The Bleak, Sick Days of January

When Mikayla was preparing for school on Thursday morning, I had this gut feeling that things just weren't right.   She had been achy the night before - something that could have been "growing pains", but a little more widespread.  She was complaining of feeling dizzy, which isn't like her, and had persistent headaches for the couple of days prior.  Surprisingly, she wasn't begging to get out of school that day - (which she'd love to do normally) - it was almost as if she was just too tired to even try to argue why she should get to stay home.  I think that was my biggest clue.  I felt her forehead, it felt warmer than usual (I'm going to stop and brag for a second that I'm pretty spot-on with my temperature predictions based on forehead feels....Mikayla kept me in good practice these last 72 hours, that's for sure).  So, I told her she was staying home, and she wasted no time crawling into bed.  She virtually didn't leave that location from Thursday morning until Saturday afternoon.  (And, the break on Saturday only lasted a couple of hours before she returned again until Sunday late morning). 

I was giving my armchair diagnosis of her having the flu - but, you know, that's a word thrown out there that you always wonder if it's really the case, or just a cold gone bad.  Sure enough, though, as Mikayla looked up the symptoms online, she was 7 out of 7....dizzy, muscle ache, fever, sore throat, dry deep cough, chills/sweats...etc.  There was virtually no doubt as to what she was dealing with, which I guess is a bit comforting as a parent to know what you are up against, and know that a visit to the doctor isn't going to help things....rather, it's just a wait/fight it out.

So, I canceled the walk I was going to take with a college student, Mikayla's attendance at school, Mikayla's attendance at Webfoot practice (and consequently my role in carpooling), our Bible Study to happen at our house (and my attendance), and Friday's walk with Lisa.  Instead, I spent most of those three days sitting/laying on the other side of the bed from this girl:

I put the above picture on Instagram/Facebook on Friday and it was so sweet to see how many people commented to offer their support and "If there's anything we can do's".  I was also tickled at the comments of folks saying they'd never not seen Mikayla smiling.  Hmmmm, I guess that's good, but maybe we need to work on our authenticity as there's lots of "behind the scenes" not smiling from Mikayla on any given day.  She just seems to save a lot of it for home....and more often than not it takes place early in the morning or past 8:30pm - as she tends to break down in a hurry when she's tired.   But, clearly, this pic summarized it all - that was definitely how she felt all day Thursday and Friday.  Even the idea of staying home from school and getting to snuggle in bed with Mommy wasn't enough to offset the horrible way she felt with the flu symptoms.  =(  She was a good patient, though, took her temperature often, and didn't fight the "resting" part of it all.  

By Saturday, we were getting a bit of a smile from her...which helped us to know we were on the road to recovery.  So good to see for a mommy.  At one point on Saturday night, when Mikayla was especially hurting, she apologized for "ruining my whole weekend".  She was apologetic a lot over her time of being sick.  It's funny, because she tends to be overly dramatic about not feeling well on any given day - or getting unnecessarily hurt a lot - and those are the times I'm aggravated.  In circumstances like this, there was absolutely no lack of sympathy (which for me, who doesn't score well in the Mercy category of gifts, that's saying a lot!).  I've been there, and she deserved to be taken care of - and I was deeply thankful that I could do that for her.  I was also very thankful - as I described in my response to her apology of ruining my weekend, that I got to spend that time with her.  Outside of the fact that she felt like crud, it will be a weekend I'll remember and treasure as just being near her, reading/napping next to her, watching endless episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress" or "Phineas and Ferb" - and, having no where else I should be more than right there, at her side, in our bedroom (or getting up to get the steady stream of water bottles or Saltine packs).

 

Meanwhile, John and Brayden occupied the other part of our house, and continued the close companionship they've been especially sharing ever since the "Fiesta Bowl".  Lots of video game playing for those two.

The timing of Mikayla getting sick was about as good as it could have been as there wasn't a whole lot we were missing.  There was no Webfoot tournament, trip to Sunriver, major holiday, etc...  Instead, there have just been days and days of this around here:

The forecast had shown on Sunday that we were to expect Monday through Friday of this last week to be cold, but gloriously sunny.  Instead, it was cold - and just plain dreary.  No visibility, extra frigid (temps barely got above 35 degrees) with the extra fog moisture...and dark all day long.  I just can't see why there's an above average number of cases of "SAD" (Seasonal Affective Disorder) that come out of this area?!  All's to say, if Mikayla was going to pick the right time to get sick and leave us confined in our cozy bedroom, this week was just about ideal.   And, praise God, she's up and at 'em now - no long with fever and feeling about 80%.  As far as the flu goes...this could have been a whole lot worse.