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21 July 1998 |
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The thing with Boober's ankle got to be a real drag. I ended it today. It actually started some time ago, but I didn't mention it before. Two Sundays ago, we were down in Maryland visiting the Huz and had walked down to the corner store for grins. Boober was climbing on the bike rack until he screamed and ran to us. A yellowjacket had stung him on the ankle. He seemed to get over it quickly, and his ankle was fine Sunday, and just a bit swollen and red Monday. Tuesday it was quite red, about like a medium sunburn, and blistering. Now, in most cases of sting I've seen over the years, and it's been many, redness and swelling are expected, even normal. But I don't really remember seeing one bubble up into a big blister before. Still, there were no signs of infection nor of fever. He played happily and normally, though he did milk the sympathy factor whenever it occurred to him. Soon, though, the blistery part developed into a lumpy rash. About that time I myself began to get a lumpy rash on my arms and neck. That was around Thursday. By Friday I had figured it out. When the Huz had inspected the ankle, he'd smeared poison ivy on it. Boober had scratched it, then hugged me and grabbed my arms. So, Friday I had a talk with the daycare lady. There are several daycare people, three who carry more responsibility than the others. One, the newest, was sure from Tuesday that his insect bite was infected because of the swelling and redness. Folks, not every swollen redness is infection. If you get a spanking on the butt, I guarantee (if I'm the one who gave it, in the heat of...oh well) it will be red and swollen. If you sprain your ankle, it could get red and swollen. If a sensitive person, as run in my family, gets a bee or wasp sting, you can damn well bet the area will get red and swollen. In my case we are talking entire limbs here. Sunburn will make you red, water retention will make you swollen, and several things can make you both. It takes a bit more to indicate infection. Just how red? Where? Localized? General? In streaks, maybe? Just how swollen? Lumpy? Plump but smooth? Is the skin hot to the touch? Any pus? Oozing? Strange odors? Anyway, she was convinced he had an infection quite a bit before the lumpy rash, though I knew better. I didn't know of a doctor to take him to anyway, and had recently experienced a financial disaster, so could barely manage milk just then, let alone a $70 visitation fee. I slapped a bandaid on that sucker and kept on going. Poison ivy is quite another thing. It's communicable, not by germs but by rubbing oils off onto other people, oils that are adhesives for the allergens. That kind of thing may not be allowed to run around a daycare, of course. So once I put the pieces together, the head daycare lady, distinct from the newest, and I had a bit of a talk during which we agreed he needed to be seen. One of the many folks hanging out at the photo shoot happened to be a doctor, so I got an opinion. It was no longer communicable but needed neosporin to prevent infection. So, I took the kids in yesterday confident, until the formerly-mentioned relatively new daycare lady asked me for the note. What note? Somewhere in Friday's conversation I'd completely missed the necessity of a note. Boober was not admitted. So, to work he went, with me, and that was something of a nightmare. He was into everything, smeared things, broke things. In short, he did normal little-kid stuff in a place that wasn't little-kid proofed. I got very little actual work done. El Prez assured me his doctor friend would fax me a note, but it didn't arrive. This morning, I swung by the office to check the fax on the way to daycare. Still no note. Boober was to be with me today too. Ugh! Even worse than yesterday. Little kids need a lot of attention, which means you need to hire a daycare provider, or be one. I was trying to be a soda pusher and daycare provider and it wasn't swinging. That was the kick in the ass I needed to start researching military medical options. Turns out that Fort Monmouth does have a medical facility there, of sorts, just not a hospital, per se. I got him an appointment and combined it with some errands. In the waiting room, this girl dashed up to Boober. "I am two and a half years old!" she proclaimed, without a trace of lisp or hesitation. "This is my bag, my diaper bag." I was stricken, and pleased. She was so alert, so articulate, so charming, well hell I could just keep on going. The two played a bit, and it was fun to watch. It's nice to see a kid who shares some of the same gifts my kids have, even if the the other kid seems to have a bit more. I am not saying that this kid or my kids are better than any others. It's just that a lot of kids have talents that don't show right away, like a keen eye for artistic composition, or a musical proclivity that is unmanifested yet. Mine talk a lot (a whole lotta lot) about whatever they are thinking about, so their talent gets to show a bit more than other talents do. The doctor took a look at the ankle and recommended bacitracin, and filled in the blanks on a standard school/work resume note. He also gave us some betadine pads for swabbing the site down, which Boober loves cuz he gets to paint his ankle orange. I let him do his own bacitracin, too. He's a lot more agreeable to medication when he gets to participate. When we returned to work, there was the other note in the fax. I took em both. Now. That's that, and all he has to do is heal. Oh, by the way, the thing for poison ivy or poison oak is called tecnu. Boober's suffering was prolonged cuz we didn't realize it was poison ivy until it had been there awhile, but in regular cases (those which do not involve yellowjackets) tecnu cuts my healing time to a mere fraction of what it used to take. It's actually a soap that breaks down the oils that cause the allergens to adhere to the skin, rendering the irritation non-transmittable, but also removing the source of the irritation so the suffering soul can get better faster. I'm downright religious about this stuff. It's saved me a lotta grief. --Spring
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