The Precipice

“Well, it looks like you managed to stop him from going over the precipice this time,” my mother said, quite dramatically to me the other day. (I know where I get my flair for theatrics from.) We were on the phone, and I was filling her in on the details of Bean’s latest illness, which kept him h0me from school on Tuesday.

In my last post, I made a lot of prophecies about an extremely healthy year ahead in 2014. So far my technique with the old crystal ball could use a bit of work. Gav kicked the year off in hospital, and then was well enough to go to school on the Monday. He had a doctor’s appointment on the 7th and received one of his jabs – which in turn produced a fever and 3 days off school unwell. No vomiting – phew. He had a “normal” week at school before we departed on our family trip to Australia on the 17th.

During those first couple of weeks in January, dear Daddy was banished to the plague room with a hacking cough and sore throat that loitered for 3 weeks straight.

We were all just about well again in time to get on the germ-incubator plane. Hurray, holidays! But then – Gav began barfing on the plane as we arrived. Oh. The next day he began vomiting in earnest. I began collecting information on the best ER to visit from friends in Sydney. And suddenly, somehow, it just stopped. It didn’t spiral out of control. We didn’t have to go to hospital! Storm clouds blew over, disaster averted.

But Craig and I both became sick with sore throats, coughs, and sinus colds. We sniffled and lozenged. We spread these lovely viruses to Nana and Pop. And probably other family and friends, but haven’t received any hate-mail yet.

If you live in Toronto, you know that this has really been the Winter of our Discontent. Record-breaking cold temperatures. Snow. Ice like crazy, many frayed tempers and frost-bitten fingers. And plenty o horrible viruses too.

Illness behind us, we arrived home post-holiday and settled in to battle jet-lag. Gav missed more school. Then, this past Monday, he came home complaining of a headache and feeling sick. The barfing began. I dosed ondansetron and fed him electrolyte freezies. I began looking at the week ahead and shuffling appointments and engagements. In annoyance, I realized Bean and I would miss our appointment with NEXUS on Tuesday. An appointment that has been in the works since October!

When the vomiting starts – I want  to believe that it could possibly be just a typical kid’s viral infection. It’s so hard to have faith though, when every single time we have ended up in emerg. I can hardly fathom that my child has been threateningly dehydrated about 10 times in the past year and a half.

Back to Tuesday. Gav stayed home from school and I was a serious martinet. In the past, I have tried and tried to keep him hydrated with no luck. No combo of science and old-wifery has worked. But I have allowed him a piece of toast if he asked for it, and pushed drinks. This time, the rules were simple. No food, at all, and only the smallest and tiniest sips of water and Hydralyte freezies. He had to stay lying down in a darkened room. I bribed him to have a nap with an offered extra hour of video-game time. Around lunch he was starving. I allowed him one buttered saltine and waited, breath held, for it to react. But it didn’t. He didn’t slide over the precipice.

By dinner-time he was dancing around the house singing and ate a plate of pasta. What?! For us, this was a seriously amazing turn of events. Not once, but twice in one month he has managed to not enter the downward spiral. 24 hours is SO handle-able.

The question is – what has changed? Is he (please) growing out of this? Is it the particular flavour of freezer pop that just agrees with him? Is it keeping him still, stomach empty? There’s no real way of knowing, but it feels like a win.

Okay, now the rest of year is going to be bug-free and super healthy, right?