Our plans were to go here:
The Inn at Snow Meadows in Garden City, UT
This is such a cute, comfortable Bed & Breakfast that we visited a few years ago, and we were really looking forward to returning this year for a combination 11th Anniversary/Memorial Day weekend.
Our plans changed to this:
Conni at InstaCare getting IV fluids
Here's the story (its long, but this is our family journal) :
We woke up Friday morning and finished packing. Dave and I were planning to head to the B&B, while Conni was scheduled to go camping with my sister Sarah and her family. We were all very excited. We had breakfast and took Conni over to my mom's house. She would stay there til Sarah was off work and ready to go.
Then we headed to Walmart for everything we forgot to pick up - sunblock, insect repellant, treats, etc. We ran into my mom, Conni, and my niece there. I gave Bug a nice long hug and she was happy and smiling and told us to have a good time.
We headed north and since it was about 12:30 decided to stop for lunch in Layton. After a quick trip to Carl's Jr, we were ready to get back on the road. Then I got a call from my mom: Conni was throwing up and couldn't stop. We sat in the car and talked about our options. There weren't many, so we turned around and started back home. We had planned to stop in Logan and visit my friend Renee and her week old baby, but I called and (in tears) told her what had happened. We had a good, albeit short visit via phone, and I managed to get my emotions under control. I called the B&B and canceled our reservations. The proprietor Carol was so sweet. We weren't charge anything, even though it was short notice, and she sincerely wished us the best with Conni.
We ran an errand for mom while she kept Conni resting (and cleaned up after her) since it was on our way to her house. When we got to mom's house, Conni was in ok spirits, but you could tell she didn't feel well. She would interact with my nephews, but then go lay back on the couch. My nephews were so sweet - they were visibly upset that Conni couldn't go camping with them. They all told her to get better quickly and that they would miss her. But they didn't want to get too close and get sick themselves :)
We got her home, and set up a movie in the front room. I forgot to mention that Conni was recovering from pneumonia, and they had warned us that vomiting could make it worse. So we called the doctor's office, and they told us to start pedialite and other clear liquids and keep an eye on her staying hydrated. Conni dozed in front of the movie while Dave ran to the store for supplies, and we settled in for a rough afternoon.
When Conni woke up, anything she ingested made her sick - pedialite, water, crackers - everything. We called the doctor again and they recommended we get her checked at InstaCare. So Dave gave Conni a blessing and then we headed over. It was busy! I got us checked in, and Dave sat and held Conni. She just wanted to have daddy wrap her up and make her feel better. She kept getting nauseated, so Dave would take her into the bathroom and take care of her. (If I am around the sound or smell of vomiting, I toss my cookies too.) They went in almost every fifteen minutes like clockwork. One time they were in the bathroom Conni looked at Dave and said, "Dad, I need to pray to Jesus to make me feel better." So she did. I love her faith!
They finally called us back and checked us in. Conni was getting more ashen by the minute. We didn't have to wait too long, considering where we were, and then the doctor came in to see us. They tried giving Conni Zofran, but she immediately got sick again. Then they took us back for a chest x-ray to see if her pneumonia was still a factor. Conni was such a trooper - only complaining that she didn't want to throw up any more - but doing everything the staff asked her to do. She still just wanted daddy to hold her and so I sat there a little helpless. The x-ray came back clear and that was a big relief. (They even sent us home with a copy - I should post it!)
We headed back to the exam room and tried another dose of Zofran. This time Conni got it down and was able to lay and doze for a minute. The doctor came back in and we discussed the options of IV fluids verses us trying to hydrate at home. Conni was "borderline concerning" as far as her levels. At this point it was about 9:30 at night. We talked, and I knew that there was no way we could get a lot of fluids in her overnight, so we decided to do the IV.
The nurse who did Conni's IV was amazing! She was fast and great with Conni. I tried to distract her while they put the IV in. Conni understandably did not like it! But she didn't completely freak out. She was hypersensitive about it though. If the nurse even moved the bag Conni would cry that it was hurting her. Poor girl. The nurse brought us some books and I read to Conni to keep her distracted. The fluids were so cold and they put them in so fast, she started full chin chattering. They brought us a couple of warm blankets and she settled down. Dave headed to the pharmacy to fill the Zofran prescription. They gave Conni one and a half bags of fluids and she perked right up.
We finally got home about 11:00. I knew Conni was doing better because she asked what was for dinner. She got pedialite and saltine crackers :) Then we got her to bed and she slept thru all night.
We all slept in till about 10:00 Saturday morning. We had a lazy day and just kept trying to get Conni to consume fluids. She did ok until about 8:00 that night. Then we tried to give her another Zofran and she gagged it all up. We called our doctor's office and they recommended diluting the pill in some water and having her drink that. This worked, and we got some chicken noodle soup in her for dinner. She had a fever off and on throughout the day, but the Tylenol sat well in her stomach and she seemed to do ok with it. She got another good night's sleep Saturday night.
Sunday went pretty well. Dave gave Conni chocolate milk with breakfast, and that didn't sit well, but other than that she had a great day. She even asked for (and kept down) pizza for dinner. She slept well again Sunday night.
Monday we were all pretty stir crazy. We opened the blinds and let the sunshine in. Neither Conni nor I had had any allergy medicine since Friday so we stayed inside and just enjoyed the view. Things were going well, so we decided to go see a movie like we had originally planned to do. Mom agreed to take Conni and we headed over. We went and saw the new Star Trek movie and loved it!
We got back to pick up bug and mom told us she had thrown up again. She had to run to the bathroom with dad a couple of times there too. One of the times she asked Dave to "say a prayer where you put your hands on my head Dad". Of course he immediately gave her another blessing.
She couldn't stop gagging and dry heaving when we got her home. We tried more Zofran, but neither delivery method worked. So we decided to head back to InstaCare. We were worried about how quickly she could get dehydrated again. Luckily, there wasn't much of a wait, and everything looked good when the doctor checked her out. She kept falling asleep at InstaCare. Again when we got home Conni asked about dinner. This time she got some chicken noodle soup with pedialite. Then she went right to sleep.
This morning she woke up bright and early asking for breakfast. She had some toast and some pedialite. Then she laid down on her bed while I continued getting ready for work and fell back asleep for another hour. When I took her to my moms she was in a great mood and ready to face the day. So far no phone calls to come pick her up so that's a good sign. We may be on the end of this thing yet!!
Well, thanks for reading to the end of my very LOOOONNNNGGG story. It has definitely been memorable for us, so I wanted to journal it here. I am so impressed with the little moments of faith that my Conni bug has shown thru this experience. I am so grateful that overall she is very healthy and that we don't have weekends like this hardly ever. I am also very grateful that Dave is such an involved dad and can handle the vomit so I don't have to. I love how much Conni has cuddled this weekend, but I wish she didn't have to experience it. I am especially grateful for modern medicine that makes this an inconvenience not a life threatening weekend.
I hope your Memorial Day was more uneventful - or at least you had better, funner events that us!!
