In other news, part one

This has been an eventful month or two, even aside from the sick kid.

T. was away for about two and a half weeks, from mid-September to early October. She spent about 10 days in California with her parents, helping her aunt move into a nursing home, and then after flying home, she quarantined in a friend's condo until she got a covid test. I single-parented for all that time. She was gone when this happened. Other than that, it went about as well as could be expected. The kid and I missed her but we spoke on the phone almost daily, often by video chat. There weren't any really horrible behavior issues. Even more playdates with the kids' friends than usual. Dinners were simpler.

A vignette: that stomach bug on Oct. 2 was particularly painful, although she never actually threw up. I kept her home from school, but had a slow day scheduled at work except for one time-sensitive document review in the afternoon, so took a chance and didn't call in sick. The kid also reported pain walking. Nausea without actually vomiting and pain when moving were details I specifically remembered from when I had appendicitis. It got particularly bad during that document review, so I had to call my team leader and ask him to finish. 

I called a Lyft, threw together the essentials of an overnight bag including her favorite stuffed animal, and took her to the emergency room. That's never fun. There was waiting, she didn't like the snacks I had brought, there were people with hygiene issues in the emergency room, and by the time we actually saw a doctor her symptoms seemed to be clearing up a bit. The doctor was confident it wasn't appendicitis. There was also a covid test. The kid fought it. It was painful. 

As we were waiting for a cab to take us home, she noticed the stuffed animal in the bag. I explained why I brought it. I think it helped a little bit to impress the seriousness on her. Later that night I was wondering what I should have done differently that day. For a while I couldn't come up with anything. I was able to work and help her with school through most of the morning. Then, in the afternoon, she was painfully sick whether we went to the hospital or not. Once things are bad enough to go to the emergency room, especially these days, you're in the doctors' hands.  A line from Star Trek came to mind: "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose," or in this case, have a bad day. "That is not weakness. That is life."

Then, as I was actually putting her to bed, I thought of one thing I wished I had done differently. I wished I had given her the favorite stuffed animal during the covid test!