If you’ve been visiting my site on and off for the past two weeks, you may have noticed that I’ve been uncharacteristically quiet. The truth is, I’ve been attending to Ryder, my sweet 7-year old, who has discovered a new nemesis in life. And the biggest problem with this particular opponent is that they outnumber him about ten billion to one.
It’s the mosquito.
It all started last October, when he was bitten in Mexico. The bite on his hand, which seemed innocuous enough, started out like any other bug bite – a small, itchy swelling. However, within 12 hours, Ryder’s entire hand was swollen, hot and painful, and it worried me enough to call in the resort doctor, who prescribed an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic to reduce the symptoms. And it worked! So we continued our vacation, and upon returning home I mentioned it to my doctor, who didn’t seem to think it was a cause for concern.
^^ That’s Ryder with his Hulk hand back in Mexico. I often marvel at children’s ability to stay bright and positive through the most distressing circumstances. He’s such a trooper!
Fast forward to a week and half ago, when Ryder was bitten over the eye. His entire face swelled up within hours, and since the eye is such a delicate (and integral) area of the face, we took him straight to the emergency room of our local hospital. Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather when the doctors immediately admitted Ryder to the hospital and hooked him up to an IV! It turns out that whenever anything involves the eye, they don’t take chances; they started him on antibiotics prophylactically and gave him an antihistamine around the clock. Three days later, he was released from the hospital. …