The Crud

We have had a nasty nasty cold going through our house. Kyle got it first, which is unusual as one of the boys typically brings these types of things home from school. However, Kyle is in school as well...and bring it home he did. I watched as Kyle suffered through every symptom imaginable (trying to help him out as much as possible while keeping the boys and I away from the germs)....body aches, fever, chills, sore throat, nasal congestion, nasty cough, etc. The comforted Ben as he suffered through the same. I thought we were home free, as we went a week before anyone else got sick.

Then I came down with it. I am not sure if I picked it up at work, or if it just took me that long to get it. I didn't have the fever that Kyle and Ben had, but I had everything else. I suffered through work Monday and Tuesday before my Wednesday off. On Wednesday, I literally lay on the couch all day. I didn't even feel good enough to turn on the TV. I survived on Gatorade and 1 piece of toast. I am finally starting to feel more like myself, but still have a cough that hurts like crazy, and feel dizzy whenever I am upright. Not enough to make me fall over, but enough to be annoying.

On Tuesday, during the middle of all this, Nate had a mole removed from the middle finger on his left hand. He had a mole removed on his elbow a couple years ago that ended up being a benign but abnormal type of thing. The tumor suppressor that is responsible for his retinoblastoma is also responsible for melanoma, so we are really careful about this. Nate was a trouper...a very LOUD trouper, but a trouper. He lay on my lap with his arm behind my back so he couldn't see what was going on. He fought with everything he had (but somehow without pulling his arm away from the procedure) resulting in shaking legs and beads of sweat on his nose. Until the fight went out of him and he collapsed into me. His doctor, luckily, has a vast trivial knowledge of presidents so that is how he distracted Nate. I am happy to say that Nate was only stumped once! I laughed like crazy when Nate, who had finally relaxed a bit, answered a question about where Lincoln was shot while taking a glance over my shoulder starting the crying all over again "FORDS THEATER!!!!". However, as soon as the whole ordeal was done he quickly wiped the tears away and was joking around with his doctor. He ended up with three stitches, which look so significant on his tiny finger. From this point out this is where Mom the hand therapist takes over. However, my therapy training does little to help with the wait for the pathology results. At least Nate has avoided the awful cold!

Now things are starting to get back to normal. I can start working on dictations from work on Tuesday that I have been too sick to do, the huge pile of laundry that hasn't gotten done, getting groceries before the SNOWSTORM comes our way, and working through two weeks of mail and kids school papers that have been piling up on the desk. Ben has a birthday party he was invited to on Sunday, at the roller rink. A girls birthday party, where he will be the only boy there. Oy! Nate has a Flat Stanley project to work on for school this weekend. We have to bring Flat Stanley to Nate's favorite places in Grand Rapids. First stop, the Children's Museum/Judy Garland Museum so Stanley can see Abe Lincoln's carriage. Stanley will also be taking trips to the Reif Center, the library, and down to the river...all Nate's picks. It will be fun, as long as nobody else gets sick!