another day in the life of Henry and his mom

So last week we visited the doctor twice for Henry's ear infection, and on Friday were assured that it was all cleared up, and that the remaining coughing, runny nose, and general unhappiness were the virus that was running its course. Yesterday afternoon Henry seemed pretty worn out by the end of the day, but I dosed him up with Motrin and we went to his swimming lesson.

Last night as Henry was falling asleep, he asked me to rub his right ear (the left was the infected one). He kept saying that it hurt, and kept wiggling his legs the way you do when you're in pain- writhing would be the way to describe it. Henry NEVER complains, which is one reason it's hard to figure out what's wrong with him. This was the most discomfort I had ever seen him in.

I suspected swimmer's ear. I called the doctor on call, but by the time he called back, Henry was asleep. This morning I gave him Motrin again and sent him to school. I feel sick with guilt about doing that, but I just can't miss weeks of work at a time when my kid has a series of cold symptoms, and maybe has swimmer's ear.

His teacher called me at around 11:15 and said that Henry's balance seemed to be off- he was bumping into things and almost fell over when he stood up to go look at his picture schedule! I was pretty close to getting hysterical. Although I know that ear problems would of course affect his balance, I was sure that it was something much more horrible and rare...

When I picked him up at school he climbed up on my lap and vomited on me. His teachers put him into his spare clothes, but I of course had none. It was noon, and we couldn't see the doctor until 1. So I stopped at TJ Maxx, right down the street. (Shopping with vomit on my work clothes. I have no shame.) In the checkout lane Henry started seeming like he was going to throw up again. So I left my cart and bolted out to the parking lot. He threw up, I put him in the van, drove up and parked right by the front of the store, went back in and finished my purchase. Luckily I had bought this soft fleece blanket, because Henry needed to take off his shirt. I took him into the doctor's office with no shirt, wrapped in a blanket.

The doctor confirmed swimmer's ear and gave us some drops. When we got out to the car, Henry vomited again, on the new blanket.

We stopped at Border's to buy a copy of the just-released-today Lady and the Tramp Special Edition. (Henry always says the "special edition" part.) He waited in the van again.

We came home, he threw up again, watched Lady and the Tramp, and then he fell asleep in my lap. I'm sorry that he is feeling so bad, but it's been a long time since he fell asleep in my lap like that. I sat and looked at him for a long time, thinking about all the times I've gazed at that sleeping face.

I'm not sure whether he has another bug that's causing all the vomiting. The doctor said that if he's in that much pain, it may be enough to make him throw up. Swimmer's ear is about one of the most painful things a child can go through.

I just hate when we have stretches like this, where it seems like he just can't get healthy.