Not Our Month

March has not been our month.

First there was the massive flu bug that left us all puking and 2 of the 3 of us in the hospital. (We are now getting all those bills thankyouverymuch.)

Now, we have a $600 plus repair bill for Mr. Bean's lemon car.

We can't wait until April!

Healthy!

All of String Bean's tests came back normal and we have been puke-free for more than 48 hours. I feel like we can finally start catching up with all the things that piled up while we were sick.

I can't wait to open my mailbox and find the bills from the hospital, doctors, and labs. I got my bill for my first physical therapy session today. It came in at just over $300! I sure hope that they were future-billing for dates instead of that being the cost per session although I am not holding my breath. I told Mr. Bean that we will definitely be hitting our max out-of-pocket with our insurance company this year.

What would we do without medical insurance?

At the Hospital (Part 2)

Yesterday, I told you about the dehydration that landed me as an overnight guest in one of the finer hospitals in the greater Chicago-land area. I concluded that post with the image of me hobbling around due to my piriformis syndrome really flaring up.

Shortly after publishing yesterday's post, my blood was drawn and it was discovered that my calcium, iron and potassium were low. I already knew about the iron. I'm on supplements for that. My iron levels have dropped much lower than where they were a few weeks ago, but the nurses have assured me that is due to all the throwing up I have been doing. The calcium didn't surprise me much. I know I need more.

The potassium levels were dangerously low. Normal is 3.5 to 5. My potassium was measuring at 2.2. This could be one of the reasons I was having so much pain in my piriformis area. (Time will tell!)

I was given potassium in my IV. While the nurse was getting the IV ready, I asked her if this would be like penicillin and burn going in. She said, "It might." Understatement of the year.

As soon as she left, my attention turned to String Bean who was visiting along with Mr. Bean and I was trying to determine if she had a fever or not. I started to feel a sting in my arm. I called the nurse in. She "stopped" the potassium and left. She hadn't fully stopped it and the pain crept up my arm. By the time she got the potassium stopped and flushed my IV with the hydrating solution, I was on the verge of puking and passing out. Mr. Bean said I looked like death. The nurse was clearly freaking out but doing her best to remain calm. Several other nurses came in during the episode and a call to the OB on call went out. My blood pressure was taken. I measured at 76/30 (or something in that ball park). I am certain my blood pressure was much lower as I was starting to feel a little bit better by the time the blood pressure was taken.

Mr. Bean wondered aloud if that bag was really labeled "potassium" and not "hydrochloric acid."

We finally got the "watered down" solution balanced correctly so I was not in pain during the procedure. The infusion ended at 1 am, and at 3 am, they had to draw my blood. There must be something mystical and magical about drawing blood 2 hours after the infusion.

My number needed to be 3.9 or higher. I was 3.4. So, I am now on infusion #2 which takes about 6 hours to draw. Not sure if the 2 hour thing still applies (assume so), which puts me here until 5 at the very earliest. This does not look good for me going home today. Sigh.

Waiting for the OB to come and do rounds so I have a better idea of what is going on.

Scariest thought: they were considering sending me home after triage and my first couple IVs on Thursday. Glad I decided to stick it out a bit.

Another One Bites the Dust!

Mr. Bean came home early from work with a fever and chills and threw up. His response, "It feels so good to finally throw up."

String Bean slept all day long. Only woke up to go to the pediatrician and say hi to dad once.

I'm the one left standing. How long can I last?

Sniffles and Coughs

I have officially infected my entire family. String Bean is sniffling and snotting everywhere she goes. I just love the entire face rub that puts snot everywhere. That stuff is tough to get out of eyebrows and eyelashes.

Mr. Bean took his temperature this evening and discovered it a one tenth of a degree above normal. Sound the alarms! He's starting to get the snot String Bean and I have been sharing.

We LOVE cold and flu season!

Under the Weather

It has been cold and rainy here in Chicagoland the last several weeks. As a result, I've stayed home a lot more. The Nut family has been feeling under the weather physically speaking, and it seems I may be coming down with something as well.

Let's just say the snot factory is working overtime.

I was hoping to get through this cold/flu season without incident this year. That might not happen.

Achoo!

Fall allergies came to the Bean household early this year. We are sneezing, coughing, battling the post-nasal drip sore throat, and wiping snotty noses all day long.

Summer was short. I am hoping the fall allergy season follows summer's lead!

Spring Colds

String Bean and I are both suffering from colds. We can't breathe through our noses and most of our day is spent coughing. (There is nothing sadder or cuter than a little toddler coughing, especially when you get the stink-eye after each cough.)

I hope this is short-lived. *cough, cough*

'Tis the Season!

A plague has hit both my house and Amy's. I am suffering with a cold of some sort (the day before the big Oscars party my husband hosts for all his coworkers every year-joy). The Nut household have symptoms that include tossing cookies, snot, coughing, and all the delights of a nasty virus you could ever hope and wish for.

'Tis the Season! Embrace it. Love it.

*cough, cough*

Sleep Deprivation

To update our regular readers on how the 12 hour journey with the 13 month old went... I'll start by saying: We survived! The journey actually took 13 hours due in large part to torrential downpours in the Nashville area of Tennessee while we were driving through. The speed limit was 70 miles per hour, but we were doing as low as 35 because the rain was so heavy. Hey, we are just glad it was not snow!

String Bean slept for over half of the journey which ended up backfiring on us once we arrived in Alabama. She would not go to bed. Finally around 11, we got her down. She woke up several times in the night. Since she'd been running a fever leading up to our trip, we thought she might be sick and getting up a lot because she was not feeling well. We were wrong. At 3:45 am, she got up and was inconsolable. When we finally went down to the kitchen and fed her cheerios and grapes to her hearts content, she stopped the screaming and eventually went back to bed.

We are happy to report that even though the doctor told us the fever would last 3-4 days (diagnosis: roseola), after 24 hours it was gone. We have a healthy child. We are sleep deprived, but here in once piece, playing our new Wii (and Wii Fit) and enjoying time with family.

Hope your travels were less eventful than ours have been. Hope your holiday is full of happy moments and new memories!

Hijaking My Sister-in-Law's Friends

Facebook, which has revolutionized how I relate to people, made me "friends" with my sister-in-law's friend. We look at each others photos and ooh and ahh over our kids. Of course, I just have String Bean, but my sister-in-law's friend has two cute kids. A boy and a girl. Her daughter is 6 months old. String Bean is 11 months old, but just a runt. We both secretly have been eager to get them together to see how much bigger my sister-in-law friend's baby is than my own bundle of joy. Here is where my evil plan began: I decided to hijack my sister-in-law's best friend.
After all, once she becomes friends with me, she'll forget all about my crazy sister-in-law!

We arranged to meet at Ikea today for some 50 cent hot dogs and bargain shopping. I woke up this morning to find String Bean's nose running and all kinds of snotty goo glued to her upper lip. Disgusting. I decided I needed to talk to my target for hijacking and let her decide whether my evil plan would go forward. She didn't answer her cell. I left a message:

Me: Sister-in-law's friend who I am secretly hijacking, String Bean woke up this morning with a runny nose. I don't think she's sick, I'm pretty certain it is just because she is teething. Do you still want to go to Ikea today? I didn't want to make the decision for you by showing up with my potentially sick kid. Let me know!

After a couple hours, Sister-in-law's friend who I am secretly hijacking called back. Long story short, her kids just got over a cold and she didn't want to take the risk. We'll have to reschedule.

I hope I get a second chance to hijack her.

Note: String Bean might just be sick. She's coughing now and has watery eyes in addition to the snotty nose.