Again?

I picked Clay up from school again today, following a call from Nurse Laura.

Last Thursday, he came home right after lunch because he didn't feel well. Headache and stomach ache kind of stuff. He laid on the couch the rest of the afternoon, but no other symptoms came up, so I sent him to school on Friday. He made it through the day just fine, and I attributed the previous day to fatigue.

Not so, today.

To celebrate Valentine's yesterday, I took the kids to meet Bruce for dinner when he got off work. Bruce had class last night, and he usually doesn't get home until after the kids' bedtime. Clay fell asleep in the car on the way there.

I was still thinking he was just tired. He and a buddy of his knocked heads at their school Valentine's party, and Clay came out on the losing side. He has a black eye today. His sweet friend Nathan apologized "five times" today, according to Clay.

This morning, Clay complained about a sore throat, but he ate his breakfast fine, so I quickly stuffed down any thoughts of strep.

And then the phone call. Again.

Today he has a fairly high fever, headache, sore throat, and stomach ache. I always put off going to the doctor. I'm cheap; I admit it. Plus, if it's viral I end up just kicking myself.

But as I signed him out at the school office, I noticed the names of three other kids from his class who had left since lunch time. I asked the school nurse about it. She said the whole wing where Clay's classroom is has had kids out like crazy this week.

Strep throat, and walking pneumonia, and flu... oh my!

I asked her if she'd take him to the pediatrician if he were her son or put it off a bit. She said she'd take him today, in case it was the flu, so they could start him on Tamiflu. We all had flu shots this year (because we all had the flu last year between Christmas and New Year's, and it totally stunk!), but I know it can still be a different strain of the flu.

I'm hoping for strep, even though each kid had it five times last winter. Allison added a sixth case of it in early spring just to really tie off the season.

Still, having a Q-tip swirled in your throat for strep testing is infinitely less intrusive than having one shoved so high into your nasal cavity that it comes back out with brain matter on it. Yep, that's a flu test for you.

And I'm pretty sure the finger prick test for walking pneumonia will be equally fun for all involved.

Seriously, the worst part of it is that Clay won't get to see our pediatrician, who my kids just love because he's silly with them. Unfortunately, he's out until Monday. So instead Clay will be poked and prodded by Dr. On Call and his staff.

Our appointment is tomorrow morning.

And now I must go put two huge lasagnas in my oven to cook for our church's Valentine's banquet tonight... that I no longer plan to attend.

I really love lasagna. But, alas, I won't be eating any tonight.

That's just plain depressing.

Maybe I'll let Clay cough on it before I send it.

No, I wouldn't send it that way. Not really.

I once read that in an interview with Stephen King, he was asked how he could write such horrifying things. His reply was something along the lines of: If I didn't write it, it would stay in my head and I'd be more tempted to act on it.

That's me. I write it to purge it out of my system so that I won't actually let my sick child cough on food that will be served to my unsuspecting church family.

(My sinister laughter fades into the background as I sign off!)