Tuesday, February 25, 2020
I received an interesting call from the hospital last night. My phone rings most weeknights with an automated appointment confirmation call from my many cancer-related appointments. Last night, there was a nurse on the other end, and she started talking about how they had a patient who may have been treated at the same time as me… I am not going to lie, the first thought that ran through my brain was, “Really? I am going to be the first to die of coronavirus in the United States?”
The nurse went on to say the patient had tuberculosis and had been in the hospital, when I had been in the hospital, in 2019. Whew! Cancer will kill me after all… 950 days or more from now. (If I make it at least three years.) I asked the nurse if symptoms would have typically manifested themselves before now and she said, “Yes, but as a nurse I can only tell you that you need to get tested.” I asked her if it would be a blood test and when she said yes, I told her I could add it to my blood draw on Thursday. The nurse told me the order would be in the computer system as of today, so I can get the blood test any time.
My seven-year-old, Mika, is home sick again. I was going to send her to school because she looked much better this morning. Mika said she still did not feel good and I relented because it is very cold today, and I do not want to go get her from school if she needs to come back home. I am glad I kept Mika home today. She now has the one-two punch of tossing her cookies and diarrhea. Poor Mika! She started to feel a little better around noon, and came out of my room to say, “You know McDonald’s delivers, right?”
I smiled at Mika and told her there was not any chance in the world her mom was going to pay the fees associated with McDonald’s delivery and she needed to choose food we had in the house to eat. Mika replied that nothing tasted good because she was sick. She even turned down Cheetos. You know your child is really sick when they do not want to eat junk food.
About an hour later, Mika started having bad stomach cramps again and asked me to take her to the doctor. My helper the day before told me Mika might have the flu. I reminded my helper tummy troubles are not an influenza symptom and she said the news had reported there was a stomach flu going around. I called the doctor’s office to see if Mika could have caught a serious disease. I was told there is a strong stomach virus in the area, and to keep Mika hydrated and on the BRAT diet. My helper either misheard the newscaster or the newscaster misspoke. There is still no such thing as a stomach “flu”.
I did manage to get my planned work done since Mika stayed in my room watching cartoons on television most of the day. I had several of my “record yourself reading my journal entries on video for me to post on my YouTube channel” volunteers send me completed videos to edit, upload and schedule. I did six videos and tied up the Internet most of the day. Mika was happy to switch from cable to Netflix cartoons at 2:00.
I had convinced Mika Chili’s was a better food option than McDonald’s and told her I would call her dad at 2:30 p.m. and ask him to stop for take out on his way home from work. I was unable to hide my dismay when he came home early from work. He needed to update a security badge for one of the military bases, and it did not take as long as expected. No sick day Chili’s for us.
My piece of advice to you is to call the doctor before going in when possible. Stomach viruses usually do not require a trip to the doctor, and it is best to stay home to not spread germs. Mika made an effort to drink more after I told her what the doctor said and worried less because the doctor said her tummy troubles are likely not serious. Simply calling the doctor made Mika feel her concerns were validated.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
I received an interesting call from the hospital last night. My phone rings most weeknights with an automated appointment confirmation call from my many cancer-related appointments. Last night, there was a nurse on the other end, and she started talking about how they had a patient who may have been treated at the same time as me… I am not going to lie, the first thought that ran through my brain was, “Really? I am going to be the first to die of coronavirus in the United States?”
The nurse went on to say the patient had tuberculosis and had been in the hospital, when I had been in the hospital, in 2019. Whew! Cancer will kill me after all… 950 days or more from now. (If I make it at least three years.) I asked the nurse if symptoms would have typically manifested themselves before now and she said, “Yes, but as a nurse I can only tell you that you need to get tested.” I asked her if it would be a blood test and when she said yes, I told her I could add it to my blood draw on Thursday. The nurse told me the order would be in the computer system as of today, so I can get the blood test any time.
My seven-year-old, Mika, is home sick again. I was going to send her to school because she looked much better this morning. Mika said she still did not feel good and I relented because it is very cold today, and I do not want to go get her from school if she needs to come back home. I am glad I kept Mika home today. She now has the one-two punch of tossing her cookies and diarrhea. Poor Mika! She started to feel a little better around noon, and came out of my room to say, “You know McDonald’s delivers, right?”
I smiled at Mika and told her there was not any chance in the world her mom was going to pay the fees associated with McDonald’s delivery and she needed to choose food we had in the house to eat. Mika replied that nothing tasted good because she was sick. She even turned down Cheetos. You know your child is really sick when they do not want to eat junk food.
About an hour later, Mika started having bad stomach cramps again and asked me to take her to the doctor. My helper the day before told me Mika might have the flu. I reminded my helper tummy troubles are not an influenza symptom and she said the news had reported there was a stomach flu going around. I called the doctor’s office to see if Mika could have caught a serious disease. I was told there is a strong stomach virus in the area, and to keep Mika hydrated and on the BRAT diet. My helper either misheard the newscaster or the newscaster misspoke. There is still no such thing as a stomach “flu”.
I did manage to get my planned work done since Mika stayed in my room watching cartoons on television most of the day. I had several of my “record yourself reading my journal entries on video for me to post on my YouTube channel” volunteers send me completed videos to edit, upload and schedule. I did six videos and tied up the Internet most of the day. Mika was happy to switch from cable to Netflix cartoons at 2:00.
I had convinced Mika Chili’s was a better food option than McDonald’s and told her I would call her dad at 2:30 p.m. and ask him to stop for take out on his way home from work. I was unable to hide my dismay when he came home early from work. He needed to update a security badge for one of the military bases, and it did not take as long as expected. No sick day Chili’s for us.
My piece of advice to you is to call the doctor before going in when possible. Stomach viruses usually do not require a trip to the doctor, and it is best to stay home to not spread germs. Mika made an effort to drink more after I told her what the doctor said and worried less because the doctor said her tummy troubles are likely not serious. Simply calling the doctor made Mika feel her concerns were validated.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.