Stress, stress, stress

Stress is the word of the week…maybe it should be the word of the month. I’m so stressed that I feel like if I were to shut down and let myself rest I would probably sleep for a week. Of course I can’t do that because I’ve got my boys to take care of! I haven’t been blogging because I simply don’t have time or the energy but hopefully we can get things worked out and I’ll be back.
 
Stress started creeping in last month when I took Parker for a regular check up with his ENT; he had an ear infection in his left ear which is the ear that no longer has a tube. If you remember, he had tubes put into his ears last May and after the surgery Parker was fine and ear infection free for maybe 2 months before he started having them again.
 
When I was sitting in the exam room with kiddo listening to the ENT tell him what a good boy he was (he is so used to having his ears looked at that he sits perfectly still every time) I worried that he would say it and he did. “Yeah…his left ear has some fluid, it’s infected.” The sad thing was that I already knew the routine, antibiotic for 10 days; drops in the right ear for 7 days to keep it clear and cough medicine for his other symptoms. Then he said something I didn’t expect, “We’ll need to see him in a month, if he’s had another infection between now and then we want to talk to you about removing the adenoids and replacing the tubes.” Oh...
 
I was worried, I thought back to last May when we took him in for the first surgery and how scared I was. They took him back and did everything, I didn’t have to watch him be put under thank God but seeing him as he was waking up was so hard for me. He cried and was scared and I had to try very hard not to cry with him, to reassure him that he was ok…it was a hard day. To find out that we would possibly have to do it again just hurt my heart. I don’t want my sweet boy to have to go through that again! Why didn’t they remove the adenoids in the first place? Do they really need to; is that really the cause for the infections or do they just think it is? I was upset to say the least.
 
 I was hopeful that we wouldn’t need the surgery, maybe they’ll clear up now that it’s warming up outside…maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll stop.
 
Last Sunday night he felt warm…crap. I gave him a bath and shrugged his temperature off thinking it was because the house was warm and Michael had been complaining about being hot. I got him to bed and everything looked to be fine until 10:30 when he woke up crying, he had fever of 101.8. I gave him Motrin and put him in bed with us where he quickly went back to sleep. At 1 he woke me up and threw up in the bed, his fever had gone up to 102 with Motrin in his system. After a trip to the tub, a diaper change and new sheets we were back to bed and slept most of the night but he was up and down, not able to get comfortable.
 
At the doctor’s office the next day I knew what the doctor was going to say, Parker had a double ear infection. Another 10 days worth of antibiotic were prescribed and he recommended the surgery. He said we could wait and see if the infections clear up but considering he’s had infections once a month since September the surgery was probably our best bet.
 
I was home with him Monday, and Tuesday due to fever, he was so fussy and you could just tell he didn’t feel well. If you know Parker then you know he is normally a happy care free kiddo even when he’s sick so I knew he must feel terrible.
 
The fact that on top of everything else he’s got going on, the antibiotic (which he’s taken multiple times) is giving him terrible diarrhea and some of the worst diaper rash he’s ever had is the cherry on top. He’s had constant BMs this week, at least 4 a day and if he sits in the diaper for even 5 minutes he gets a rash.
 
This morning was hard for me; I got him to daycare late because he’d had 4 accidents, 3 at home and one on the way to daycare. His bottom is raw and not only is it covered in a rash; he has sores in some places. I called the doctor’s office and left a message for the nurse but all she said was to put him in a baking soda bath twice a day for the rash and give him an over the counter powder with his food to help the diarrhea. I didn’t want to leave him at daycare today, I wanted to stay home and let him run around naked to help the rash air out and just take care of him. I have to remember that it’s Friday and I will have all weekend to take care of him and get him all healed up, I just don’t have anymore time to take from work.
 
I’ve been really good, I’m worried but I know that daycare will call if there is a problem but there have been multiple times that I’ve picked up the phone to call and check in on him.
 
Monday morning we go to the ENT and I already called and told them to put a note in his chart that he has a double ear infection so I’m sure we’ll be discussing surgery. If anyone has any advice on the subjects of diaper rash, diarrhea, or adenoid surgery please feel free to share. Oh and if you’ve made it to the end of this ginormous post thank you so much for reading, sometimes a momma just needs to let it out!