The day had been really nice. Visiting with family, watching Lindsay dance, and eating out with everyone. I thought we'd get to go home and relax the rest of the evening, put the girls to bed, then put in a movie and zone out. Not to be.
Lindsay and Abbey started to have allergy like symptoms on Friday. Runny nose, sneezing, cough, and Abbey had a little bit of Asthma. This is pretty par for the course this time of year. They both went to school on Friday and came home and played afterward. Saturday, Lindsay didn't want to go anywhere. She was in her pajamas all day long and pretty much camped out on the family room couch with the remote. Kind of worried at this point that they might not just be allergies. We gave her the medicine that we had on hand and she seemed to perk up.
Sunday. Lindsay was her little happy self. She was singing and dancing around the house, like she always does. She had a good appetite and had like 2 1/2 bowls of cereal. I think it was really just a stalling tactic against having to take a shower. That's when it started. The little cough. I was a bit worried but she assured me she felt fine. None the less, I gave her something for it. It seemed to help.
Fast forward to after the performance and Lindsay was starting to have the cough back. It was getting a little deeper sounding now. It continued through dinner and when we got back home. We gave her some more medicine. Nothing could stop it. One hour went by, two hours, the cough got more consistent and louder. We gave her the ultimate weapon, cough syrup with codeine, still not stopping. I thought, maybe it's a little bit of asthma. She took some albuturol puffs, but it didn't stop the coughing. The cough got to the point where it was only stopping for about 10 seconds before the next fit would start. Nothing left to do but call the nurse line at the doctors office.
We were on our way. The nurse said to bring her in. It couldn't wait for the morning. {sigh} It was about 9 0'clock at night and I new we wouldn't get out for a long time. Where you might be wondering? The Emergency Room. Yup, the magical and wondrous place that time ceases to exist and all sorts of creatures come out, especially at night.
We make our way from the spooky underground parking to the crowded and creepy waiting area. It is chock full of people. There was just about everything to see, including a guy on a gurney having some kind of bad reaction to something he took earlier and a lady screaming and crying in pain.
I held on tight to Lindsay and repeated quite a few times to the desk that the nurse sent something to them to let them know we were coming. In other words, "Please tell me we don't have to stay in here." I think they told me I could go sit down and fill out the forms. I wasn't going anywhere. There wasn't even a seat to be had if I was going to anyway. I put Lindsay between me and the desk and filled out the form. Then, they took me back behind secure doors that led to the children's ER. Loud sigh of relief.
It was a children friendly room with toys and books. The Nicholas Cage movie Alcatraz was playing on the TV when we got back. I asked the nurse to put a movie in instead.
We waited, waited, waited, and waited. Then they took us back to get some X-rays. The room was dark, silent, and peaceful. It was so nice. There was no more screaming or babies crying. Just peace. We waited in that room for 25 minutes. Lindsay curled up in my lap and laid her head down. We just enjoyed the dark silence. After singing some songs and talking about the day, a nurse came to get us and took us to our own room.
Lindsay got to lay down and they brought her a warm blanket and a movie list. She got to have some popsicles and watch The Great Muppet Caper, one of my favorites.
"but I hate peperoni!"
The doctor came and went. Swabs of the throat and nose were taken and tested. We were told it was just a virus and the chest screen was clean. They gave her half a Vicaden for the cough and sent us home with a prescription.
We were both really hungry and Lindsay wanted a happy meal. She deserved it. She was so good and patient during this whole ordeal. I knew I'd have to go to the worst McDonald's in Spokane, it was the closest and they are 24 hours. On our way we got to see the night life of Spokane. It was after 2am by this time and I think the couple of hookers I saw must have been on their second shift. {shudder}
After getting the bad service and bad food that is to be expected from that McDonald's, we made our way home. So tired, so worn, so ready for bed, but Lindsay's cough had stopped. She was able to sleep and recuperate from the day and eventful night she had.
This concludes the second part in our Tiny Dancer series. Thank you for tuning in.
Lou Lou
