No news is not good news

So I haven't posted in about five days. Gracie did not take a Bento the last two days of school because Wednesday night is church night, so on Thursday she took a lunchable. Friday she also took a lunchable, but it was a hotdog lunchable because the school was catering hot dogs that I couldn't see paying $3.00 for. So I paid $2.69 for a hot dog lunchable.

And I would say that I will be posting cute Bento pictures this week, but that might very well not happen either considering that Gracie was at home yesterday and today. She got sick at church Sunday evening. They came to get me because she felt like she had a fever, and then she threw up in the hallway on the way out to the car. I'm thinking, "Great. Stomach virus." But when I got her home, I gave her Motrin to get the fever down and then tried a popsicle. When she didn't get sick again, I called the pediatrician. I know sometimes with a tummy thing they might run low grade fevers, but something in my gut told me this was more than a stomach bug.

The on call nurse seemed to think so, too, so she advised me to keep an eye on the fever and if Gracie still had one Monday morning to call the pediatrician's office that day. So I checked her temp before I left for work on Monday, and sure enough it was 100.9. They worked her in at 2:15 yesterday afternoon so I left work early to drive to Montgomery. When the doctor finally saw her and heard what the symptoms were, she didn't really feel it was a stomach bug either. So they did a strep test, which came back negative but the doctor noticed how red and swollen her throat was.

So Gracie was diagnosed with a viral throat infection. When I googled that word, it actually gave me some websites that make this illness sound more painful than strep throat! I think "coxsackievirus" is actually what the doctor called Gracie's illness. Thankfully, she seems to be okay until the fever hits her and then she's miserable. And she refuses to eat, which concerns me but not the doctor - apparently, there is a lot of pain in her throat.
We stopped by the mall last night and even got Chick-Fil-A, but she wanted nothing to do with eating. She did, however, down the apple juice pretty fast. And then she started getting feverish, so we left to come home.
The doctor is more concerned with getting liquids in her to keep her nourished and hydrated, and she drinks okay unless the juice is bitter at all. This morning she's had a cup full of ice water, which seems to be okay. And she had a slushy yesterday, plus a popsicle and some apple juice last night. She's just refusing solid food. So I might try mashed potatoes or maybe soup (she ate some Sunday night) and see if that helps at all. The doctor said she could have yogurt, but I'm a little concerned about giving her dairy products with her fevers coming and going.

Right now she is content on the couch watching Diego and drinking her ice water. Keep your fingers crossed and pray that this illness will move out of our house quickly! I hate it when she's sick because I can't really do anything to make her feel better.