2004-10-13 New Signs

�PARKING FOR ELLIS FAMILY ONLY. VIOLATERS WILL BE TOWED AT OWNER�S EXPENSE.�

And�

�THESE SEATS RESERVED FOR MEMBERS OF THE ELLIS FAMILY ONLY. IF YOUR LAST NAME ISN�T ELLIS, THAN GET THE HELL OUT.�

And�

�TO THANK THE ELLIS FAMILY FOR THEIR CONTINUOUS SUPPORT, WE WILL OFFICIALLY BE CHANGING OUR NAME FROM MIDDLEBORO PEDIATRICS TO �ELLIS FAMILY (ONLY) PEDIATRICS.�

Seriously, it is getting that bad. I didn�t make just one trip there today�nope, I made two.

Emily woke up at about 3am complaining of an earache. She was actually crying in pain so I gave her some Motrin. As soon as it kicked in, she was right back to sleep. She woke up at about 7, said her ear hurt a little but that she wanted to go to school. She had no fever so I was planning on sending her with a note, saying to call me if anything came up.

While she was eating breakfast, the pain kicked back in a big way so I decided to keep her home and take her over to the office while Katherine was at school.

We went, she did in fact have an ear infection and the nurse practitioner gave her a prescription for Amoxycillan.

We were on the way to CVS to get it filled and�my phone rang. It was Katherine�s school telling me that she was complaining that her ear hurt.

I was pretty much in shock at this point.

Seriously, I think my children may in fact be responsible for at least half of the income at the pediatrician�s office.

There way no way in hell I was going back there unless I knew for sure that Katherine was serious about the pain. The thought had crossed my mind that she could just be saying that her ear hurt because she knew her sister�s did. I decided to call my mother to see if the school nurse could look at Katherine�s ear and confirm or deny an ear infection.

It was infected, and very much so.

So, we went all the way back.

On the way there, Katherine was crying/whining that her ear hurt�and when we got there Emily�s earlier dose of Motrin wore off.

I had two children crying in the waiting room, both wanting to sit on my lap (one on each leg was just not good enough for them) and a baby who was scheduled to wake very soon to eat.

It was a good time, really.

I felt so bad for both of them�and was trying my best to keep them content while we waited.

Toward the end of our wait, Katherine started to get sleepy and fell asleep leaning on my leg. I though nothing of it, knowing that she was sick and everyone feels tired when they are sick, right?

Wrong.

When we finally got called in, I was laying Katherine down on the table/bed thing and caught a whiff of her breath. It had that fruity, sweet, medicinal smell to it. She was having a hypoglycemic attack. I immediately asked the nurse if they had any juice or something she could have to get her sugar back up. The best they could do was Sprite but that was all it took anyway. She had that and slowly came back around.

Anyway, they checked her ear, called in a prescription for her and off we went.

This afternoon, Katherine seems to be feeling much better but Emily has a fever of 101.2 and has this funky drainage thing going on with her ear that, according to the doctor is normal unless it doesn�t stop or turns bloody.

Great.

In thinking about all of this today a couple of things have occurred to me. Before July, when Emily had that serious ear infection that, because she had never complained about it may not have been diagnosed had she not had the seizure, she had never had one.

Until Monday, she had not had a single seizure since.

Now she has had a seizure and has been diagnosed with a serious ear infection within two days of each other.

I am beginning to wonder if there may be some kind of a connection.

I asked the nurse today and she had never heard of any connection but did say that it was worth mentioning to her neurologist the next time we visit. So, I will.

As for Katherine, the fact that she had an ear infection came as no shock. She always seems to get a few around this time of year. I think that they may eventually talk about putting tubes in but we shall see.

This really is getting crazy.

Every time I go, I think to myself, �Ok no more visits until the next regular checkup.�

Maybe a little reverse psychology might work. If I have to go again I might just try saying, �See you tomorrow� to the secretaries as I leave.