Coughing, Temperatures and Pink Eye, Oh Dear.

My family has been sick for the last week or so. Ray arrived back from Texas with a ragweed cough that just goes on and on. I wish I had insisted he go to the doctor, but I didn’t. Usually his coughs get better fairly soon. This one is getting better, but just not very fast.

On Saturday night Rachael called us at 11 pm. She was supposed to be sleeping over with her friend, Bree, but she asked us if she could come home to sleep. “I think I have pink eye,” she said. If you have ever had pink eye and know how contagious it is, then those are not words you’re excited to hear. The only time I’ve had pink eye as an adult was 20 years ago when my kids were little. Your eyes feel as if you have ground glass in them. “Of course, come on home,” we both said and got out of bed. Sure enough, she arrived with eyes that looked very pink and goopy.

On Sunday, I took Rachael to Urgent Care and we got medicine for her conjunctivitis or pink eye. We also got her an antibiotic for a middle ear infection the doctor said was most likely the reason she had a fever and had been feeling bad for several days. I must have washed my hands at least fifty times that day. My only goal – besides helping Rachael, of course – was not to come down with pink eye after helping her.

Today, Rachael is feeling a lot better and her eyes are clear. Ray is still coughing and also dragging a bit. I wish I had insisted that he come with us to Urgent Care on Sunday. I have a feeling he, too, would have come home with a prescription for antibiotics. I suspect that ragweed allergy has created congestion in his lungs and now they are infected.

Today I saw my granddaughter, Luna, and she had a temperature. We hope it’s from teething, but it’s hard to say right now given all the sickness.

I am hoping I stay well with all this illness around me. Two of my students today have arrived with stuffy noses and lots of coughs.

One of these days, we will be back up to snuff. The good news is – so far – the whites of my eyes are white, not pink. Let’s hope they stay that way!