If you need a refresher of
Part 1, and
Part 2., here you go.
As for Part III, it goes like this...
Drew....
Last week, more like 10 days ago, Drew was sick. He had a fever and was feeling pretty miserable. He stayed home from school a day and then relaxed over the 2 day "school holiday" last week and went back to school feeling pretty good.
Ben...
The day after Drew went back to school, the nurse from school called to say that Ben was in her office and was complaining that his "tummy hurt". I went to school and picked him up. He looked sad, but he didn't have a fever. He said that his "tummy hurt" and his throat felt a little "itchie". It crossed my mind that he might have just had a bad day. He ran around an played the rest of the day and seemed fine. He did have cold symptoms a few days later and was a little tired, but for the most part seemed pretty ok to me.
Fast forward to this week...
Charlie...
He woke up Monday morning with a bit of a drippy nose and was kind of sneezy. I kept him home from school because of the whole H1N1 thing, and I didn't want to be "THAT mom!". Actually, I was having the same symptoms and felt fine. Tuesday, his nose mostly dried up, he was a little stuffy, but he felt fine so, I sent him to school. I still had the same symptoms, but I exercised (swam my 56 laps...thank you very much), got my flat tire fixed, and we went on with the rest of our day.
Mom....
I woke up Wednesday morning with a bit of a sore throat. It was not a scrachy feeling, it was a yikes, this isn't right kind of feeling. As the boys were eating breakfast, I grilled them about how they felt. They must have been like...
Look out, Mom's finally got the sore throat, NOW things are serious!! Everyone assured me that they felt fine so, I sent them to school. Since Charlie and I had been having the same symptoms all week, I decided that the 2 of us should hit Walgreens for a strep test...get it all done in one shot. Guess what??? 2 positives!!
Now what should I do about everyone else? Obviously, since Charlie and I got it at the same time, we got it from someone in the house. Hmmmm....maybe BEN, or DREW had strep throat AND, the. worst.mom.in.the.world. DID NOT TAKE THEM TO THE DOCTOR!! I did not have to think about it long.
Jack....
Yup, on Wednesday afternoon as I was considering what to do, the school called. again....this is getting embarassing because I *am* apparently one of "THOSE moms"! They had Jack in the office with a 100.5 fever and complaining of a headache and sore throat....which I swear he did not have Wednesday morning, remember I grilled them at breakfast!
So, I picked them all up from school and drove them right over to another Walgreens. On the way over I was grilling Ben and Drew again because I wanted them tested for strep so, in case I needed to "convince" the Walgreens people to test them, I wanted to know if they were having any symptoms for anything. Drew swore that nothing hurt and Ben said that the only thing that is wrong is that sometimes his "belly gets a little sweaty". Seriously!?!?! What does that mean!! How am I supposed to interpret that?!?!
So, the final results were....
All 3 were positive for strep and Ben and Jack, remember the 2 that said there was absolutely nothing wrong except for a sweaty belly, also had ear infections.
So what is the moral of all of this....2.5 hours spent in Walgreen-es, a descent chunk of change in co-pays, FIVE positive strep tests, 8 bottles of antibiotics and a "free day" at home??? Don't ever, EVER get strep throat before mom. Poor Drew and Ben had to wait a week for me to take them to the doctor. I had a sore throat for about...ummmm....THREE HOURS!, before I was hauling myself over to the nearest place that would get me an antibiotic.
That's right "Mom of the YEAR!". :(
...at least we know he's smiling under there. :)
