I've Had Better Days....

This nightmare started yesterday just before lunch - when the nurse at Clay High School called to tell me that she had Kelli in her office and that one of her eyes was totally dilated and that I needed to come and get her and take her right to an eye doctor. (On top of this, she was complaining about a nagging headache at the back of her head). I called my son-in -law's father (who happens to be an eye doctor) and took Kelli right to his office. He didn't seem overly concerned. Thought it might be a contamination from her contact. He checked her over, asked her a million questions, put in a new pair of contacts and told us that the dilation should be gone within 24 hours. I took her back to school and I returned to work.

Last night, I kept checking her eye and it remained dilated. Then I did the worse thing possible. I "googled" single eye dilation and you know what comes up? Brain injury, stroke or brain tumor. I didn't sleep too well last night. This morning I woke her up, checked her eye, and it was still dilated. She still complained about the headache, but other than that she was feeling fine and headed off to school.

I hadn't been at work for a half hour when my office phone rang. It was the high school nurse. She said that she had called Kelli to her office to check on her and that her eye was still 80% dilated. I explained that she had seen an eye doctor. She told me that I now needed to call our family doctor and that she would keep Kelli there until I called her back. I call our doctor, explain EVERYTHING to the nurse. She tells me that she will consult with the doctor and call me back. A couple of minutes later, the nurse calls and tells me that our doctor wants Kelli taken to the ER right away. I grab my purse, head to the high school, sign her out and we're off to Memorial Hospital. She had blood drawn, went through a battery of tests and questions - some of which it was easy to see that they were checking to see if she'd had a stroke.

By noon, they ordered an MRI, and MRA and a CAT Scan. By 3:00, all had come back clear and we were released to go home. After all that, it looks like it is exactly what Jim told us yesterday - a contamination. When I said something to the nurse, she told me that in this day of people "suing" over everything, the high school nurse had to protect herself by insisting that Kelli be seen. If Kelli had collapsed at school of an aneurism and the nurse knew that she had this dilated eye, she could be held liable. Hmmmm, I wonder if she'd like to help with a portion of this huge ER bill I'm going to receive?? Anyway, she's fine and in many ways I'm glad they did the tests because now I know that her head and her brain are in good shape - figuratively speaking.

I was home by 4:00, took a hot shower, put on my pajamas and relaxed. Let's hope tomorrow's a better day.