To Charleston and Back

Lovey & I took our kuties to visit Grandpa Jack & Grandma Gail in Charleston, SC, this weekend. It was such a quick trip (we really only had Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday), and our girls were sick, sick, sick!!!

We left for SC Friday afternoon @ 3:00 pm, connected through Atlanta, and finally arrived in Charleston @ 1:00 am. Becca Becca wasn't feeling well on the flight, and by the time we changed planes in Atlanta and boarded for Charleston, her coughing had intensified and she had a fever.

We had quite a wait for our rental car when we arrived in Charleston, so I sat and held Rebecca in my arms and placed Mary-Gail, who was fast asleep, on a blanket at my feet. Lovey got our rental car and loaded the car seats and our luggage, and Rebecca kept getting worse.

We unloaded everyone and everything into our hotel room, and by 2:30 am everyone was tucked in bed. Rebecca kept waking up due to her coughing and sore throat, and would cry out "owie." I was having anxiety attacks - Rebecca was showing the same symptoms that she had this time last year (when she was hospitalized for 4 days with bronchitis and double pneumonia). I called JoJo, back in Utah, at 3:30 am requesting her to access our medical insurance via the Internet and find us a hospital nearby. By 4:00 am we all were loaded back in the car headed to the Emergency Room.

Rebecca was examined by the ER doc who said she had the makings of an ear infection. No - these symptoms were not from an ear infection. I rehearsed Rebecca's previous hospitalization and lung conditions to him and requested that she have a chest x-ray (she had 3 views taken). They showed "cloudy lungs"...bronchitis. The ER doc (do all ER doc's have the same indifference and lackadaisical attitude?) wasn't going to give Rebecca a breathing treatment, but again, I insisted that she have one. Hello - we're 2,200 miles from home, and we don't have access to a nebulizer in Charleston! After spending 2 hours in the ER: Me and Rebecca laying on the hospital bed, while Tony & Mary-Gail wandered the halls, we were discharged. Rebecca had a script for an antibiotic and we were given instructions to continue dosing with Tylenol alternating with Motrin.

We filled the script (thank heavens CVS is 24-hours!) and arrived back at the hotel at 6:30 am. Lovey and Rebecca fell asleep quickly, albeit Rebecca continued her coughing fits; and Mary-Gail was "bright-eyed and bushy tail" awake, which meant I was too.

And that is how we spent our visit in Charleston - Rebecca sick, Mary-Gail not wanting to sleep, Lovey sleeping all he could, and me...tortured with guilt, anxiety, sleep-deprivation, and yearning for a flight home. Next time we have an idea for a quick getaway to see Grandma & Grandpa, we're going to fly them to Utah instead!