AVERY IN OUTER SPACE

we secured one of our first ever antibiotic (abx) prescription from BCCH yesterday
it only took 7 hours
and
it was for the one kid that we DON'T want on abx!
avery


thursday nite she said that her ear lobe was a bit sore 
friday nite i noticed that it was swollen
i cleaned it and puss came out
gross

sat morning it was worse
the front of the stud was less visible
graham took her to a walk in clinic by our house
doc there prescribed abx cream
sunday morning the front of the earring had been completely engulfed
graham took her back to the clinic
they sent us down to BCCH ER

yippee
it was an absolute gong show in the ER 
there was a line up 8 people deep just to sign in to triage
what else would one expect on a sunday afternoon in the middle of flu season?
we hunkered down
knowing we were there for the long haul
way down at the bottom of the priority list
an infected earring is not particularly a pressingly urgent issue


albeit we figured if the wait was long enough, her ear could fall off
or
she'd spontaneously recover
we hoped for spontaneous recovery
and
that did seem somewhat plausible
after all the earring had retreated so far into her ear that the backing was actually dangling down behind her ear

1 hour into our wait we were going a bit nuts
and
we were getting desperate to get out of that germ infested, over crowded waiting room
we started to devise plans to get ourselves out of there
possibly delirium was setting in at that point because we thought that it might be possible to get the earring to just fall out
who knows? a bit of jarring might be all it took!
it was worth a shot
so yes, we made her jump up and down
and 
up and down
and 
up and down
and
up and down


nothing doing
our next strategy was to have her run around outside the ER
try and jostle that dumb earring free
no can do


now we were 2 hours into our waiting room marathon
we contemplated a new strategy
that one included a trip to home depot
pliers and a drill
avery wasn't down with that idea


finally, we got called in
doc came in 
took one look at it
and
told us that they would need to cut it out


um, can you say ouch?!
her ear was already bleeding and raw and swollen
and
i'm sure it was hurting something fierce
gosh, it was painful just to look at
poor thing
she was super upset and scared and hearing the doc say they'd need to cut it out pretty much sent her over the edge
given her anxious state and the fact that they intended to cut the earring out, the decision was made to sedate her


about that time, friendly, familiar faces appeared in our room
our friends jon and patti
admittedly, my first thought, upon seeing them, wasn't a good one.
my stomach lurched
and
i thought, 'oh no. something is wrong with geli.'
their daughter, angelica, is magnificently battling and winning a fight against leukemia (click on this to read about their journey) 


turns out, everything was ok
phew!
they were there to drop their daughter off for a social event and had just happened to see my FB post about us being there too
and 
amazingly thought to do something for us
they showed up with coffee, hot chocolate and donuts. mmmm, donuts!
not sure how they found us - i suspect the blood curdling, ear piercing screaming probably alerted them to our whereabouts


their timing could not have been more perfect
they arrived just prior to avery being sedated
and
i was in desperate need of a distraction
avery was in tears and i was on the verge
had they not shown up, i might have mugged the nurse for avery's sedative
but rather
i got in a nice little chat with some awesome people and once they left, i retreated to a corner with the box of donuts

while i sedated myself with the sugary, deep fried goodness of donut holes
avery's medically induced sedation kicked in
and
it became very clear that it had launched her into outer space


a new doctor came in to check on her
when she entered the room, she seemed to kinda stop short and give us a long, hard look 
it wasn't a bad look, 
just a 'i think i recognize you but i'm not sure' look 
i thought she looked familiar as well
'oh no' i thought


naturally, i assumed it was probably one of the docs we've come into contact with over the many ER visits and hospitalizations we've had with parker
'oh no' i thought.


this new doc examined avery's ear
she thought she might be able to get the earring out without cutting into the ear. she said it was worth a try. 
it worked! she was able to get it out. no cutting involved.
that was so awesome.
she also said the ear was so badly infected that the local anesthetic they were going to initially use would not have taken. that made us super glad and relieved that we had gone the sedation route.
we were then told that we would not be able to leave until the sedation had worn off and avery was able to walk on her own.


nice.
avery was somewhere over the rainbow 
she was high as a kite and it was clear it would be sometime before she floated back down to planet earth
we settled in for the long haul. again.


we waited
and
waited
and
waited
fortunately, we had great entertainment
we popped the movie, monsters inc. into the dvd player
but
avery stole the show
she was the chattiest space cadet ever.
and was more than happy to keep up a running commentary on her space odyssey. as she orbited through outer space she became convinced that she had 2 thumbs on 1 hand.


"how come i have 2 thumbs? why can't you see my other thumb? it's right there!" 


the most popular sighting was the alien with  4 eyes, 3 noses, and 2 mouths. that was me. she wasn't scared by it. she was just so super funny.
"mom has 4 eyes!"

"mother, you have 4 eyes. how'd you get 4 eyes? why do you have 4 eyes?"


parker had a million nostrils and floating eye balls


graham appeared normal. fancy that.


the doc came in to check on her about an hour after the procedure
doc said, " how ya doing?"
avery took one look at her and said, "wow, you like have 4 eyes. are you ok?"


obviously, not quite ready to leave yet.


once she was somewhere near our galaxy, the doc came in to release her.
she had a rx for antibiotics in hand
we hadn't even asked for them
funny, how simple it can be.
however, avery is the one kid that we didn't want on abx

while the doc was explaining after care to us, she gave us 'the look' again
then she said we looked familiar. 
'oh no.' i thought again. 'i knew it! i knew i hadn't imagined the look!'


naturally, we are paranoid. we have been thru the ringer there. we have had to stand our ground and advocate for parker, time and time again.  we suspect that our presence there sets off warning bells. sometimes we wonder if big brother is watching and telegraphing big red flags to mystery men in hidden booths somewhere in the bowels of the hospital, 'crazy lyme people approaching. crazy lyme people approaching'
we can just imagine!
ok. so little paranoid? yup.
we are sure there is an internal write up about us somewhere.


before i had too much time to get myself overly paranoid, the doc went on to say that avery's name really rang a bell for her
avery! not parker! phew!
that narrowed things down as avery has only been to BCCH one other time. 
that was 5 years ago when she broke her leg
and then it dawned on us all at the same time

this was the very same doctor avery saw way back then! how ironic! 
obviously thousands of kids pass through BCCH with broken bones but she remembered avery so clearly because avery had been in a study where they were splinting kids rather than casting them.
she remembered avery because avery's case had been a pivotal part of their study
and
she had written avery up.
(see? not so paranoid, am i? they do write people up)