Sick - a timeline

Tuesday, 3:45 p.m. Feel a headache coming on as I'm trying to finish up a report before heading home.

4:45 p.m. Pick up the girls at daycare. Leah is crying, complaining her throat hurts and she has a headache. Crap. Strep? Maybe. Rachel is fine, but hungry.

5:06 p.m. We're home. Leah is on the couch with a pillow and blanket, she's had Advil. Rae is whining for dinner. I'm trying to wash down some ibuprophen with a cup of tea while making dinner. Kraft dinner to be precise, because I can't seem to shake the tiredness or headache and it's what the kids want anyway.

5:07 p.m. I cut my finger slicing a cucumber to serve with dinner.

6:30 p.m. I put "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" on the VCR for the girls and start folding laundry. Leah has perked up a bit and says her throat and head don't hurt anymore. I decide not to go to the walk-in clinic.

6:32 p.m. Rae has conked out, so I carry her to bed.

7:00 p.m. I go out and vacuum the still-greenish pool and backwash the pool filter. In the rain and cold. Feeling like I don't have any energy left for laundry or dishes, I climb on the couch and watch the movie with Leah. Cuddling feels nice. I tell her that everyone needs an early night and that we're all going to bed by 8 p.m. I'll figure out clothes for the next day and lunches in the morning.

8:12 p.m. Leah is feeling better and is in bed, but pouting, she wants more stories. I turn the ringer on the phone off and fall into bed and an instant coma.

Wednesday, 1:13 a.m. I wake up to hear Leah crying in her room for me. She's burning up with fever and her throat is on fire. I get her some more children's Advil and water and move her into my bed so that I can keep an eye on her. On the way across the kitchen for water, I step on something on the floor, hurting my foot. It's a Barbie leg. The tiles around the sink look like a slasher movie. Barbie's torso and head are over near the stove, and her other leg is half under the dishwasher. Great. The Black Dahlia all over again, on my kitchen floor.

1:26 a.m. I realize that I'm not going to work in the morning and Leah's not going to school. Rae is in afternoon JK, so there's no rush to get to daycare in the morning. I turn off my alarm.

6:20 a.m. I wake up with a headache and a really sore throat. Yep, I have it too. Shit. Leah's fever is back -- 38.9. I call the daycare provider to say we're going to be late, work to say I won't be in, and the school to say Leah won't be in. The clinic opens at 9. Leah won't eat breakfast.

8:30 a.m. I drop Rae at daycare and Leah and I head to the clinic. In the waiting room we meet Wyatt, a little boy from the same daycare. He and his mom both have strep throat. Big surprise. We wait for quite some time, only one doctor on duty this a.m., and he peers into Leah's throat and says, yep, strep. He's not so sure about me and takes a swab. I *know* I have strep, I've had it enough times to know how it feels in the beginning, but the upshot is that Leah gets antibiotics and I don't. Yet. If the swab comes back positive tomorrow, they'll call in the scrip to the local drug store for me.

11:30 a.m. After picking up a few groceries, we head to the library to pick out a few books and videos to keep Leah occupied. While there, we find Puppy in the lost and found. This is somewhat of a mystery. He's been missing for a week or so now, but I was sure he was somewhere in the house. He's the most beloved of all Leah's stuffed animals and she's had him her whole life. She must have brought him to the library last week without me noticing and without her remembering. She's very happy, but tired and feverish again. We go home.

12:08 p.m. Leah eats a bit of a muffin and some hot milk. I put a video on for her and lie down on my bed for 5 minutes.

2:20 p.m. I wake up. I need more ibuprophen and some tea. Leah is napping. I vacuum the pool again and unload the dishwasher. Then I need to sit down. I put away the groceries and then I throw up. It hurts.

4:40 I wake up Leah so that we can drive to the daycare and pick Rachel up. Leah is not happy, she wants to keep sleeping, but I can't leave her on her own while I get Rachel. I'm praying Rachel is OK and I won't need to go back to the clinic for her. She's OK.

5:30 I made chicken soup for dinner. Rachel ate, Leah and I, not so much. Leah had her Biaxin. They're in the bath now, eating freezies. I hope all of us are OK tomorrow.