Fall Flu

Mercedes never got sick as a baby. In fact the only time she ever threw up was between 1 and 2 in the car almost anytime we went anywhere. She was always carsick. Well some nasty bug invaded our house a couple of weeks ago. Aspen had been abnormally fussy and at 3am it all came up, and kept coming. She couldn't keep anything down for 12 hours. My little tiny was pale and lethargic. She could finally keep 1/2 oz down at a time. It's taken her a week to get back to normal but now her nights are all messed up and we need our sleep.

Three days after Aspen got sick, Scott and I were down in the basement when I heard Mercedes call my name and then some strange sounds. I ran to the bottom of the stairs and looked up and there was Mercedes standing with a bowl in her hands throwing up in it. What 5 year old has the presence of mind to grab a bowl? It was 6 pm and until 6 am the next morning she didn't go 20 minutes without throwing up - that's a minimum of 36 times in 12 hours. We put her on the floor in our room hoping sleep would help calm her tummy, but we were jumping out of bed every 20 minutes. Finally at 1am Scott and I decided to take shifts. He got in Mercedes bed and she got in with me. At 4 in went in and woke Scott up, said "She's still throwing up every 20 minutes" and crashed in Mercedes bed. She didn't eat anything solid for 2 days and only got off the couch once the first day to go to the bathroom. She's a skinny girl to begin with, barely over 30 pounds, but she looked anorexic. The worst part for her was that she couldn't go to kindergarten. She talked me into letting her go back sooner than I should've let her; I wouldn't let her go out to recess and she was exhausted after the 3 hours of school. But she bounced back the next day.

Scott and I both got a little sick but not bad. My prayer after all the chemo sickness was that no child of mine would ever have to deal with pain, sickness and suffering like that and I hurt deeply for those parents that do. A very difficult moment for me was once while waiting for my turn for radiation, a small child was wheeled into the room that looked like a dungeon and following her was the anesthesia cart. Children should not get cancer. I'm thankful every day for healthy children with strong bodies and minds.