Where did the last three weeks go? My daughter went to a indoor Bouncy House place for a birthday party 3 weeks ago and came home with a multitude of ailments. On Wednesday morning (three weeks ago), I could tell that she had come down with pinkeye. We were glad we had medication left over from her last infection. However, we didn't avoid the doctor visit. That night she had a fever of 104 as her body tried fighting off all of the other germs. She wasn't talking, dancing, or eating. After a restless night, I took her to the doctor in the afternoon (the first appointment they had available). Not only did she have pinkeye (which had now spread to both eyes), but she also had a viral ear infection in one ear, a bacterial ear infection in the other ear, and Strep Throat! The doctor said that my daughter fought off most of the germs that she was exposed to, but she couldn't fight off everything. ...Which makes me wonder what she successfully fought off. This was my daughter's first and last trip to an indoor bouncy house. I am never taking her again! Especially not in the winter.
Anyway, the doctor thought my daughter would be better by Saturday (1/22), but her immune system was weak... so instead she got a really bad cold that lasted the full 9-10 days. As for me, my body went through fever and chills that Friday night as I fought off everything. On Saturday I had a terrible head cold. I felt a little better on Sunday (1/23), so I ran some errands.
By then, I guess my husband wanted in on the action. While working on some wiring in the basement, he cracked his head open on the jagged end of a heated vent. Don't ask me how. When I walked in the house, he calmly told me that we might have to go to the emergency room. Half of his head was so full of dry blood that he looked like a red-head. He had planned on showering, so I told him to wash up. Head wounds bleed profusely, even when they are small... and I couldn't see how bad the cut was without him cleaning it up. He fully showered- including shampoo! Ouch. The pressure of the water was enough to make his wound start bleeding again. His wound seemed borderline. However, when I pushed the two sides of his cut together, I did notice a difference and the blood flow slowed. So... we pulled our daughter out of bed (I had just put her down for nap 10-15 minutes before and she wasn't asleep yet) and threw her into the car. I packed a bag of toys and drove her to my parent's house, calling them on the way. They weren't thrilled to babysit a sick kid (who hadn't napped) during the playoffs, but they understood the circumstance. However, my daughter gets extremely hyper and naughty when she misses her nap and I heard that day was no exception.
My husband got 6 staples put into his head... and he developed a slight cold too. My mom received pinkeye and strep throat from my daughter. My daughter shouldn't have been contagious on Sunday, so I'm guessing that my mom got it sooner and didn't know it. (She helped out at my house several times while we were both sick). My mom didn't go to a doctor until Thursday (1/27)!
On Tuesday (1/25), I woke up with my eyes glued shut. So, both my daughter and I went to my doctor. He said my daughter still had pinkeye (and so did I) and I was getting a sinus infection. My body doesn't handle antibiotics well, so my doctor wanted me to wait it out until Saturday (1/29). If I wasn't feeling better by Saturday, we'd figure out what to do then. I was miserable, but I started feeling a little better on Friday night, and a tiny bit better on Saturday. Finally, on Sunday (1/30), I could say that I was going to successfully kick this sinus infection without the dreaded antibiotics. I left the house for the first time since my doctor appointment (5 days). My husband had his staples removed last Monday (1/31).
On Tuesday, I declared us "no longer sick". I was finally ready to leave the house with my daughter when we were hit with that massive snowstorm. Our activities were canceled for three days, so we had to stay home... For the most part, we are all doing much better. However, my daughter is still occasionally sneezing green dreadlocks out of her nose. And I am getting post-nasal drip that only comes out through my mouth. Gross! Both of us only have these symptoms a few times a day, but it's enough to make me wonder if we are still sick. Or maybe our immune system is so weak, we should still be playing it safe and avoiding playgroups and the library. I can't believe it is Feb 8th and the party where it all started was on Jan 16th! Almost an entire month has passed and we still haven't fully recovered!
So, beware the bouncy houses. We saw them washed once or twice while we were there, but it's just not enough. My daughter went through this one particular bouncy obstacle course/slide about 30 times in an hour. Multiply that by the 100+ kids that are also going through it several times. There were at least 4 other large birthday parties that overlapped the one we were at, plus all of the kids who weren't there for a party, so 100 kids is a low guess. My daughter had a ton of fun at the party and in all the bouncy houses. We ended up staying until close. But three weeks of sickness that wiped out my daughter, husband, mother, and I... it just wasn't worth it. Next time we are invited to a bouncy house party, we will decline and mail a gift instead.
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