"I'm not cold!!"

Well... not much to be done about it now. Frustrating to think there may have been a chance that something else be done. <sigh>


I've been listening to an audio tape of an interesting person who became deaf as a young woman... Barbara Brodsky.

I'm sorry but I interrupt this program to ask a seriously stupid question but I am really curious --

The deaf people I have known were not big car conversationalist. I would love to know how you and your mom can catch all this nuiance in the car?

Fascinating.

Soz--

This is your night to sleep--without interruptions.

Good luck.

From your fingers to Goddess' ears, Noddy. Sure hope so.

Boomer, my mom's hearing (think you know that, but in case), and she was driving and talking while I was looking at her. The cock an eyebrow part was that she said something, I didn't say anything, she looked at me to see why I wasn't saying anything... and saw my expression. (I think, I don't remember exactly how the conversation went, something like that.)

Meanwhile, the Deaf people I know ARE big car coversationalists and it drives me insane. The most hair-raising car trip I've ever been on was with two other Deaf people in a blizzard on a two-lane highway with trucks bearing down on us from the other direction... they wouldn't shut UP!

(ASL conversation, so the driver frequently had one or zero hands on the wheel -- ooh, that was scary...)

Now that you describe it that way -- former neighbors of ours had a similar problem with their child, then three years old. Horrible inflammations in the ENT regions, to the point where she had to be brought to the hospital. Everything went away as soon as they arrived at the hospital. After much searching and head-scratching -- the doctors had already began to suspect that the parents were merely hysterical -- it turned out the inflammations were caused by the wood stain in their furniture. Did she Sozlet ever have a burst eardrum when you were visiting relatives? If not, did you ever have your house checked for any chemicals in the air?

Ha! Thats a good story that I'm glad you lived to tell, soz! I have witnessed very animated ASL conversations and I'm really glad they didn't happen in a car. ASL is a very expressive language.

Did you get a good nights sleep?

Is sozlet feeling better this morning?

Hmm, if it was that kind of an allergy I'm not sure if it would be so season-specific. Her problems have started when she begins school/ it gets cooler and end when the weather gets better.

So, while we haven't done much traveling during that season, the fact that she goes approximately April - October with no problems would seem to indicate something more seasonal.

We had a very thorough inspection of the house as part of the process of buying it, it underwent all kinds of testing. Plus there were two kids who lived here before us, but that doesn't necessarily mean much. (Maybe it's an allergen that only affects some people.)

That's actually part of why the central Ohio air being the culprit makes sense to me, is that I've had exactly the same problem. Same season. The air causing allergies when it gets cold keeps coming up among Ohioans I've talked to about this.

When we lived in L.A., I had the same problem, and my doctor told me that about 80% of people who move to L.A. develop allergies to the air, basically. Not any specific pollen or whatever, just the various pollutants in the air.

I found this, and got excited that it shows Columbus as orange (unhealthy) for October 3rd, which was right when the congestion started, but checked the archives and there were orange days back into August. (As far as I checked.) Could be some interplay between cold/ dryness of the nasal passages and the level of pollution.

Dunno.

Meanwhile, not much rest for the weary. She woke up very early complaining about her left ear. Gave her Motrin, read her several books (complicated by the fact that my voice is pretty much gone), calmed her down, got her back to sleep. Managed to reschedule dr. appt. from this morning to this afternoon as I'm loath to wake her up.

Oh, forgot the link:

http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.national

(Totally didn't see you there, boomer! Yes, conversations can get very animated. It's one thing I totally haven't gotten the hang of, having ASL conversations in the car. I'm always trying to keep myself from saying "shut up and drive! " (or "...and let me drive!") Yet, Deaf people consistently score really high as a group for driving safety. Somehow.)

"Sozlet, sweety, don't breathe the air, or your eardrum will burst again."

I envy you for having a daughter like the Sozlet almost all the time. This is one of the very, very rare exceptions. Best wishes for her healing, and for your sleeping.

What did the doctor say?

Well the idea in determining if it's an allergy is then controlling it -- Claritin or whatever.

The doctor's appointment went spectacularly badly. She walked in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and was carried out a sodden lump who had recently barfed. (Not much, thankfully.) Not sure what combination of things felled her -- heat, hunger, boredom -- but she's been a mess since.

