A Scare

(I started this post last Wednesday, but I’m finally getting around to finishing it.)

This morning started like any other. I woke Rachel and Gabi up at 7:30 so they could see their daddy before he went to work. Everything was fine until about 9:00 when I was getting Rachel her breakfast. She reached up to get a box of cereal, and suddenly cried out. I was standing right next to her, but I didn’t see what happened. I thought maybe she bumped her head, but I couldn’t see how that could have happened. I held her and tried to comfort her, but she wasn’t acting like it was getting any better. I realized that whenever she moved her head or her arms she cried out in pain. I looked at her head where she was holding it, but I couldn’t see anything. I started to get scared because she was not getting any better.

I called my pediatrician, and they asked me to bring her in. I had to get her dressed still, and she cried out as I helped her put her arms through her sleeves.

We got to the doctor, and she laid on the examination table, holding her neck/head, and not moving at all. (Very unlike her.) The doctor examined her, looking for indications of meningitis, and did a throat culture to look for strep. Both were negative. He concluded that it was a bad muscle spasm. He gave her a dosage of children’s Motrin, and told me to to continue to treat her with children’s Motrin and a little heat for the rest of the day, and call him after lunch. We got home, but the Motrin didn’t seem to do much more than barely take the edge off.

I fed the girls lunch and put them down for their naps. Rachel never did act like the pain was relieved. I called the doctor back and told him that she did not seem to have any relief. He told me to check after she woke up from her nap, and if it was still painful he might order x-rays.

Sure enough Rachel was still complaining of pain after her nap, so I took her to the brand new children’s hospital for x-rays. (The only good thing about the day was that I finally got to check out the new children’s hospital. I drive by it all the time when I go to Costco, but before this I never had the opportunity to go inside.) The x-rays were negative, so that pretty much confirmed that we were just dealing with a bad muscle spasm. I’ve had plenty of muscle problems in my neck, but I thought Rachel was too young for that kind of thing. I thought it was reserved for old folks like me.

The next morning Rachel was definitely better, but her neck was still bothering her a little, but that was the last time she complained about it. It was really scary for a while, and I’m very grateful to my mother-in-law who helped me out by taking care of Gabi while I took Rachel to the hospital, and fixing dinner, and cleaning the kitchen. I also appreciate my VT companion who saved me from having to take the girls into the cold with one suffering from a very painful muscle spasm to buy children’s Motrin. She picked it up for me, and I really appreciate all the help.

Anyway, all ended well, and Rachel has been just fine ever since, but I’ll tell you, it was not a fun day!