MRI booked

After a little bit of phone tag (who books an MRI of a potential arthritic jaw? The Rheumatologist or the Maxillofacial Surgeon?*). PuffyFingers MRI scan is all booked up. She'll be heading in on 15th April, MRI at 11:15, facial surgeon appointment afterwards.

I'm unsure right now whether they'll want to try with her awake and keeping really still or if they'll knock her out. We'll find out soon. In the meantime I've discovered lots of videos on YouTube about preparing your child for an MRI. The wonders of t'internet.

If she stays awake then a parent is allowed in the room with her. The parent must have no metal on them. This could be problematic. I have two pins in my left ankle from an incident involving a rock and a parachute. They've been in there so long I rarely think about them (cough... mumble... 19 years). I strongly suspect that my two pins are going to stop me from being with PuffyFingers.

The OH will just have to do the caring parent thang. This could be fun...

* It's the maxillofacial surgeon

8pm and all's well

PuffyFingers is totally back to normal, not a limp in sight.

She gave the cold to me. I was utterly wiped out for 48 hours, I even took the unheard of step of taking a day off work. I normally manically hoard sick days for when I need them for child related time off. I'm not surprised PuffyFingers was limping; I think I was, and I don't even have arthritis.

I have thoughtfully passed the lurgy onto the OH and young LMI also appears to be going down with it. The OH has also had to take a sick day; and is presently laid out on the settee (sofa, couch, davenport or whatever else you want to call it) watching QI on the internet.

I'm waiting to see what shape LMI is in when she wakes in the morning. It's all fun, fun, fun in the Fingers household.

I may have a teeny bit overoptimistic

Hello,

PuffyFingers had a harder day with her knee. I gave her Tylenol at 1:30 and we have done her rice bag a couple of times. She has been hopping so she doesn't have to use it. She is at the front desk with a rice bag and books. I really hope she feels better soon,

Lovely Kindergarten Teacher
Lovely School

Don't panic Mum

This post is especially for my mother who will read the last post, have kittens, and immediately pick up the phone to call me.

PuffyFingers is fine.

She was still limping this morning, but no pain, no swelling, no heat. She's definitely coming down with a cold though. I think the stiffness is just related to the cold; reactive arthrits. She's done this before. If the stiffness is still there once the cold has gone, or if it gets much worse then I'll be calling the hospital.

Don't Panic.

The morning from hell

Yesterday morning was awful. On a scale of one to horrendous it was at least a ghastly.

On Tuesday evening LMI had a swimming class. When I picked the girls up I noticed that as PuffyFingers came to the car she was walking strangely. I made a mental note and carried on. At the swimming pool it was again obvious that PuffyFingers was limping very slightly. She was holding her right leg a bit too stiffly and therefore looking uneven when she walked. I asked if there was any pain but she was perfectly happy and we had lots of fun in the pool. She complained of a headache when we got home and a stuffy nose. I provide some paracetamol (Tylenol), and some food, and she just laid down until bedtime.

Wednesday morning comes. My waking thought is to watch PuffyFingers as she gets out of bed as any stiffness will be most apparent after lying down all night. Sure enough PuffyFingers is hirpling (limping). I check if anything hurts - no. I check for swelling - no. I check for heat in her knees - no. I take her temp - a wee bit up but certainly not a high fever. So we proceed to breakfast.

The normal procedure in the Fingers household is for me to get up, washed, dressed, breakfasted and to help the girls with all of this then I dash out the door to get to work by 8am while the OH drops the girls at school and daycare. But this particular day the OH is dead tired; he's on call for work and didn't get to sleep until 3am so he asks if I'll drop the girls off.

I yell the change of plan down the corridor as the girls are dressing and then start chivvying them through a quick breakfast. PuffyFingers is not happy. We have tears because she doesn't understand why I'm in a rush. I'm trying to get to work by 9am at the latest and they need to get their skates on...

Tick tock...

While breakfast is being consumed I write an e-mail to work saying I'll be late and also compose an e-mail to PuffyFingers' teacher explaining that PuffyFingers is limping and might need Tylenol (paracetamol) and her rice bag during the day. PuffyFingers approves of the mail and I send it. We all bundle into the car.

Tick tock...

Once we get to school PuffyFingers asks me to also tell Miss Mary (the receptionist) that she might need Tylenol during the day, so I do. Miss Mary then checks that we still have enough Tylenol in the medicine cabinet and like Mother Hubbard the cupboard was bare.

Tick tock...

I drop LMI off at daycare.

Tick tock...

I zoom down the road to the nearest petrol station with a little shop. Buy a mini bottle of Tylenol for the same price as a big one at any other shop. Get back in the car. Look at the box. It's very dusty. Check the bottom. It expired last October.

Tick tock...

Back to the shop get a refund, find out where the nearest supermarket is. Drive to supermarket. Dash inside, find medicine aisle. Look at shelves. Spot empty space where Children's Tylenol should be.

Tick tock...

Stand in supermarket thinking rapidly. She can have Ibruprofen? Another gap on the otherwise stocked shelves. Can we do infant tylenol in a dropper? No, dosages don't go up high enough. Can she have the tablets? Check the box, dosage starts at 49lbs. With her recent weight gain that's not inconceivable, she's just 7.5 lbs too light. She'll have a maximum of two of these and then I can adjust the dosage this evening with our normal liquid Tylenol if necessary. I'm not happy though - should I really deliberately overdose her?

Tick tock...

I decide some medication is better than none. I pick up the box of tablets and go to the check out. On the way to the check out I notice an end of aisle display about the cold and flu season. Oh joy of joys, there's a bottle of the normal Children's Tylenol.

Tick tock...

I put the unnecessary tablets back on the shelf. Pay. Drive to school and drop off Tylenol. Drive to work, get caught in way more traffic than I'm used to. Dash into the building.

I enter the meeting room at 9:11am. Not bad.