Tetanus Times Two

Indie returned to campus with a miserable case of eczema all over her body. We aren't sure why but suspect somehow a load of bath towels might have accidentally been dried with scented fabric softener. Big Oops. I will make sure that never happens again! So, upon her return, she jumped into the shower to scald her skin because that is the only way to find a small measure of temporary relief until the next day when we hoped I could get her some Lipo cream called in. She had just barely gotten wet when she turned the knob, it came off, and her right thumb got sliced by the exposed metal pipe. 40 minutes later it was still bleeding and quite deep so a couple girlfriends took her to the ER. Before Indie left for college, I googled the nearest ER and Urgent Care clinics to the campus that accepted our insurance, map quested them, printed the directions and gave Indie a medical folder with all her shot records and stuff. I don't know if it helped, but she knew which hospital to go to - it is pretty close to the university. Her last Tetanus was in 2002, so I was pretty sure they would booster it. She was seen quickly and they were going to put in stitches, but Indie asked if it could be glued. They said it could and she said to do what they thought was best and she left with a Tetanus booster and a glued back together thumb. It still hurts ALOT though. Poor Indie!

Today I got in touch with her one of her allergy doctors. A little fancy footwork explaining why a patient they haven't seen in 2 years needs a prescription called in to Macon but it wasn't all that hard - polite and concise won the day; plus, I was ready with the long distance pharmacy phone number. It always helps to be prepared! Both the nurse and her doctor called me back personally to verify and I ended up having him call Indie directly after he gave me 3 choices of cream because no way did I want to make that decision and mess it up!

Then we had an appointment for Taryn's annual ADHD check up and physical with the pediatrician. It was rather amusing to see his reaction to an extra happy and bouncy 17 yr old on Fall Break and NOT on her ADHD meds. Whoooweeeee - and you thought 4 yr olds swing their legs on those tables like crazy?! You ain't seen nothing until you've seen someone who's 5' 2" swinging their legs on that exam table like they're on a swingset! I think I was starting to get a little seasick from it. So, yes! You read that right...Not that I expect anyone to realize it, but Taryn grew 1/2"!! And she weighed in at a perfect 100 lbs!! Taryn has consistently since she was an infant, grown in a perfect arc hitting the percentile range of 5% weight and 15% height (except for the early months up to age 2 or so when she was -% in weight!). The doctor remarked how amazingly perfect her growth arc and percentile range was to stay exactly in the same % for 17 years. No deviations at all - slow and steady in her little petite sort of way. Nevertheless, it was momentous to make the triple digits today!! We think it might have been the belt she was wearing adding a few ounces, but hey, we're taking it! She was uber-excited! The legs kicked even faster after the height & weigh in. Even the mention of having to update HER tetanus shot didn't diminish her joy. She just demanded (loudly I might mention) that she would be rewarded with a Sonic Sundae for her pain and suffering. I thought to myself "so will I, Taryn; so will I". Taryn got her tetanus with the pertussis vaccine and we were off to Sonic.

(I wonder if Indie's tetanus was the one with the pertussis protection or just a regular. I bet it's just the regular. Apparently, there's a return of whooping cough and the older kids didn't get that vaccine combo in their childhood vaccines. )

By then the migraine that had been building was pretty much in full explosion and I was done for the rest of the day. Even though I had taken some meds in the parking lot prior to T's appt, it just wouldn't let go. It's been a strong one. I dosed up on a Clint Cocktail and passed out at 3 pm hoping to get rid of it. I got up at 6 or so to eat a protein bar since I hadn't eaten anything except, oops, a protein bar for brunch and could that be part of the problem?! Yes it could. I also heard we have a warm front to replace all this freezing weather. Unfortunately, I still have the headache pounding away deep inside behind my left eye. It was kinda almost gone until we had to catch a difficult mouse. It took 4 of us. Gib and I both went for it at the same time - me with my preferred trash can, Gib with his square tupperware container. Mike was outfitted with his 32 oz cup and a flashlight. Mariah was on guard by the doors to the office ready to tap dance and scare the mouse back in our direction so we didn't have to tear the office apart to catch it. I am going to have to do something about the cat/mouse situation. This is getting beyond ridiculous.

By the time we caught the stupid critter, the darn migraine was back in force. If it wasn't for the large dose of daily Topamax I take, I can tell this would be the kind that would lay me out for 2 days. As is it, I can function, barely. I found what has to be the last Zomig and hope that Target has my $100 order of meds ready tomorrow morning. Yippee.