Groups of Three

I know every one's heard the cliche that bad things happen in groups of 3. As a nurse in a hospital I happen to have a hint of superstition that this is actually true (even though I'm not really superstitious...except when I'm at work). In the hospital, the demise of one patient's condition is almost always an indicator that at least 2 more bad things are going to happen before the day is over. I do not know why that is... Probably the same reason that it's really true that the night shift of a full moon is almost always filled with weird stuff.

Hospital business aside...The rule of 3's seemed to be true at my house this week. Saturday morning (the day before Easter), Eric had made a run to the hardware store and when he returned to his car, he noticed that his license plate was gone. Had it fallen off? or Had someone stolen it? Either way, he needed a plate and if someone had stolen it...well, that's not good! That was the first bad thing that happened, and though it doesn't seem so bad, things like that on a weekend are always hard cause places like the BMV and Sheriff's office close early--that's right, to get a new plate he had to first file a police report. He wound up just coming home and dealing with it on Monday--when the BMV was still closed, he got half the job done Monday and the other half on Tues.

Saturday during the day, Andrew had started to run a fever. I did my best to play the mind over matter game because grandma and grandpa Melby were on their way to our house from WV. I did not want anyone to be sick while they were here, but a fever is a fever. I medicated him and he really seemed okay. After church on Sunday his fever crept up again and then that night before I went to bed I checked on him and found his fever was 104.5. At least I felt like I knew what to do. I wrapped ice packs in towels and put them under his arm pits and on his groin and after giving him ibuprofin I sat at his bedside until I was comfortable with his temperature. That night he woke up in a wet bed from when the fever broke. And later he woke up with diarrhea...all in between the times that was getting up to check him anyway. It felt like I had an infant again. After a visit to the doctor on Monday and no diagnosis (strep was negative) he had a fever that lasted for the next 3 days (a total of 5 miserable days).

In the meantime, Alissa started running a fever. I knew she had a temp around 103. I gave her some Tylenol and kept an eye on her. Around 4pm or so she had gone up to her room to take a nap. By the time she woke that day around 6pm, her temp was 105. I mean to tell you that I felt like I was at work...only I didn't have resources. No lab, no MD on call, no blood cultures to draw, no IV's to keep her hydrated. Here's what went through my mind when I found this temp, "prepare for a febrile seizure, should we go to the e.r.?, give a "hospital dose" of tylenol, cool her down"...
Luckily, no seizure, no e.r. visit...but the rest I handled as it came. I fully expect Alissa to follow the same course as Andrew which I admit is somewhat daunting since his lasted for so long. But at least I know what to expect. Plus Alissa is so different from Andrew. She's more of a fighter, which is both good and bad.
By the way...that's #3 on the bad list.

Perhaps you are wondering where Anna fits into all this and if I'm worried she'll get it next. In fact, I think she started it (which I guess would bring my list to 4 instead of 3). A week ago, she was miserable with a sinus infection and a fever, though not as high as the other two. I thought her issue was isolated because her anatomy doesn't allow her sinuses to drain...btw, she's scheduled to have her tonsils and adenoids out in a week or so. It just never ends...

The good news is that while I write this, things seem to be on the up. I just pray that this is the end. I need a break before surgery day.