all full up

Two weeks ago, L got a double ear infection. She had to take Omnicef for 10 days, a thick and milky medicine that caused her to shudder the first time she saw it oozing from the bottle into the cup in front of her. She asked, with complete sincerity, "Don't they have this in shot form?". Oh, ha-ha!, we laughed. Who would have thought, just a few months ago, that our child would be asking to take her medicine intravenously? Diabetes, you make even ear infections humorous!

Last week, L tripped over a stool in her classroom and she put her hands out to break her fall. Instead, she broke her wrist.  It's not very severe, only a flesh wound bubble fracture, but her doctor sent us to get a cast just to be on the safe side.  At the Orthopedist's office, the doctor reviewed L's chart and said breezily, "Looks like you've got a little bit of diabetes, huh?" Oh, ho-ho!, we chuckled. A little bit, you say? Oh sure, JUST A LITTLE BIT.  Oh, diabetes, you make even medical professionals say ridiculous things in response to your mere existence.

Today, the cough that had been plaguing L all weekend was joined by a sore chest and high fever, so off we went to the pediatrician again. The doc did a strep swab (negative) but she said that in listening to L's lungs, she heard some crackling, and since L was complaining of pain while breathing, she diagnosed her with Pneumonia, prescribed Zithromax and sent us off for x-rays.  I asked the doc if it would be okay to give L some ibuprofen for her fever. She told me that ibuprofen was a bad idea on account of the whole too-much-can-damage-the-liver-and-really-you-want-to-be-careful-with-that-based-on-the-fact that-having-diabetes-increases-your-chance-of-liver-disease business.  And at that point, there was no LOL diabetes, with your hidden dangers of taking over-the-counter pain medication. It seems that at that moment in the exam room, I reached my personal laughing-it-off limit. Because I'd been giving ibuprofen to my kid for two straight weeks because she had severe ear pain and also, you know, a broken wrist!  And her other doctors never told me about the "maybe not so much with the ibuprofen, mkay?" thing. And sure, I probably should have figured it out myself but at that moment all I could think was, How was I supposed to know that and why didn't the other doctor mention that and hasn't L already been through enough already this year, why do we have to deal with THIS TOO, I mean, COME ON.  A 10 year old can only be such a trooper for so long, you know?  38- and 41-year-olds too, for that matter.

So I learned something today. When your strategy for dealing with challenges is to "laugh at even the most inappropriate of moments", there may come a time when your capacity for yukking it up in the face of unfortunate events becomes maxed out. And when that happens, it's okay. Because you probably just needed a good cry anyway. So your daughter can hug you and thank you for making the doctor's appointment for her and your dad can tell you a stupid joke on the phone to make you laugh and your friends can commiserate via texts and keep you company on the phone while you wait for the pharmacy to fill your prescription and when you get home your husband can hug you for 5 minutes in the kitchen and pretty soon you'll be able to laugh again. Even through the tears.