Our Almost ER Visit

No, not recently. But, a friend of mine recently had to take her daughter to the ER, which brought up memories of the one and only time we almost went to the ER. Lydia was 3, Audrey was 1, and Charlie was not in the picture yet. It was a Tuesday night. Jayson was playing softball and Audrey was sleeping. Lydia was not feeling well. She had a fever, so she was in her jammies earlier than she normally would be. Then she complained that her neck hurt. My immediate thought was, "Oh my God, she has meningitis."

I called the doctor on call for our pediatrician's office. I went over her symptoms with him and he was also concerned about the neck pain. He told me to ask Lydia to put her chin to her chest.

Let me interject here to say that Lydia is and always has been a drama queen. A very good one, too. She can pick up on emotions in a room and respond in a way that will ensure as much attention is placed on her as possible. She can cry at the drop of a hat. She can lay a guilt trip on you and you won't even realize what hit you until she's laying in your spot on the couch with a handful of cookies and your blanket and you have promised her that tomorrow you will make special pancakes for breakfast and ride the train at the zoo.

So, when I asked Lydia to put her chin to her chest, she winced with pain and cried that it just hurt too much and she couldn't do it. I informed the doctor and he said that if it's too painful for her, I needed to get her to Children's Hospital ER. So, I frantically called Jayson and told him to come home immediately. As I ran around the house grabbing my shoes and purse, I continued to ask Lydia if she could please just put her chin to her chest, and she would try, but then cry in pain.

I got Lydia in the car, and as soon as Jayson got home, we left. As we drove, she seemed to cheer up. I popped in her favorite Raffi CD, and we sang along. I pointed out that she seemed to be feeling better, which threw her immediately into another fit of pain. I told her that if we went to the hospital, she might have to get a big shot. Didn't seem to upset her. I asked her again to touch her chin to her chest and she refused because the pain was just too much.

We pulled into the ER parking lot and got to the doors. I knew that if we went through those doors, we would be in for a long night. I was having doubts about the severity of her symptoms. I knelt down in front of her, and pointed to a monkey on her pajamas right on her belly. I smiled, "Look at this silly monkey! What's he doing?" She looked, down, chin to chest, and smiled at the silly monkey. I stood up, grabbed her hand, and sighed, "Back in the car, Lydia. We're going home."