Bugaboo and the Bad Ears

For the past week Bugaboo has been miserable. He has cried constantly and it takes us forty-five minutes to an hour to calm him down. Just when we think we have it figured out he starts all over again. Since he hasn't been going to the bathroom everyday we figured it was his bowels and reflux acting up again.

The GI recommended we put him back on the laxative and we did. After a week on it he still wasn't producing a bowel movement everyday. The screaming and crying was getting progressively worse and his personality had done a complete turn around at this point. Gone was our happy, laid-back content little smiler. In his place was a miserable, reticent child that I did not care for too much. We updated the GI yesterday (it had been a week and it was getting worse by the hour) and she suggested doubling the laxative, adding Milk of Magnesia (good luck getting it into him!) and a suppository as a last resort. He FINALLY started going to the bathroom last night and it quickly became diarrhea, which was the plan. They wanted him completely flushed out to be sure there was no obstruction or twist. If he did not go by this morning they wanted him in the ER for an x-ray or CT scan.

Last night I had a parent meeting and returned home at nearly ten o'clock. Bugaboo was still awake, still crying, completely miserable. Darling had tried several times to get him settled and to get him to sleep. He finally gave up. Bugaboo just screamed and screamed. I tried getting him calmed and tried every trick in the book. He was finally asleep, exhausted beyond belief, around eleven, nearly four hours after his typical bedtime. Darling and I were also exhausted, I had dealt with the screaming all day!

This morning he woke up at the regular time. He was groggy and cranky. He barely touched his food. By ten o'clock he was crying again. After an hour of it I COMPLETELY lost it and yelled at him. I think I had finally reached my breaking point after a week. I just picked him up, looked in his face and yelled, "WHAT IS YOUR F-ING PROBLEM????!!!!" Of course, that just made him cry more and I felt awful for it, but I was at a total loss. I tried calling Darling at work. No answer. I tried calling two of my friends. No answer. That was the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak. I decided that the only person that could help me was the pediatrician.

All I had to do was tell them he was screaming for days, they heard him screaming and said, "Bring him right in!" I packed up Bugaboo and his school buddy that I am watching this week and away we went. She checked his belly. Soft, no distension and slightly gassy, but fine. She checked his breathing. Fine. She tried his temp. Normal. The fact that it is an ear thermometer and he went postal should have been my first clue.

Normally to look in his ears we have to restrain him. I have the technique down pat: He sits facing away from me, my legs over his, one arm wrapped around his shoulders to hold him against me and keep his arms from moving and the other arm holds his head to the side against my shoulder. The doc (amazing woman!) dives in and checks one ear, then we move his head the other way. It is NOT easy. He REALLY fought us this time. And when she finally got a decent glimpse (easy, since you can see his nekkid ear drum with out an otoscope, his ear canals are deformed) she exclaimed, "OH WOW!" And proceeded to tell me that there is blood in his ear canal, the ear drum is bulged out, the tubes are popping out from the extreme pressure in his ears. No wonder he is screaming in so much pain! The whole time we thought it was his belly, and part of it might have been. It just never occured to us that his ears would be bothering him. He just had a WELL VISIT on Friday, for crying out loud! They looked fine! It happened THAT fast.

Normally we have a few clues. Low grade temp, nose stops running (which it did! But I just didn't notice!) the dog goes nuts licking him. I think we just weren't paying attention, or, were side-tracked by the stomach issues. I know we shouldn't beat ourselves up over it. But the truth is I feel like every time he makes some decent progress we end up taking several steps backwards. This past week was especially frustrating and difficult. He just wanted to be left alone, but when he cried he wanted us to pace around the house holding all thirty-six pounds of his four-year-old body. Since he is more than half my size, that is not easy for me!

I am really hoping and praying that next week, when he returns to school, he is well and happy and ready to go back. We need some massive progress soon.