Highs and Lows

Riley is a spoiled brat in some ways. My mother would say in lots of ways. He was a real pill in the morning. I have to remind him to say please and thank you to the nurses and aids. I tell him if he isn't nice they wont be nice back. We are climbing the walls. He is feeling smothered and I am feeling under appreciated.



My sister has agreed to stop by the hospital. She will either sit with Riley or go get Trevor from Longview. It is another beautiful day outside. she doesn't know exactly where Trevor is staying so she encourages me to go and get away for a while. Bond with Trevor on the way home, quality time.



Riley is being so rude to me and everyone as Little Lord Fauntleroy on his throne that I decide to bail for a while. The drive sounds dreamy, even though I really dislike driving. Riley is doing fine, so I leave. I don't even wait for my sister to arrive at the hospital. There is plenty of staff to help Riley and I think maybe he needs some space also. He knows my number and the call buttons for the nurses.



Tory gets to the hospital and Riley is playing Play station. She takes the window seat and waits for me. she thinks I am in the bathroom. Finally after thirty minute of thinking I am hiding in the bathroom, she interrupts Riley's game to ask where I am, only to find out I have already left. She calls me to find out I am almost in Longview. I made good time.



Ever since our trip to the Grand Canyon last summer, when we went through Idaho doing 80, its a lot easier driving fast. i am in my red Ford Taurus, which compared to The Jeep rides like a sports car. I enjoy an hour of stress free conversation with my friends while waiting for Trevor to come back from a lake walk with his buddy. Last time I had seen them, I helped paint their daughter's new bedroom pink. She had been sharing with Mom and Dad. It was time for her big girl room. The room looks adorable, just waiting for those ruffled curtains grandma is planning to make for her.



The boys get back from the lake and Trevor packs up his stuff. He is sad to go, but also wants to see his brother. Hugs are exchanged. These two boys have known each other since T-ball at the Y when they were 4, oldest and bestest friends.



Trevor and I chat while driving. He is looking forward to seeing his brother. On the other hand I am thinking of the logistics of driving to the hospital then driving Trevor home then going back to the hospital. Unconsciously I catch the freeway home rather than the freeway to the hospital. I notice what I have done and ask if Trevor minds going home. He gets upset. He really wants to see Riley at the hospital. He has not been yet, since I shipped him out of town when the crisis began at the end of last week.



We loop round and head to the hospital. He is so big and healthy compared to the other children. His voice doesn't need a bull horn to be heard. He finds the family lounge with left over pizza from an earlier birthday of some other family. There is also cake. The boys play video games. Riley's dinner is getting cold, so Trevor reminds him to eat and gets the tray for him.



Around 7:00 pm Riley gets his end of day shot and shortly breaks out in a bad case of hives all over his body. The nurse is in checking on him. He lifts his arm and asks her if this rash is unusual or if this is expected symptoms. She leaps away to grab a doctor and benedryl. We end up with three checking Riley over. He is now covered and itching like crazy. I wet some cold towels and lay them on his arms and legs. He is not to scratch. If he scratches he could bleed and bleeding is bad. One nurse checks to make sure his nails are cut short. They warn him to tell immediately if his mouth or throat itch.I ask him with was the worse symptom the hives or the aching bones last night when I had to massage him. He says the bones were worse. so, I say, this isn't so bad after all. He asks me to scratch. I use the rough wet towel to rub his legs. I tell him to watch the clock, in fifteen minutes the benedryl will kick in and he will stop itching. Finally about 30 minutes later it is in control and the boys are back to the video game.







After 8:00 pm, it is time to take Trevor home. Trevor has school on Monday. I say I will be back

later. On the drive home I feel exhaustion set in. We come into the house, and I immediately hear the cats crying. They have been stuck in a room all weekend. When I left on Friday and saw Trevor off to school I had opened a can off cat food and brought both cats downstairs, shutting all the upstairs bedroom doors so they would not go pee where they shouldn't. Well, Trevor had come home from school to wait for his ride and had not packed socks. He had gone upstairs and opened those doors got his socks and shut the doors again, but the cats had followed him into the rooms unannounced to Trevor. He shut them in for the bedrooms for the whole weekend. A different bedroom for each cat.



I have not found where they peed , but I know I will eventually. I will pick up a basket or some cloths to wear and find the cat odor. I am so tired I yell at Trevor. He says he didn't mean to do it. I tell him I was relying on him. I send him to his room to bed and go to mine. Its 9:00 pm. I call Riley and ask if he minds my sleeping at home tonight in my own bed. He says that's fine. He is settling in nicely and the nurses check on him.



My head hits the pillow and I am out within minutes. I just have to tell Trevor to stop meowing at the cats. Now that they are free, its as if it never happened for the cats.



Midnight the house phone rings. Riley is crying. He doesn't feel good, he is nauseated. I tell him I am on my way and grab my cloths and dress. I wake Trevor enough to tell him I am going back to the hospital and pray he remembers in the morning. I will call him when its time to get up. I put the phone in his room. Tom will be home today so it will be better tonight. I did love that 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep



I am in the car in less than 5 minutes. The streets are quiet. The phone rings again on the freeway. Its Riley still feeling bad. I tell him less than 25 minutes I'll be there. He asks me to distract him, tell him a story. I try telling him about Trevor locking the cats in the bedrooms for the weekend. Riley says its not helping. He starts to vomit while I am talking to him. He has to vomit into a plastic bin, he tells me the nurses want to see it. After he is through he feels better and wants to know which rooms the cats were locked it. He is relieved it was not his room.



I am speeding and see someone pulled over by the police going the other way. There is barely any traffic, I am really speeding. I slow down to just 10 miles over the speed limit. I pass a police car in the dark with a speed detector. I slow down to five miles over. He doesn't pull out. The exit comes, I take it. The road to the hospital is deserted. I have to drive carefully though, a lot of bikers use this road. There aren't any at this hour but I want to be careful.



I get a parking spot right up front. The doors of the hospital are locked and my heart leaps. How do I get in at this hour. I notice a call button. It takes me a moment to focus and read the instructions. "After hours Push the Button". I push it and a woman's voice asks Last name of who am I visiting. I give Riley's name and room number. She buzzes me in.