ER visit and "wishballs"

On the day her fever started, Anya Rashi happened to be playing hospital -- here is her "office", complete with doctor kit, telephone, and a waiting room full of furry patients. My first clue that she wasn't well was when she got very quiet in her tent, and I found that she'd fallen asleep on the carpet.

It's been an eventful week at the Appleton household. Anya Rashi experienced two firsts -- her first visit to the Emergency Room, and her first dose of antibiotics in four years. She had a cold all last week, but it turned into something else on Thursday, when she got really congested, started a cough, and began running a high fever.

On Saturday night, we woke her to give her some applesauce and next dose of ibuprofen. Well, her stomach decided it had had enough of all the medication, and she couldn't keep the medicine down. Without it, her fever quickly shot up to 105. Her poor little body was like a furnace, so we were off to the ER as fast as we could load her in the car.

The first order of business was getting a dose of Tylenol into her, drop by drop, ever so slowly, so that her body would keep it in. Then came x-rays of her lungs and a strep test, both of which were clear. Her ears were fine, so our kind doctor decided to give her a heavy-duty antibiotic to knock out the suspected infection. In hindsight, I suspect she had a sinus infection, based on a few days of projectile sneezing that came later in the week. :o)

I was so grateful for that antibiotic -- she clearly had an infection of some kind, because Monday was a completely fever-free day, with none of the tapering off, lowered fevers that usually come with a virus. We are so grateful that she bounced back like she did.

By Wednesday, we were back outside for wagon rides and the rediscovery of "wishballs" -- Anya Rashi's very own name for dandelions that have gone to seed. Hope you're enjoying a few wishballs in your own yards!