Croup Hits Again

About two hours ago, Desty awoke crying. Dustin brought her into me and I heard it...the freaking dreaded seal cough and stridor. "Oh God!", I thought, "What did we do to deserve this?!" Really, most kids get croup and it's nothing to worry about. When my daughter gets it, because she's so teeny, it typically means four hours in the ER or, last time it was a 32-hour hospitalization.

So I sit here, writing this blog, while Dustin sleeps with Desty, his cell phone in hand, and our home phone 2 feet from me, wondering how I'm ever going to be able to do the nine interviews I have scheduled for today and tomorrow for my Personal Assistant Enterprise. The pediatrician's office opens in three hours. This is like the old Mervyns commercials with the crowd waiting to rush in. This time I want to take her to the doctor's office, instead of the ER.

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A Trip Down Trauma Lane, Plus Tammy's SoapBox #43

On February 27th Benny was getting sick. We thought it was just another cold - it wasn't even bad for once. Miracle or mother's intuition, after getting finished with homework at ~2:30a.m. I decided to lie down in his room. Benny was thrilled, and jabbered on and off for half an hour. He was teasing me three minutes before having a febrile seizure, then becoming unconscious. When his seizure began, I screamed for Dustin, who arrived to work with Benny to ensure breathing and try to alert him. I was charged with going to the other end of the house to call 911. Now, I have a LifeLine medical alert system, but in January the company “upgraded” all units to a device that is inaccessible to me. I unsuccessfully tried to activate it. I then grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911. I obviously have a speech impairment and, complicating matters, I was absolutely stricken with panic. Though I have never called 911 before, I was sure the dispatcher automatically had my address (E-911) and immediately dispatched an ambulance. I repeated, “We need help now! My son had a seizure and we need help now!…” I eventually came to realize that the dispatcher did not have my address. Frantic and frustrated, it took eight more minutes for my address to be understood. We were lucky - the dispatcher was very patient and worked with me to get it correctly, and though we did not know, it was not an immediate life or death emergency. He was finally taken by ambulance to the hospital and diagnosed with a potentially fatal strand of influenza A.

On February 28th Destiny was rushed to the hospital and admitted for 32 hours with severe croup.

Influenza and croup are unrelated.......when it rains, it pours.

One thing I learned, and want to share with my friends and everyone, is the importance of having a land line for emergency calls. I called 911 on my cell phone for Benny, the operator couldn't understand our address, and it could not be traced. I rarely use my land line, and of course, it never occurred to me in the heat of the emergency. Many people only have cells. I now am an advocate for land lines!

• Cell phones save lives. If a cell phone is the only phone around, use it.
• If there is a wireline phone where you are, choose to call 911 from it, instead of a cell phone. Addresses are traceable from most wirelines, NOT necessarily cell phones at this time! (Read about what the FCC is requiring cell phone providers to do at Wireless 911 Services.)

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Yes, my LifeLine is accessible now.......