Grant had a rough week. He visited two doctor's clinics and the emergency room within three days' time and none of his complaints required any medical treatment at all. Read on.
Illness #1: Mysterious Peg Leg
At the children's museum, I saw Grant walking toward me calling out, "Ma!" That was the first clue something was amiss. Grant never bothers himself with my whereabouts when he's busy at the museum. As he took another step closer, he fell down. I actually thought he tripped until he fell again. I thought to myself that perhaps he was getting tired and thus losing his balance until he fell a third time. I ran to him and picked him up immediately.
Grant had obviously noted that he was experiencing physical difficulties, but seemed otherwise unencumbered by the handicap. He wanted out of my arms so he could get back to his affairs. I let him down and observed him limp and favor his left leg. A nosy bystander said, "He's just faking it." (Yeah, almost-two-year-olds have good reason to feign a sprained ankle. And like he'd know how to do it properly, even if he did have cause to "fake it." Idiot.) Another bystander practically shouted, "I'm a nurse and you must take that boy to the doctor immediately! You have to leave right now! I'm a nurse!" (I have an idea, how about I make the medical decisions for my child?)
Then I did what any level-headed, clear-thinking mother would do: I called my mom, who panicked, cried, and insisted Grant see our doctor right away. I called our doctor, begged them to "squeeze him in" and we found absolutely nothing at all. No broken bones, no fractures, no sprains. Nothing. Grant still limped around a bit that evening, but appeared completely healed by daylight. My doctor assured me that Grant had hurt himself in some way, but apparently it wasn't anything serious.
Illness #2: Vanishing Rash
Grant woke up from his nap with a red circle all around his eye and a red line that started at the top of his eye and stopped at the crown of his head. He also had a red circle at the base of his neck. I thought it looked suspicious, so I called my mom, who said, "Not again!" She and my dad happened to be in Salt Lake, so I met them downtown for an inspection. Mom agreed that Grant should be examined professionally. Since it was Friday night, the traffic was terrible and our doctor's office was already closed. So we drove 30 minutes to the urgent care facility, who took one glance at him and told me to take him immediately to the children's hospital, which is next door to our apartment complex, which meant we would have to back-travel 30 minutes. (I don't think they should have let me drive him there. I started conjuring up images of Grant sedated, hooked up to an IV, and lying in an incubator. Then I really began to worry.)
The ER staff happened to include the same doctor who had removed the blue eraser from Grant's nose last time we were there. She remembered us and was happy to see that Grant hadn't shoved a Lego up there this time. As we waited, Grant's rash started to spread across his face (which sounds worse), but also turned splotchy. Our ending diagnosis was that this was viral and would probably clear up by the next day -- which it did -- completely on its own.
In retrospect, I still think it wise that Grant was taken to the doctor for these things, but wish I wouldn't have had to worry so much. This baby boy may be the end of me yet. In fact, I thought I spotted a gray hair the other day. Old age is already setting in. The end is near. Go towards the light, Lorena!
