tis the season

last thursday i got a call from easton at school.
"mom, i 'm sick. can you come get me?"

just like that i was in the car off to the school. he looked white as a ghost when i got to the office.  i checked him out and asked what happened.  he said his teacher asked him if he felt sick and he told her no.  he said the butterflies were so tiny. she insisted he go home as he was the color of milk.  on his way to the office he made a stop at the bathroom and his lunch was given up.  he was fine eating and back to regular that night. so when i received an invite to go on this outing, i was thrilled as the temperature was projected to be in the nineties.

by the next morning he was writhing in pain.  scott was out of town and so i called him to get an appendicitis checklist so i could be sure to watch easton closely. he is not a complainer and his pain had me worried.  we had to forgo the last day of summer outing regretfully.

the next day was grayce's big day to sing in general conference.  she was so excited.  she had battled a miserable cold/stomach virus for 3 weeks and had to go to one of the practices with a barf bag. if you missed one practice, you were out.  she worked so hard to be a part of the children's choir, including going to practice on her birthday, giving up evening celebrations.  so when the notion was suggested to me about the possibility of grayce getting easton's belly ache and having to miss the performance, i started to pray intently that she would not miss this opportunity.  easton threw up a couple of times and by saturday night we thought all was well. grayce got to sing, and did a great job!  we were off to the greenery to celebrate grayce's singing triumph when easton started again to writhe.  he said he was fine to go anyway and halfway thru the meal he and i had to high tail it to the car so he could wail in private.  sunday morning about 1 am we were awakened to feet racing to the bathroom.  grayce was spared from saturday but not sunday.  after throwing up at least 40 times she had the look of death.  sunken eyes, pale skin, and misery written all over her face.  By tuesday all were feeling well and i thought we had been spared the worst of it.  grayce was planning on going to school wednesday and i was ready to be back to normal, vomit free.

tuesday night i started in with the agonizing perils of the flu and by 1 o'clock grayce was back in the bathroom begging for mercy.  ella joined in at three and the next 24 hours became a survival game.  after one particular episode with some violent vomiting on my part, i noticed that my foot had gone numb.  being delirious by 2 a.m. i started thinking i was going to be paralyzed by sunrise.  my head was spinning and i was in the clutches of being on the run every 10 minutes completely freaking out.  i sobbed for scott to give me a blessing so i didn't end up in a straight jacket from delirium  and worry.  my foot continued to stay numb and then came the back pain.  apparently when i was "so sick" the weak disc in my back most likely herniated.  it added to the stress of being sick and also the worry set in as i am headed for a 7 hour plane ride next week.  anyone who has had the misfortune of back pain knows that sitting is the hardest part.  it feels like someone is constantly pulling on your legs, butt, and the throbbing with hot and cold flashing up your legs is down right pitiful.  scott was able to call in sick (bless his surgeons heart, i heart the kind surgeon who employs us. his last surgeon ridiculed him relentlessly when he called in sick once because of 4 barfing family members he wanted to help out with) and take care of the sick and afflicted.  my gracious and kind mother in law took rowan the next day so i didn't have to lift him furthering the damage to my disc. my family came to our aid with a giant bucket of soup.

 scott went to work thursday (day 8 of affliction) and came home early to take care of ella and i.  thursday night we retired to bed early only to be awoken after an hour by a miserable baby throwing up every ten minutes.  screaming.bloody.murder. scott joined in an hour later (and yes, he had a flu shot this year) and we are officially the most pitiful family around.  6 for 6.  and one of the unfortunate thoughts that came into my pessimistic mind was, you brought all these people into this world, do you really want to bring more into this yearly event. i blame that thought on the devil for surely i am not done bearing babies.

today is saturday and i have been sitting in a chair for almost an hour, this is a major accomplishment for my poor back.  i can finally hold down some food so a steroid pack has been ordered to see if the shrinking of the herniation will help with the pain.  i can't wait for the MRI in which i declare the reason for a visit: an episode of violent vomiting.

people are so kind when they hear of incapacitating events such as this past week. my kind, sweet, dear next door neighbors played perfectly the loving grandparent role when they heard of our predicament.  turkey vegetable soup, rolls, fresh peaches, and an amazing cold gel pack for my back.  it is times where you are in humble circumstances that you get to count your blessings.  i am really glad that every other year or so we have something like this happen. we bond, we are kinder to one another, and sometimes there is no other choice but to lay and be sick despite a long to do list.  i can't recall the last time i was in pajamas for days, took a morning nap, and let others bring me food.  sometimes it is good for the soul to realize you don't have to push yourself beyond reasonable limits when others can make up the difference for you.   we are better for this insane 10 days. and look, i have time to blog. a good ordeal indeed.