Pollen is making its mark (literally, you can see it everywhere) here in northern Virginia. I am SO thankful we are not a family that suffers from seasonal allergies, because otherwise we would all be miserable.
On another allergy note, Sydney went to see an allergist (?) Monday. Back in early December, she had an allergic reaction to Children's Advil. Long story short, I gave her a dose in the middle of the night because she felt warm to me (and Lorelei had been running a fever, so I figured she caught it too), and she woke up with swollen lips. Not a good thing. We promptly left for the emergency room (it was a Sunday morning), and they gave her a shot of epinephrine. Thankfully, she seemed completely fine through all of this, but doctors don't mess around when facial swelling is involved. We were instructed to stay away from ibuprofen (even though she'd had it plenty of times before and had never had a reaction), and her pediatrician put in a referral for us to see an allergist in Gulfport.
Unfortunately, that was right in the middle of February (the pediatrician referral part), and we ran out of time to make an appointment before we moved.
So at a regular check up a couple of weeks ago, her new pediatrician put in a referral for an allergy appointment, and she went to that appointment with Chet this past Monday.
I know you're on the edge of your seat, but I'm going to disappoint you because we still don't know for sure if she's allergic to anything. The doctor examined her, stated his opinion that he doubts she's allergic to anything in the Advil, but welcomed us to schedule a 3-hour test to find out for sure. (They'll give her small amounts of the Advil, up to the full dosage for her age/size, and wait to see if she reacts.)
Chet and I decided we might as well do the test. I mean, it's free, so why not? (Free in return for our family's service to this country, but why split hairs?)
Speaking of serving your country, the allergy appointment was at Walter Reed in Bethesda, MD. Chet and Sydney arrived about an hour early for the appointment, so they bought orange juice and a blueberry muffin to share, and people-watched until the appointment time. Do you see where this is going? Chet said they saw tons of people with artificial limbs. One young man was wheeling around the medical center in his wheelchair, holding his artificial leg in his lap. Sydney was especially fascinated by this, and wanted to know what it was all about. Chet took the opportunity to explain that the people she was seeing got hurt while protecting us from the "bad guys." That was their job, and they got hurt while doing it, but they are thankfully still alive, and otherwise just like the rest of us. (And, Syd, please tap Daddy and whisper your question to him rather than pointing and yelling. Mkay?)
Military life is not easy, not for the service member, the military spouse, or for their children. There are the obvious challenges, but on the flip side, there are humongous benefits and opportunities that so many non-military families will never have the chance to experience. There are hard-learned lessons, but they are lessons that will undoubtedly make our children strong, resilient, thankful, and aware of what an amazing country we live in, and that it's our duty as Americans (not just service members) to protect and preserve it. I love that our children are "Navy brats," and that they know the term "uniform" and that Daddy has worked for long stretches of time in Afghanistan and Africa, and that they know to stand still and be quiet, hands over hearts, while the National Anthem (or Taps) plays over a loudspeaker.
Wow, I'm way off of the subject of "Allergies." Here's a random, unrelated picture of the front of our house with all of the azaleas in bloom (they're gone now):
TGIF tomorrow!
2 comments:
Nice flowery shrubs. Wishing they were in my yard.
I wish they were still that pretty...
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