ER

The phone rang at 3:36 AM today, awaking us from our sleep. It was Corey. He had just dragged himself back to his room from the bathroom, where he had passed out, twice, on the trip there and back. He called to ask us to call his grandparents, who were planning on visiting him today, to tell them that he was sick and not to come. When we heard what was going on we told him he needed to get to the Emergency Room and try to figure out what was going on. If you have read this blog in the past, you may remember that he has not been feeling well ( sore throat and fatigue) for the past 6 weeks. He was seen by his pediatrician while he was home at spring break and the SU Health Services staff and all that blood work came back negative. Corey got his roommate to borrow a car that belonged to one of the girls on the team and drive him to the ER. We were on the road 20 minutes after he called us. Let me tell you, there is almost nobody on the Thruway at 4:30 in the morning. Corey texted us shortly after we were in the car to say that he had a fever of 103.3º.

We had a slight delay in finding Corey because he thought he would be going to Krous(sp?) hospital, but really went to University hospital. Fortunately they are right next to each other and the ER receptionist at Krous had the University ER on speed-dial and was able to track down Corey when he did not show up on her computer. 

Corey was able to be treated in the pediatric portion of the ER (anyone under 19, he made it by 6 weeks) which was a good thing because the adult ER was pretty busy. He received good attention from the nursing staff and the 2 doctors on duty. They gave him almost 5 liters of something in an IV bag and some Tylenol to bring down his fever. They did lots of blood tests,  did an EKG, and a chest X-ray. They determined that he has the flu (type A), which hit him pretty hard since his body was weakened by not being well for the past 6 weeks. We were given some suggestions for follow-up with Corey's pediatrician and will hear more results of the the blood work that the hospital did, on Tuesday. Here is  a photo of Corey in the hospital, taken with his permission!

Then we had to figure out what Corey should do once he was discharged. The doctor wanted him to have complete rest so he could get over this, plus she did not want him infecting anymore students, so we brought him home for a few days. He is approaching the end of the semester, so he was not thrilled with this idea at first, but the more he laid in the hospital bed, the more he realized how sick he was (is). He slept most of the way home in the car and will now probably lay around the house for the next day or so. 

We have not had anyone this sick in our house for a long time. His fever spikes again when the Tylenol wears off and he is quite congested. 

So that was our morning. We were home by 10:30 AM. We were quite pleased with the care that Corey received at the hospital and are grateful for the attention that they gave to his overall health. 

So what else to report.

Last night we had a great dinner at Bob and Sally's . Sally made a fabulous cake for me for my birthday. I will have to find out what kind of cake she would like for her May birthday so I can return the favor. 

Tucker called recently and has been working on a couple of unrelated archaeology jobs but was now heading off for a week-long trip on the San Juan River-lucky dog!

Today is a beautiful day here. Jim has the laundry hanging out for the first time this year. 

Here is the photo of yarn that Jim bought me in Toronto. He did good!

I guess that's all for now. I will have Corey take his temperature, so it can be added to Jim's "fever" spreadsheet!!

Hope all is well with you.