Weekend Flu By

Written by Rowonna McNeely – If you happened to be in United on Friday around five and saw a woman running with a basket through the front of the store, that was me and I apologize if I cut you off.  I don’t make a habit of running through stores. Let me start with the back story.

Friday morning, we received a call from the school that Kiera had a fever and needed to be picked up.  Aaron left work to pick her up and take her home.

A couple of hours later, Aaron called to let me know her fever was up a little but she was in good spirits. Relieved to hear that she was doing ok, I hung up and went back to work.

At 4:30, I called Aaron to see if they could pick me up from work. He assured me that Kiera seemed to be doing well, except for her fever. They arrived to get me and I decided to stop by United so I could pick up dinner and more medicine for Kiera.

I hopped out and hurried in, leaving Aaron and Kiera to wait on me in the truck. I had just decided on an over the counter medicine and placed it in my basket when I received a text from Aaron.  It read, “Meet at bathroom Kiera sick.”

If you are familiar with United, you know that the medicine aisle is on one side of the store and the bathroom is on the other. Here is where the running Mommy part of the story comes into play. Fearing the worst, I took off running with my basket, weaving past people, apologizing as I went.

Aaron and Kiera were standing in the hall of the bathrooms when I arrived. I quickly grabbed my purse and Kiera’s hand and led her into the bathroom. I held her hair back from her pale face as she hunkered over the toilet. After a moment and no vomiting, thankfully, she felt better. I handed her back over to Aaron and finished picking up our necessities in record time.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully. She continued to have fever but slept fairly well through the night. Aaron and I did not sleep so soundly. We were constantly checking on her.

The next morning she was still pale but her fever had broke but as the day progressed, it came back. I checked in with the pediatrician and we decided if she still had fever the next day, we would take her in.

As we sat down to eat a late lunch, Kiera asked if I would follow her into the other room. She sat down and suddenly without warning, started crying that her tummy hurt. Tears began to roll down her pale cheeks and she grasped her side. “It hurts!” She began screaming through her sobs.

I took two steps to the edge of the door so I could yell for Aaron. “No, Mommy!” She cried. “Don’t leave me.” I knelt in front of her and gathered her in my arms to comfort her. Aaron came in the room and without words, we jumped into gear. “Come on baby.” I cajoled. “Let’s get you dressed. We are going to the Emergency Room.”

A few minutes later, she had calmed down and we were on the way to the ER.

Once there, we were quickly ushered into a room.  A few moments later a nurse came in to let us know that they would be doing some tummy x-rays, blood work and testing her for strep and flu.

She was so brave. They wheeled the X-Ray machine in while Aaron and I had to step out of the room. She never whined or cried as they moved her around on the bed. After they wheeled the machine out, Aaron and I settled back in the small room with her and began to explain the blood work process.

“They will poke a needle in your arm so they can get some of your blood to check.” Aaron patiently explained.

“Will it hurt?” She asked.

“It will hurt a little bit.” Aaron said and then assured her.  “But it will be ok.”

Content with that answer, she went back to watching her cartoon on the TV. A few minutes later, the phlebotomist arrived in our room. She was so sweet. She instantly went to work, making sure that Kiera was at ease and explained everything that she was about to do.

The only problem she encountered was Kiera’s veins. Apparently, Kiera inherited her Daddy’s deep veins. The phlebotomist searched and searched both arms and finally settled on a vein. By this time another nurse had entered the room and offered to help hold Kiera’s arm, so she wouldn’t jerk when they poked her with the needle.

Once again after letting Kiera know what she was about to do, she inserted the needle…and Kiera flinched just enough that she couldn’t locate the vein. The phlebotomist apologized profusely and covered the tiny hole with a cotton ball and sticky gauze to hold it in place.  “I’m going to have to try again.” She said.

Kiera didn’t bat an eye at her announcement. The phlebotomist began to check her arms and hands for an easy accessible vein. “I’m going to go get someone to help me,” She said. “I’m just having trouble finding a good vein.”

By the time it was all said and done, we had two Registered Nurses and two phlebotomists in our tiny room. They finally decided to put the needle in her hand. Our little girl was so tough. She flinched for a brief moment and almost panicked but then calmed down. We were even able to get some laughs out of her while they took her blood. Not one tear was ever shed.

After running all the tests, it was confirmed that she had the flu.  As we headed home from the ER, I was laughing with Aaron about all the medical people that were in the room with us.

“Why were they all in there?” Kiera asked sleepily from her booster seat.

“They wanted to make sure they didn’t hurt you when they poked you with the needle.” Aaron explained. “They were trying to find the best way.”

“That much people cared about me?” She asked in astonishment.

I chuckled quietly as her question sunk in. “Yes, baby. That many people cared about you.” I assured her.

Kiera is slowly on the mend and is getting back to her bouncy, playful self. Thank you to the staff that cared for us on our recent visit and thank you to all in the medical profession that work countless hours caring for people in their time of sickness and need.