Sick!

We are f&$%ing sick of being sick!!  This little family has been sick for weeks.  Well, more accurately, Nora and I have been sick for weeks. And we are sick of it. 

**before we go on, multiple covid tests have been taken between the two of us and they were all negative. 

It started two days before Thanksgiving. We were headed home from a group trip to Libourne, when suddenly I felt my throat go dry. I immediately hit up the pharmacy and they gave me some lidocaine spray.  Which, admittedly, made my throat feel better, but the rest of me spiraled down hill.  I was achey and miserable. I spent the next day laying in bed feeling like shit.  

I managed to pull it together for Thanksgiving, thanks to all the meds I could find, just in time for Nora to spiral.  She ended up with a terrible, wet, and deep cough.  I was up with her most of Thanksgiving night.  

The next day we were scheduled to leave for a quick road trip to Lyon.  We debated cancelling but decided as a family to at least make the drive.  I don’t know if this was the best decision. Being a parent is so hard. I am always, always second guessing myself. But, we went.  It wasn’t a great drive. Nora seemed really sick and I heavily considered pulling straight into a hospital once we got there.  We let her rest once we checked in and she made a marked improvement the next day. 

Have you already guessed what’s coming??  Yup.  I went downhill again.  This time it felt like the world’s worst allergies. Watery eyes, leaky nose, the whole works.  What could I do?  I stuffed my pockets full of tissue paper and forged on with the trip.  By the time we were headed home, I felt comatose. 

Once we were back at Ruchir’s, I began a steady diet of any and every med, herbal and otherwise, I could get my hands on.  Multiple trips to the pharmacy and nothing, I mean nothing worked.  Some days were better than others but I could not shake the congestion. I should note, Nora continued to improve and really wound up symptom free after a few days.  

I’m sure y’all are all screaming at me about now, “Go to a doctor!” I did try going to the doctor only to find that the doctor was working at the hospital for the next two weeks and wouldn’t be in the office. So it was back to trying everything I could get my hands on. Including sticking my head over boiling hot water and essential oils multiple times a day (side note – I’ve kind of become addicted to this. Not sure it really helped the congestion, but man, my skin felt nice). 

Finally, FINALLY I was able to get in with a doctor.  I talked him (okay, strong armed him) into prescribing me an antibiotic. Slowly, but surely I’ve been making improvements.  I still have a few days of left, but I can see the light. 

Aaaand, have you guessed what’s coming again?  Yup, that’s right. Cue Nora.  Last night, our second night in Berlin, Germany, Nora takes a nose dive.  She wakes up with that same horrid, wet cough.  We spent the day trying to figure out how to get meds in Germany.  Turns out, the best you can get at most Apothekes (pharmacies) is a bunch of herbal teas and pills.  Not the real stuff.  Still, we stocked up on all the herbal crap we could find and filled her up.  Only to wake up at midnight with her throwing up and burning up.  Of course this would happen the one time I don’t pack all the meds (never, ever making that mistake again – so much mom guilt). None of the local pharmacies are open and so I’m left just holding a cold washcloth to her head and praying she can get back to sleep.  Luckily Paul got in touch with the management company of the Airbnb we are staying at and they found a pharmacy across town open all night.  They also arranged for a doctor to come check Nora…at 2:30 a.m…..at our apartment!!!  I cannot tell you the relief of knowing a doctor was coming. I also can’t tell you the stress of having a sick kiddo in an unfamiliar country where I don’t know how to say much more than “good day” “thank you” and “goodbye” (ummm 4 years of German in high school, where did you go??).  It was a rough night.  Thankfully, Paul was able to get his hands on some children’s ibuprofen and as soon as we got it in her, her fever went down and by the time the doctor got here, she was doing really well. She woke up this morning with no fever and in a great mood. 

I just want to take a minute to express my appreciation to everyone who has helped us the last couple of weeks.  From buying meds to translating at the pharmacy, to sitting for hours with me at the doctor’s office, to our guardian angel German stranger of a management company last night.  There just are no words for my gratitude to these people.  Like I said earlier, being a parent is hard, especially being a parent to a sick kid. I feel like I’m constantly overreacting.  Or am I under reacting?!?  Is it nothing? Or is it something?!? The constant worry and doubt is torture. Now multiply that by infinity doing it in a foreign country (countries) where you don’t know the language.  We are beyond thankful to all of the people who have helped us the last few weeks. 

Hopefully we are all on the mend. 

Update as of 12/15: we were not on the mend.  Ended up visiting a hospital in Berlin to get Nora some REAL meds.  It sounds a bit more dramatic than it was.  Basically she just could not stop coughing (like coughing instead of breathing situation) and we couldn’t figure out how to get to a normal doctor’s office, so off to the hospital we went.  Her doctor was actually really great.  He was thoughtful and considerate of all her symptoms.  He was not too concerned, but because we were set to travel the following day, he decided to err on the side of caution and prescribed us some real antibiotics to knock it out.  Have I mentioned I’m grateful to everyone who has helped us lately?  And, have I mentioned parenting is hard?!?!