming coming out of his mouth, long after the shot was done. Seeing as it's Oscars night, I really thought his performance could win the "Best Dramatic Performance in a Hospital" Oscar.
Then the doctor told me what no mother wants to hear: he will need to stay home from school tomorrow and Tuesday. She spoke English so I can't pretend I didn't understand. I can hardly believe that she's not just being overly cautious.
Armed with our imaginary trophy and a prescription for zithromax, we left the hospital and Mac, true to his dramatic tendencies, limped along and dragged his leg behind him until we got to the car.
I'm planning to take him to the embassy's health unit in the morning for a second opinion on both the diagnosis and the medicine he was prescribed, but most importantly, to confirm that it's okay - assuming, of course, that he's fever-free for 24 hours - that he goes back to school on Tuesday. This is one tired moma!!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
NYR 2-26-11 - Jimmy's still in Alaska
For happy playdates and friends over for a relaxed dinner in my adult-starved world right now, I am truly thankful.
P.S. Jimmy is still in Alaska after extending his trip by another day. As he sold it to me, he's "only seen the inside of a military base in Anchorage and somebody in his Afghanistan military group lives in Wasilla and he offered him a room at his house and said they could sightsee and it would be a shame to pass up that offer after flying all that way to Alaska to only see a military base in Anchorage."
(And yes, that really was about his email came in. You could almost hear him not taking a breath as he spewed all that out.)
So Mac and I are flying solo one more night. That will bring this trip to a week total. It's been a VERY stressful, VERY emotional week for me and if I can be honest with you, it's ticked me off to have to deal with everything by myself and then to have to relay everything to Jimmy by email because I guess they don't have phones on that military base in Afghanistan.
I have been particularly grateful this week for the listening ears, kind words, and open homes of friends (and their mothers-in-law!) here in Bogota. They've made it all bearable.
P.S. Jimmy is still in Alaska after extending his trip by another day. As he sold it to me, he's "only seen the inside of a military base in Anchorage and somebody in his Afghanistan military group lives in Wasilla and he offered him a room at his house and said they could sightsee and it would be a shame to pass up that offer after flying all that way to Alaska to only see a military base in Anchorage."
(And yes, that really was about his email came in. You could almost hear him not taking a breath as he spewed all that out.)
So Mac and I are flying solo one more night. That will bring this trip to a week total. It's been a VERY stressful, VERY emotional week for me and if I can be honest with you, it's ticked me off to have to deal with everything by myself and then to have to relay everything to Jimmy by email because I guess they don't have phones on that military base in Afghanistan.
I have been particularly grateful this week for the listening ears, kind words, and open homes of friends (and their mothers-in-law!) here in Bogota. They've made it all bearable.
Friday, February 25, 2011
NYR 2-24-11
For a fun night of yummy homemade pizza and a movie with friends, Mac and I are truly thankful.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
NYR 2-23-11
For Mac feeling - at least right now - that he can come to me with anything, I am truly thankful.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Jimmy in the Alaskan wilderness
I've given Jimmy a lot of grief over the 6 months we've been here because he's gotten to travel to the US for work a number of times and while those trips are for work -(stick hand to forehead now, sigh heavily, and act like a martyr) - he's gotten to go to places like Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Key West.
The tables have turned on young James this week. The military group to which he was assigned for half of his year in Afghanistan invited him to give some lectures to the outgoing replacement troop or group or squad or unit or whatever it's called before they deploy to Afghanistan.
The draw for the trip to give the lectures? The unit is based in Alaska.
The drawback for the trip to give the lectures? The unit is based in Alaska and it's February.
Can you say "brrrrrrrr"?
We were hoping for a summer deployment because Mac and I were going to tag along for a little visit to Alaska.
But alas, Jimmy left yesterday for the trip. He had to fly from Bogota to Atlanta to Salt Lake City to Anchorage, a total of about 15 hours flying time before you add in the layovers. He was scheduled to land last night, Anchorage time, at something like 1:00am, which was about 2.5 hour ago.
Right now, the temperature in Anchorage is 6 degrees Fahrenheit (compared to 60 degrees in Bogota).
Double brrrrr.
The high today is supposed to reach 24 degrees, and tomorrow, the forecasted high is 29 degrees. That'll feel like a bonafide heat wave. A snow shower is predicted for Friday, which might be a nice treat before he takes back off for Bogota on Saturday morning.
Mac and I have asked that Jimmy bring back a live moose. We feel that will be sufficient proof that Jimmy really was in Alaska. In the absence of a live moose, we will take smoked salmon or a young bear cub. Your call, Babe, if you're reading this.
The tables have turned on young James this week. The military group to which he was assigned for half of his year in Afghanistan invited him to give some lectures to the outgoing replacement troop or group or squad or unit or whatever it's called before they deploy to Afghanistan.
The draw for the trip to give the lectures? The unit is based in Alaska.
The drawback for the trip to give the lectures? The unit is based in Alaska and it's February.
Can you say "brrrrrrrr"?
We were hoping for a summer deployment because Mac and I were going to tag along for a little visit to Alaska.
But alas, Jimmy left yesterday for the trip. He had to fly from Bogota to Atlanta to Salt Lake City to Anchorage, a total of about 15 hours flying time before you add in the layovers. He was scheduled to land last night, Anchorage time, at something like 1:00am, which was about 2.5 hour ago.
Right now, the temperature in Anchorage is 6 degrees Fahrenheit (compared to 60 degrees in Bogota).
Double brrrrr.
The high today is supposed to reach 24 degrees, and tomorrow, the forecasted high is 29 degrees. That'll feel like a bonafide heat wave. A snow shower is predicted for Friday, which might be a nice treat before he takes back off for Bogota on Saturday morning.
Mac and I have asked that Jimmy bring back a live moose. We feel that will be sufficient proof that Jimmy really was in Alaska. In the absence of a live moose, we will take smoked salmon or a young bear cub. Your call, Babe, if you're reading this.
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