The Illness Olympics

Maggie is home from school again today. I let her go back on Tuesday and Wednesday but in retrospect I probably shouldn't have.  Tuesday wasn't too bad but she was really wiped out on Wednesday. She was not happy that I made her stay home, but considering this is what he looks like at 9:37AM, I'm thinking we made the right choice.

I kept getting calls from the nurse at school yesterday that Maggie's oxygen needs were increasing. She needed the oxygen at a higher level just to stay where she had been on Tuesday. Sometimes that happens. I said I would touch base an hour later and see what was going on. When he called back an hour later she had a complete explanation. It seems the oxygen tank that I filled and sent to school never actually filled. The tank was empty.

This happened to me the other day too. Somehow the tank is not "catching" when I lock it on to the big tank to fill it. I called the company to come out and replace it. They are very responsive and arrived late yesterday afternoon. Of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with the tank, I just did it wrong.

That makes me feel so much better.

 I was going to get Maggie but she was able to use the O2 of another student.  Talk about relying on the kindness of others! I went home to get a spare e tank to trade for the one of his we were using, but they were different sizes.

We've spent the evenings this week falling asleep in front of the television watching the Olympics. It's not that they are boring,  they are not (but a little less ice dancing would be appreciated.) It's just that we are doing our own version of the Olympics here. We are all just wiped out from this bug and from ferrying Maggie to three doctor appointments and chest xrays and blood tests etc. No pneumonia or influenza but she is a sick girl.  I guess this is what you would call a Maggie version of a bad cold. Bad colds are tough on everyone. Maggie versions are scary.

  Hopefully she makes a turn for the better here soon.

Speaking of the Olympics, though, I have to tell you how very touching I find the story of the
Canadian Mogul Skier, Alexandre Bilodeau and his brother Frederic. Frederic has Cerebral Palsy and provides the inspiration and motivation for his now two time Olympic Champion brother.  Their connection is incredible. You don't need to have a kid with cerebral palsy to be touched by this story - but that fact that I do makes it that much sweeter. Watch the link for the sweet story

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/alex-bilodeau-gets-inspiration-older-brother


And just because it's the Olypics, I get to share one of my favorite pictures of my kids. This was taken during the Nagano Olympics in 1998. They were fascinated with the bobsledding team and watched the competition in full bobsled formation.