If you haven't read part 1, I suggest you read this first. Or you can just begin in the middle, which is where this starts...

Okay, so first I must apologize for the delay in getting this blogged. I knew I should have done it the same night as I did the first one, but alas, other things got in the way...(like snuggling with my husband I hadn't seen in a week!)

So where were we? Oh yes, the Dr. had said, "This child needs to see a specialist now!"

Now, many of you are probably thinking that the exclamation point is overkill. I assure you, it is not. The Dr. was genuinely concerned about something, but he wouldn't tell us what it was, even when prodded. He simply told me, "I have a guess or two."

Of course, that led me to speculate a hundred different things...none of them good, mind you.

Whereas I was concerned before, now I was more than just a little worried - I tried to stop the vain imaginations that were racing through my mind. The nurse came in at 8:02 and started an IV in Abby's arm - I was asked to hold her down so she could insert it, which in no way thrilled me. Abby didn't move her body the entire time, although she did whimper when the needle was inserted and turned her head away from me as if to say, "how could you let them do this to me?" Once the IV was in, the nurse informed me it was time to move to the ER and away we went -- bed, IV pole, and all.

Room #10. Amazing how much faster things move on this side of the ER. The difference is like night and day. At 8:22, a nurse came in to tell us that the Dr would be in momentarily. Gee, we even get a new Dr. on this side. True to her word, as she's taking Abby's temp for the umpteenth time (by the way, it's always done rectally in the ER - don't ask me why, because in Pedi, they take it under the arm), the famous Dr. Weber walks in. I say famous because he's practically a legend here in these parts and I'm glad to see it's him, because our families have close ties. He examines Abby and asks me some general questions, says he's not impressed with her ears or throat - there's not enough going on there to make her neck swell like that so he wants an X-ray of her head.

Okay, an X-ray. That's not so bad. Except have you ever seen how they take X-rays of babies and toddlers? Not fun. They sit them on this table with holes cut out for legs and encase them (arms straight up in the air) in this clear plastic body cast to enable them to hold the child still enough to get the X-ray. Looks more like a medieval torture device, if you ask me.

Somewhere around 8:45, the X-ray tech comes to get us and we go in. I am informed that I must stand behind the wall so as not to be exposed to the radiation. I will be out of Abby's sight for all of 10 seconds. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but I am thinking today? Not a good thing. She's finally strapped into the torture device, I mean, body cast, and I ask if I can just wear a lead apron and stay there so she can see me...she has HUGE tears welling up and falling out of her eyes and I cannot stand to leave her. The techs just roll their eyes and get me my apron. (Score one for mama)

The X-ray completed, we roll back to the room and who is waiting there to see the little pumpkin but Daddy? This brings a half smile and the eyes brighten if only momentarily. The time is now 9:10. The X-ray is inconclusive so the Dr. orders an MRI to be done. We wait for the techs to come and get her and watch the Boomerang cartoon channel. She is not nearly as interested in Rocky and Bullwinkle as daddy is. We have talked and have decided that Daddy will go in with her for the MRI. Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'...into the future...(sorry, it fit) and finally the MRI tech comes to get Dad and Abs. They disappear for what seems like an eternity. It was 28 minutes to be exact. Apparently, they weren't quite ready for her yet, as they didn't have all the straps they needed to strap her down to the table. (Another torture device?) Daddy said she did really well until he had to turn loose of her hand...she was unable to turn her head and her eyes lost contact with him once the machine started up. She called out, "Daddy?" on more than one occasion and had those same tears again - but Daddy was brave and talked to her and sang to her the whole time. (Her favorite song is "He's got the whole world in His hands") The time was 10:20 when they got back to room #10.

Dr. W came back in (I stopped keeping track of time) and said that he was going to admit her. He'd been consulting with her pediatrician as well as an ear, nose and throat Dr and that she was going to require an agressive round of IV and antibiotics to treat the problem. At this point, we still didn't know what the "problem" was, so we asked and he actually told us! Funny how that works. You ask, you get an answer. It seems that Abby was fighting strep and tonsilitis and she had an abscess in her throat where her lymph glands are. The first step would be to treat with antibiotics and see if it went away, then the Dr. would make the decision on whether or not to operate.

Operate?!?!? What?! Well, at least we knew what the problem was. We arrived in our room on the Pediatrics floor at 11:31 pm and the nurses made sure that we were all comfortable before leaving us alone for the night. Monday morning, Dr. Whitt came and said that we would be there for a couple of days to treat with infection with antibiotics and see if that cleared it up. The MRI results weren't too good because Abby had moved her head - he said that was common with kids 2 and under..and the best course was to wait it out as long as we could keep her fever down. So wait we did. Monday night at 10 pm the nurse came in and told us that Dr. Whitt was not happy with the results of the antibiotics, so we were going to have surgery to drain the abscess in the morning. No food or drink after midnight. Stop. Get out. The kid has a sore throat and you are telling me I can't even give her ice chips? Nope. Nothing. It was a long night. Every time she woke up she was crying for ice. I felt so mean telling her no. I cried with her.

Tuesday morning, she had the operation and since this is getting rather lengthy, I won't go into all the details, other than to say it was a success. (Yea!). But it also meant staying until Friday to make sure the drainage was clear and the infection was gone. So we did and were we EVER glad to leave the place Friday afternoon. I've never stayed in a hospital for more than 2 days (childbirth) and let me tell you, I have no desire to ever do it again! 'Nuff said.

So there you have it. Abby has progressed very nicely since our hospital break. She is still taking antibiotics twice a day (only 2 days more to go), but the swelling on her neck is gone for the most part and the cut is healing up quite nicely. (The Dr. didn't stitch it - left it open to continue to drain and said it would heal up better without stitches)