Friday, February 8, 2008

Frumpy Friday

Assuming drinking beer is cool (and college is a near enough memory for me to go with that assumption), does the coolness of drinking a beer in the law library offset the nerdiness of being here at 6:15 on a Friday? Because I'm thinking it falls short.

Today has not been a good day. Landon screamed and cried from 2 to 5 AM for the fourth night in a row. I almost cried with him- I'm exhausted on a level that far exceeds that word. At about 4:45, when putting Landon back in his crib after doing everything we could think of to make him go to sleep, JP turned to me and said, in a sad and serious voice, "We can't have any more children." This, from a man who up to a week ago still wanted four. And at the time I agreed- if I let myself think about it (and I don't), Landon's babyhood has not exactly been easy.

I called the pediatrician on the way out the door at 9:45 and they fit me in for an 11:00 appointment. Just early enough to not make it worth taking Landon to daycare beforehand, so we waited at the office for a long time, much to Landon's annoyance. JP met me there (he had a doctor appointment to have a biopsy done on his leg so he was already missing work) and I ran to Walgreens to buy diapers and wipes because I didn't have the diaper bag with me. When we were finally seen, she found a bad infection in his left ear. I felt terrible for him, but it was nice to know he wasn't possessed by some Stewie-like demon (Family Guy reference, for those who don't watch). He now has amoxycillin and is home with daddy, probably resting up for another night of terror.

His surgery to remove the dermoid cyst was supposed to be this past Wednesday, but it was moved to next week because the surgeon is now contracted with Northwestern Children's Memorial rather that University of Chicago. We were happy with the change because it meant we didn't have to spend another night in a hospital filled with terrible memories. But when I called today to get his schedule the doctor asked to push it back 4 more weeks- his words, "do you think we could push something so minor and non-urgent back a few more weeks?" Well, of course, but there's still no firm date and that lands me right in the middle of finals and I just want it over with. I know there's no rush, but it keeps growing bigger and I'm tired of having the surgery on my mind. And his receptionist was rude to me. And our pediatrician is leaving us to start a new office within the practice. So I'm just generally unhappy with the medical establishment right now.

I got to campus hours later than I needed to, spent time on the phone calling various doctors and crossing other items off my to-do list. I found out I have to take 2 more finals than I thought. I'm weeks behind in those classes because I was planning to write a paper, so now I'm trying to catch up. I'm the only person in the library- and I'm a 3L!!

ARGH. But I have my beer and a blog to throw myself a little pity party. Back to work.

9 comments:

  1. Those ear infections are THE WORST . . . I thought my kid was possessed when he had his ear infection, too. I mean - I thought he was going to do the head-rotating-all-the-way-around-like-the-exorcist thing. It'll pass . . . and I bet your husband will change his mind . . . hehe

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  2. Oh, LL, that seriously bites all the way around. :( I actually put a shot of vodka in my Diet Dr. Pepper the other night, because Peach wouldn't stop fussing and screaming (she was exhausted but refused to sleep). I was feeling so guilty about it that I mentioned it to my doctor, who said, "Sometimes that's necessary." So have another beer (and it is cool to drink it in the library) and thank heaven you're in your last semester of law school!!!!

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  3. I'm so sorry hon. Luckily the antibiotics kick in fast so he should sleep tonight. I also found Motrin works so much better for Bear than Tylenol. Before he had tubes thats how I always knew he had an ear infection. He refused to sleep.

    That sucks about your finals. Beer makes everything bearable though.

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  4. You deserve your beer!!!! I'll be drinking tonight as well. Cheers:)

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  5. Oh, I feel for you regarding the surgery scheduling. I went through the same thing when my son had his dermoid cyst removed. Rude receptionists, uncaring nurses, paperwork shuffles, scheduling changes, doctors not taking things seriously . . . and the worst part for me was that my son's cyst WAS dangerous, because it was in danger of infiltrating his brain. I felt like I was fighting a hydra. Just to get my kid basic medical care.

    The system sucks.

    On the upside, though, the longer you wait for Landon's surgery, the less chance there is that he will have an allergic reaction to, or brain damage from, the anesthesia. Each passing week brings more nervous system development, and more immune system development, to help him through the surgery.

    And you know what, it IS okay to say to the surgeon: "I know this seems minor to you, because you deal with worse problems everyday. But it doesn't feel minor to me. When it's your own child, there is no such thing as minor surgery. So I hope you will understand my impatience, and my wish to get this over with as soon as possible."

    If he's a good guy, he'll listen to you.

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  6. It sounds like you deserve a good pity party. :-(

    The good news is that now that Landon is started on the antibiotics his ear should start to feel better really soon - he might even let you sleep tonight already!

    Ours had an ear infection over Christmas. While at the in-laws. SO not fun.

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  7. ooh! poor guy! Glad he's on the mend, and glad that it's something that can be treated easily, too. I concur with the ibuprofen...works way better for pain/inflamation than tylenol. Between that and a good 24 hours on antibiotics, the Lan-man should be sleeping better.

    We've got the croupy cough and snot and had the puking and fever earlier in the week. I'm a bad mom because I refuse to bring him into the doctor, just for them to take my copay and tell me More Fluids and Use the Almighty Humidifier. But that's because he's the second child. By the time we're on our third or fourth, that child will be lucky to have a doctor in attendance at his/her own birth! ;)
    p.s. drinking at the library is kinda cool, at least to a geek like me!

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  8. aww.. I'm sorry things are so hard right now. It always seems to be that if one thing goes wrong- so does everything else, at the same time!

    Enjoy your beer- I think its great you're drinking a beer in the library- you may have just started a trend - oh wait. i'm pg, darn! ;)

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  9. drinking beer in the lib...i like it! i may try doing that while working on my thesis data analysis ;)

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