Sicko

Thursday 5pm - we get the demo script for the biggest demo of my career.

4am Thursday - Morgan says, "Mom, my stomach hurts REALLY bad." Mom says, "Ok, go to sleep and hopefully it will feel better." :)
7:45am - Mom is brushing teeth and notices Morgan stomach contents are covering the bath mat and she is still emptying them on the rug. ICK...

By noon, I am wondering how in the world she can get sick that many times, so I call the doctor. Of course, they say that they are closing for the weekend (uh....it is noon???). So, they say to go to the urgent care or the ER. Off we go to the urgent care. They check her blood count, seems ok, so they give medicine to keep her from getting sick and we go home.

Saturday, she is still sick. Sunday, she is getting worse. She is crying and keeps telling me how awful she feels. So, off to the ER we go. At this point, I am so tired of cleaning puke bowls, doing laundry, cleaning floors, and sleeping on the couch that I am not even making sense. I keep thinking about the demo script and wondering how I am going to get it done.

So, we drive to UCH with bowl in hand. She has puked 3 times by the time we arrive, and I am so glad that we decided to go. Thankfully, the ER was empty and we were taken right back to the back. She is having pain on the right side, so they think it is appendicitis. Off she goes for an ultrasound. The results are "suspicious but not confirmed." So, we have to get a CT scan which means she has to drink 3 large cups of the "dirty water." I am thinking that the "dirty water" is going to cause a "dirty floor" when her stomach empties on the floor, but thankfully they gave her "magic medicine" (Zofran) to help. They are also pumping tons of fluids into her which is good since she hasn't been able to keep any sips of water down. She managed to keep it down, and the CT didn't show her appendix at all. Since her white blood cell count was elevated, especially the bands, they were stil concerned. After a conference (isn't that always nice when all the doctors are discussing what to do), they decide to give IV antibiotics and to let her go home.

Mike is leaving to go out of town in a couple of hours, but he comes to the ER after he is all packed. He is taking my car to the car wash (I will skip the details but it is nasty and my mom is coming to visit later in the day). When he gets in the car, the gas light comes on. Great, wonderful timing. I go pick up the "magic medicine that melts" at the pharmacy while he takes the car to the car wash. When I get there, Mike tells me that my car battery died while it was inside the car wash! No way...what else can possibly happen to make this day even more fun is all I can think of. Of coure, there is nowhere open to get a new battery and my mom is going to be at my house in a few minutes (lovely, my house is a wreck). So, we chance it and go home. I am trying to figure out how I am going to leave town on Tuesday (less than 48 hours and counting) for the biggest demo of my career. Ugh...

I realize that I am never going to get set up for this demo by myself, so I send out a plea for help that night before I collapse on the couch with Morgan (downstairs is hard floors and upstairs is carpet - hard floors are much easier to clean).

Thankfully, the Zofran dissolving tablets (also known as magic medicine that melts) turned out to be a life saver. By Monday morning, she looks like a new kid. Whew... I start cramming for the demo. 24 hours before we leave. How much have I done? All of one scenario out of nine!!! Thankfully, my wonderful team has started getting ready for the demo and they have all started entering patients and helping me prepare. Uh oh, why do these scenarios keep talking about Attachements? A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J and K??? What is this thing talking about? We email the author, and they realize that they forgot to send the attachments. Lovely...I see no sleep in my future. I would have gone insane at this point but I am feeling much better as I see how much work my team has done. I think that it will be ok. At least my mom was in town to keep Morgan. It would have been much, much worse if she hadn't been there. By the time I get home, I realize that she is well enough for me to go on my demo trip. Phew!!! Maybe I should write a movie called Sicko....nah....:)

Somehow, I managed not to smoke during the ordeal...

Amy - smoke free for Two Months, Eight Days, 6 Hours and 54 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 5 Days and 18 Hours, by avoiding the use of 1663 cigs that would have cost me $283.50.