Tuesday Stuff
April 15, 2008
Bit of a scare this morning. Our younger daughter woke up complaining of a stomach ache. Her tummy was tender to the touch, she was having trouble walking without it hurting, and she had a fever. Nancy and I assumed appendicitis. So I called our pediatrician and described what was happening, and they reached the same conclusion. Long story short: I took her in and spent the morning shuttling back and forth between the doctor’s office and the hospital (x-rays and blood work). Turns out the blood tests were negative and a closer examination and the x-rays convinced the doctor that it wasn’t her appendix.
She’s feeling a bit better now, though her fever is higher. We’re starting to suspect that the stomach ache isn’t the cause of the fever (although the fever might be causing the stomach ache). Anyway, it was scary there for a little while — I really didn’t want my kid to have to deal with surgery.
We’ve had a rough start to the year, though I know that others have had it far worse. But between my older daughter’s pneumonia and this, I’ve spent way too much time taking kids to the hospital recently. No more, thank you.
Still managed to get my 1,500 words written this afternoon. I’m almost far enough along on this new book to start putting up one of those word-o-meter graph things that other writers have. I’ll have to figure out how to do that.
April 15, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Awwww glad it wasn’t the appendix, hope her fever comes down, there’s a lot of stuff going around right now. Hope things get better for you and good luck with your book.
Kirsten
April 15, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Thanks for the kind wishes, Kirsten.
April 15, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I’m glad that it is not appendicitis. Did the doc give you any idea what it might be?
Is your older daughter back in the pink? You and yours have had it this year. May the spring bring better times.
April 16, 2008 at 9:10 am
Thanks for the comment, Tina. The doctor did think that the stomach pain was a caused by a large pocket of gas, which sounds silly, but it can apparently be incredibly debilitating when cramps set in. In any case, my daughter was much better this morning — stomach pain was gone, fever was gone; she ate breakfast and insisted on going to school.
My older daughter is doing great, thanks for asking. She’s playing softball and just started swim team training. No ill effects from the pneumonia (knock on wood).
April 16, 2008 at 9:42 am
“— stomach pain was gone, fever was gone; she ate breakfast and insisted on going to school.”
You have a special child who insists on going to school when faced with the chance to skip out.
April 16, 2008 at 11:09 am
Yes, it seems geekdom is hereditary….
April 17, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Glad to hear she’s okay.
About the word meter, in case you aren’t sure of how to get one, here’s how:
1. Make an account at Forward Motion for Writers:
http://fmwriters.com/community/dc/dcboard.php
2. Once you’re logged in, the link that says Progress Bar (in the top center of the pages) will work. Pretty self-explanitory from there.
And I’m pretty confident this is what you mean.
Also, is Holly Lisle a writer you know a bit about, talk to, etc. ? She’s one of three writers whose websites I visit almost daily (yours, hers, and Eric Nylund’s). Just curious.
April 17, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Thanks for the kind comment, Alex. And thanks for the tips. I’ll see if I can manage it.
I know Holly Lisle by reputation (I’ve been told again and again that she’s a terrific writer and a cool person) but I’ve yet to read her work and I don’t think we’ve ever met. I’ll keep an eye out for her at WorldCon.
April 17, 2008 at 5:36 pm
She’s great. Her site has helped me tremendously with my own writing. She gives back above and beyond any writer I’ve ever come across.