Just now fell asleep after having a lot of ice chips, a few sips of lemon and honey, and a few bites of cantaloupe -- if she can keep that down hopefully we can move on to something more substantial when she wakes up.

She does have an infection in the left ear and the doc (non-regular pediatrician, non-ENT) lectured me unconvincingly about the need to administer antibiotics. She chose the alarmist route -- if I don't, sozlet's left eardrum will burst, too. Meanwhile, last time she had an ear infection (last year) we didn't give her antibiotics and it cleared up without a perforation. I'm willing to be convinced, but I wasn't convinced by this doc's spiel.

Which sucks, because I want to make the right decision and I don't know what it is.

i'd go for it, with an ear infection. it can clear up on its own. but it can also turn into a chronic ear infection - not happy news. better safe that sorry, i guess.

The other and more immediate way to manage allergies, rather than going through the long, painful testing procedures, is to take some allergy meds and see if it helps.

Then, go off of it and see it you notice a difference.

Claritin is no longer considered so effective however. I think you'd want prescription-strength meds.

THomas -- having a sick child is worrisome, s'true, but is also a time where a mom can bloom with her (new-found, innate, or carefully learned) care-taking skills AND have the child understand just how much he/she is loved.

Scary stuff, all of this. What's this about your reticence with antibiotics? When you need them, you need 'em. The worst thing about antibiotics, far worse than taking them when not needed, is to take a couple doses and stop before the seven or ten days is up. That is what makes the super-bugs.

There are several problems, went into it on "sozlet stories." One of the main things is that her worst run of ear infections happened while she was ON antibiotics last year. She had one ear infection in one ear -- went on antibiotics. A worse one developed in the other ear -- WHILE she was on antibiotics. Then stronger antibiotics. And kept getting stronger -- with no effect, mind you -- until after she was taken to the ER with a fever of 104 she had a super-strong one injected into her thigh. Meanwhile I was doing a lot of research on the over-prescription of antibiotics, and whether they are the best idea for ear infections (standard practice in England is to not use antibiotics for ear infections, for example, after many studies), and her next ear infection, I didn't give her any. Used other methods. Cleared up on it's own, and was the last infection of last season.

Meanwhile, the nap didn't last and she just barfed everywhere. This is the standard sickness of all last year. God ******* dammit.

What are you giving her, besides Motrin? Are you giving her a decongestant? It's my understanding that the sluid in the ears comes first, followed by an infection. Keeping the fluid out, IMHO, is paramount.

Regarding the allergies: Is she going to get tested to find out if she has them and what the allergens are?

I dunno what's going on, exactly. I like my ENT guy. I want to talk to him. He's on vacation. I'll be seeing him in two weeks. I dunno what to do until then.

Went back to try to find some antibiotic thinking/ conclusions, this from J_B is actually most in line with my thinking:



She doesn't have a fever and except for a bit this morning doesn't have significant pain in her left ear. She's insisted throughout this latest thing that she's not hurting. She talks herself into barfing (why I phrased it as talking her out of it before), especially if she's too hot (not fever, just not enough fresh air. Her temp was taken while we were there, no fever). Then it (barfing) starts its own thing. Why I was so fixated on trying to keep it from starting.

We got decongestant and nasal spray prescriptions, we'll be filling those.

Have the antibiotic prescription -- Augmentin, not Amoxicillin -- can fill it if need be.

Want to talk to the ENT guy. Maybe he'll be available via email on Monday.

Sometimes life is one damn thing after another--and the reruns of some damn thing are even more exasperating than the original performances.

Winter is a-cumin in,
Lud sing goddamn!

Perhaps the antibiotics didn't work because the fluid/infection is triggered by an allergen and a super-powerful response to the allergen?

At least she's building up her immunities before she gets to kindergarten.

How are you doing? Sleepless nights are tedious for the best of mothers, expecially when the best of mothers are personally under the weather.

Hold your dominion.

Ain't that the truth.

I'm not doing so great. Doc diagnosed likely sinusitus. I'm a bit panicky and not thinking as straight as I'd like. Feeling a bit overburdened. Trying to separate everything into manageable pieces. Put barfy stuff in the laundry. That I can do. Write E.G. and ask him to come home early enough to fill scrips, as sozlet is not in any condition to go anywhere. Easy enough. Trying not to think ahead to how to stop the barf train or how bad it's going to be tonight... (Don't think I mentioned here that she barfed again.)