Still sick, grief setting in

[pegkerr]

Delia's temperature was 101 this morning. She vomited up her night dose of penicillin and Tylenol last night; we waited an hour to give her stomach time to settle and then gave her the penicillin again, which she managed to keep down the second time. We didn't give her Tylenol again, since we didn't want to push our luck.

She essentially hasn't eaten since Monday night. All she's managed is a mouthful of yogurt here, a mouthful of ginger ale there.

This morning the very real grief is setting in--it's increasingly clear that she can't possibly take the black belt test tomorrow night. I just want to cry for her. It's just not fair. IT'S NOT FAIR! She worked so hard, she passed the screening the first time, and now she'll have to watch all her friends promoted over her and go onto the black belt class without her, when she should have been promoted too. And frankly, I'm crying for myself, too. I had desperately wanted to have the girls in the same karate class to simplify the chauffeuring. Now I have to keep the three different karate class schedule over the entire. Fricking. Summer. She can't test again until September. She had a sleepover party with her friends planned to celebrate getting her black belt, for not this weekend but the next one. I told her she shouldn't cancel it because she damn well deserves a party for everything she's been through. I'm crying now as I write this. I feel so terribly for her.

I have a call into our clinic since porphyrin says this is not normal for strep and there's the possibility that we need to have more blood/urine work done. And this is not happy news for Delia, who desperately doesn't want anything more done to her that involves needles. More doctor's bills.

Comments

[ozarque.livejournal.com]

That is for sure not fair; it's awful. Being so sick, and missing the black belt test. It's not fair, squared. I'm so sorry.

I remember when one of my teenage daughters had saved all of her money for a whole year, to pay for a week at a gymnastics camp -- and the first morning she was at the camp she broke one of her thumbs and had to be sent home. And I was still in grad school; I didn't have any way to give her the money to go back to the camp later in the summer. She lost her money, she lost all the things she'd given up to be able to save the money, and she lost the week at camp. It was horrible.

I hope your doctor can do something to help with the illness....

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry :(

[mjryan.livejournal.com]

My son has never had that high of a temp with Strep and he seems to get it quite a bit. Usually, the antibiotic they give knocks it out in 24 hours. I agree that it's a good idea to go back to the doctor.

[chamisa.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry for Delia, and for you. :-(

[mayakda.livejournal.com]

(Gentle hugs)
The days will fly by and September will be here before you know it.

For the throwing up, something with real ginger in it can be very helpful. Put a few slices in some chicken broth* and boil it, or simmer it with tea and add honey -- she might be able to keep sips of that down.

*Or boil some chicken with ginger root slices and give her the broth of that.

**The penicillin itself might be adding to the nausea. It's harsh on the stomach. Maybe the doctor will switch her to a different antibiotic of formulation.

[handgun.livejournal.com]

agreed. most ginger ales now-a-days don't have real ginger in them anymore.

[sternel.livejournal.com]

I had strep a lot as a kid and I agree, this is nothing at all like the symptoms I remember. Are they sure this isn't viral?

Poor Delia. I hope she can beat this down soon.

And I hope the rest of your household stays healthy. Thinking good thoughts...

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're going back to the doctor, it is worrisome she isn't doing better. I hope they can hydrate her as well.

[aome.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a really nasty flu. :( Does she have to take all the pre-testing over again, or - once the final black-belt exam comes up again, can she just go straight to that? If there's anything we can do to help cushion the blow for her, to cheer her up a bit, let us know.

[eal.livejournal.com]

Poor baby.

I feel bad for both of you.

[chelsearoad.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry, for you and Delia.

[lilisonna.livejournal.com]

Oh poor thing! I was so hoping I'd come over this morning and find that the fever had broken, and she was getting her energy back.

Is there anyway she could do a one-on-one test? Will your school allow for that?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

No. The only option is the city-wide test, which is held once a quarter.

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Poor Delia. Poor you. Hugs and prayers.

Catherine

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry for both of you, all of you.

I hope the clinic can shed some light on this.

[perimyndith.livejournal.com]

Oh no, what a rotten week for your girl. :(

Peppermint tea may help with nausea -- I drank that stuff by the gallon when I had morning sickness. Or chamomile. "Ginger Ale" often does not actually have ginger in it anymore, so you might want to read the ingredients on the brand you bought to see if it does.

[febobe.livejournal.com]

Poor Delia, and poor you. :( Life absolutely STINKS sometimes, doesn't it? If I could change it for her, I'd snap my fingers and do so - I know you certainly would have already, if it could be done.

