I have some friends, back home, who like to call me unaware. Unaware of where I'm going, what I am doing, saying, and how "unaware" I am when it comes to paying attention to, you know, important things, obvious things (they call me this out of affection, I'm sure...).
So, today, I would have been called "unaware" when my crying toddler grabbed her ear and said, "Ear dirty, mama. Mama, eeeeaaaaarrrr dirrrrrttty!"
What did I do (or not do)? I rubbed her head, noticed her hair was sticky on one side and thought, "Oh, she must have gotten grape juice, from the grapes she's eating, on her hair. We'll wash it out at bath time tonight."
In my defense, I will say, that when she complained of a dirty ear at the crack of dawn this morning, I did, briefly, look at said ear. Fatigue more on my mind than anything else, I very quickly, and casually looked over a bit of, what I thought was, ear wax.
By mid-morning, however, I could not take the crying and feverish rage any longer. She had to be seen by a doctor before the weekend set in. When we arrived this afternoon, the doctor gently pushed aside her hair to look in her ears and let out a soft gasp. I kid you not, the girl had yellowish fluid oozing out of her ear, down the side of her face and into her hair. Yup, you guessed it: Ruptured Eardrum
She's now on pain meds, ear drops, antibiotics and probiotics. My dear Lila should be back to her normal self by the end of the weekend (we hope).
I, on the other hand, had to apologize to my dear daughter for being so unaware! For days now, the poor kid has had an ear drum about to burst and when it did, I was oblivious!
You all don't have to guess who's getting spoiled rotten this weekend!
2 comments:
Don't worry too much. Our kids are sick so often in the early years, it's normal to get into a "sick routine" where we just look for the same things and do the same things each time. Totally normal. This is a good reminder for all us moms that sometimes things may be different than just the typical "wait it out" virus. I felt equally bad when Ezra had RSV last year. I'm pretty sure I should/could have taken him in earlier but I just wasn't paying attention. It all works out, though, in the end.
(Oh, and I'm sure your doctor told you, but you shouldn't put anything in the ear canal with the rupture, even ear drops, until the drum heals. The drops are probably for the other ear.)
Poor Lila!! I hope that you have some nice q.t. with her as she heals this weekend!
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