wednesday's medical rundown

wednesday was pooka's last in-clinic chemo treatment. i am so excited for her to be done, but she doesn't yet realize the enormity of it. one more spinal and bone marrow and then DONE!

i was hoping to have the afternoon to get some errands done or at least do some special mommy and pooka event. unfortunately, something else came up.

since the diagnosis of scarlet fever, bug's rash has steadily gotten worse until finally the daycare teacher felt the need to mention it. i called the on-call doctor and based on my description, she thought it likely to be a mild allergic reaction to amoxicillin. she recommended that bug be seen wednesday.

after the majority of the day spent in the hospital with one kid, i needed to take the other kid to a doctor, too.

at least the timing allowed me to indulge in a small luxury and steal a nap. granted, i had to do it in the car in the parking lot at the daycare, but it still counts. pooka was asleep as soon as we finished lunch. i think she still had some anesthetic in her system and the only thing that had allowed to be awake earlier was the raging hunger she was suffering. after a catnap, i was able to tackle the next challenge awaiting me.

the only available doctor in the practice was one whom i had never even heard of before. i was not optimistic about a definitive diagnosis considering that he had no prior knowledge of bug. apparently, our doc had stated in her notes that the scarlet fever might simply have been a virally caused rash. the new doc ran with that and said this was just the progression of it.

as we were leaving, our doctor came down the hall and i took the chance to get her to look at bug. since she had seen what the rash looked like before, she would have a better idea if this was the same thing or an allergic reaction. she concluded the latter.

i also asked her about the continued need for the helmet. for the last 2 weeks, bug's scalp has been chafing and weeping. bug seems unperturbed by it, but i can't help but think that continual chafing will inevitably lead to infection. her head has changed noticeably in the 6 weeks since donning the lid and kisu and i believe that any further benefit will not outweigh the risk of sores on her scalp. our doc agreed with me and gave us the ok to stop using it.

now we have to get through her unlearning period. she has gotten used to both the defensive and offensive properties of that helmet. when she wants to get somewhere, she simply lowers her head and bulls her way through.

i guess she'll learn soon enough that that tactic hurts her as much as the other object.