Someone mentioned the issue of real ginger helping and ginger ale often not containing it any more - I don't know what stores you have ready access to, but often natural foods stores like Wild Oats have ginger ale that contains real ginger, and you can buy it buy the bottle rather than having to buy a whole carton or case of something she may or may not tolerate well. Just a thought, if that's an option for you and one that sounds worth the effort.

Keeping y'all in my prayers - and I agree, BTW, that Delia NEEDS that party after what she's been through!

Hang in there, Peg. You and Delia both.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

While I don't think this'll help much with your present situation, I'd like you to read the entry behind this link:

http://dendren.livejournal.com/259624.html?style=mine

Now, as much as I don't want to go all "woo-woo" on ya, I think part of the positive outcome in this entry is due to you and all the other people who--maybe weren't in the struggle* as much as some--but still you thought about this, and talked to others, and worked on it in your own way to solve the problem.

I guess for me, although I saw my work with the Quilt & ACT-UP as more "USO work" than anything else, you helped me, because I see you as someone who "got it".

Thanks.

____
*but in my opinion ya'll were.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry. That is deeply unfair.

I hope, at least, that the doctors can shed light on this.

[arian1.livejournal.com]

Peg. I really like you, but I think you're losing some perspective. Your daughter is sick. Fairly sick. Everything else at this point is extraneous BS. She's going to miss her test, not the end of the world. They have other tests. So the sleepover is off. That can be redone as well. I know it's easy to start cascading, but stay focused on the real issue here. We'll all be here for that.

Much love.

-Arian

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I'm not losing sight of that. If you'll remember, the reason I broke down at work yesterday was because I faced how I could have lost her, not because of the black belt.

On the other hand, you are not living with a highly strung eleven year old who has worked hard for something for four and half years and who has gone through three incredibly rigorous tests to prove her right to earn this achievement--only to have it snatched away from her at the last minute for something that is totally not her fault. Nine of her classmates will be going on. And she won't.

That's a "real" issue, too. Believe it or not.

[serenya-loreden.livejournal.com]

I still remember coming down with chicken pox the day of my Brownie flyup. I got over it, but I was devastated at the time, so I have an idea of how she feels, and she has my deep sympathy.

*hugs* to you both.

[arian1.livejournal.com]

I am not begrudging Delia at all, nor do I think it's fair to parade her about. (Go ahead, take a swing).

Did you ever ponder that Delia might be so high strung because it's cultivated in her from above? I do care for you Peg, and believe me you've had some rough shit, but going "sky is falling" over a missed black belt test. Come on. Suck it up girl you're tougher than that and you need to show you kids that too. Otherwise they'll only learn from example and the cycle will just carry on.

Please let Delia know we all hope she recovers quickly and that we know she'll be high kicking in no time.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Whoa, sucker punch.

Okay, I'm not commenting to you on this anymore. It's been a terrible week and the last thing I need right now is to get angry at someone who is trying in his own way to be supportive. I'll take your good wishes for her recovery and leave it at that.

[arian1.livejournal.com]

You miss my point on this, but fair enough.

[fireriven.livejournal.com]

Wait... will she not be able to test at all because she's missing this Friday's test?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

The next city-wide black belt test is in September. I've exchanged messages with sensei, and what they have decided to do is to require her to take the third screening test in August (even though she has already passed it), and then assuming she passes it again, she'll test for black belt in September.

[fireriven.livejournal.com]

Okay, whew. That's not so bad then. It's certainly a bummer to end up three months or so behind your classmates, but I'm sure she'll be even more thoroughly prepared by then and blaze into the next class literally kicking ass.

Life's not fair, but one should never sneeze at extra prep time!

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

I agree with everyone here, hon. It does suck, and I am so sorry for her and for you, and it's not fair, and it is heartbreaking. And Arian's right, too: just focus on getting her well. Her health is the thing that will matter five or fifty years from now. Every child loses or misses some thing that was more important than anything to her; I expect every mother would do anything including give up a kidney to protect her from it; but she'll still get the belt, she'll still have the sleepover. Just not on schedule.

Poor honeys.

[moodyduck.livejournal.com]

Poor kiddo. Poor all of your. I can understand how crushed she must be (having had a rocky experience with black belt tests myself, over a three year period of tests and failures and injuries and heartbreak. We only had tests once a year too--screw up and it's a long wait.) And on top of feeling so bad physically--and not eating--wow. At least the hardest part is behind her, right? She doesn't have to do the pretests again? And she'll always know that she made it through that the first time, and she'll be extra ready for the test itself. Maybe she can find something special to look forward to while she is waiting to try again?

[moodyduck.livejournal.com]

That should have been a general reply, not a reply to the comment above.