Dr. Cr,

Noah is really sick and I’m hoping to be able to bring him to see you today (Thursday) afternoon…

Noah got sick over last weekend…I called the on call doctor, Dr. Sh, and she thought it was most likely viral but I insisted it wasn’t, so she called in a prescription for a Zpack, especially since Noah has finals this week—I didn’t want him to get worse as the week went on…

Well, she was so insistent she thought it was viral, I hesitated, and *didn’t* pick up the prescription, because I didn’t have much evidence beyond ‘mother’s instincts’, so I thought maybe…maybe…(hopefully?) she was right…

Now it’s Thursday and Noah has been coughing all night, he’s definitely gotten worse as the week has gone on…

I *don’t* blame Dr. Sh at all—she doesn’t live with us, and it’s hard to see all the day to day evidence of how our infections evolve, the why ‘little’ clues might trigger me to act in a certain way—when things happen all the time, sometimes we all start to forget why we started to do things in the first place, and even I can trick myself into forgetting how serious our immune deficiency actually is…

(Especially when we see some experts like to dismiss us—)

Anyhow,

Noah has been coughing all night…I’m not gonna take him to the ER (unless I have to), but Noah definitely needs medical action soon. The reason I want Noah to see you, instead of just going to Rite Aid and picking up the script, is for you to document this — taking daily antibiotics all the time (when they’re working) can lead us to forget why the antibiotics are so important,

and this infection is a clear reminder of ‘the why’ we do what we do for Noah at the first signs of an infection—why we act fast when most of the world would say to hold back and wait and see—

High school was when I started to get a lot worse too..when I started to develop infections that led to hospitalizations and surgeries. Of course, Noah has always been worse than me (I was never on daily antibiotics until I was 30), and hopefully Noah will continue to have a better life than I had, by staying on top of Noah’s infections—regardless of how little some people understand—

Again, I’m not mad at Dr. Sh at all, I’m actually mad at myself because I know better…and I should be able to communicate with doctors better who don’t know our case that well…but it’s like my brain freezes sometimes when I talk to doctors, and I prefer to jump straight to the point—

(If I remembered all the symptoms and details of every infection we get, my brain would literally have no room for anything else in life…that’s why details blur into instincts…sometimes we forget all the whys and we just do things, blending into daily life—)

And then weeks like this remind of why all of these actions are important…

(I’m supposed to see a surgeon myself tomorrow morning (about my neck infection the just won’t go away in spite of months and months of IV antibiotics), I’m hoping to that, then bring Noah to see you, but if he keeps coughing this way, I’m gonna bring him to you sooner…or take him to the ER…maybe a shot of an IV antibiotic and some fluids might help—

It’s just important for you to officially document this week…if I’ve learned one things from these ‘experts’, when I talk about infections, it rarely holds much meaning unless a doctor writes it down—

‘If he was reeeeeally sick, why didn’t a doctor write a note?’

They just don’t understand how much illness is such a part of our daily lives, we handle a lot from home—which doesn’t make it any more normal, it’s actually quite the opposite—it means the problem is so ongoing and reoccurring, we’ve built up survival skills any regular person doesn’t need to have—

Thanks for everything. It’s been a rough year at times, but Noah never would have made it through without you.

Warmly,
Tara

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tara Leigh
Date: May 31, 2018 at 2:02:42 AM PDT
To: Counselor
Cc: Assistant Principal
Subject: What are Noah’s options regarding his finals if he’s sick?

Noah has been sick all week, and I was hoping he was gonna make it through finals (and get better) but he’s been getting worse as the week has gone on, and now I can hear Noah coughing all night.

In spite of his illness, he’s been plugging through finals, and he’s actually very ready to take his English final, but he’s not as ready to take his French final and I think the fatigue from this illness is going to have a negative influence on him (as it would to anyone 🙂

In the event Noah is okay to come to school tomorrow, can he come for the English final, then take the French final on Monday or Tuesday?

Noah has to see his pediatrician as soon as possible, so I was thinking either he could take the English final in the morning, then I could take him to the doctor’s right after, though he might miss both finals if he’s just too sick. I’ll know more when I try to wake him in a few hours.

Right now, I keep waiting for Noah to stop coughing, but it’s almost 2am and he keeps coughing…unfortunately, he’s been getting worse all week—

I know Noah has a doctors note on file with the school, but since his is finals and this is extenuating circumstances, I will definitely get him another note if you need it. Most of Noah’s illnesses we handle at home, with various prescriptions Noah has on hand (since he gets sick often), but this infection is even worse than normal infections and he has to go to back to the doctor—

Should I contact Noah’s French teacher and explain? I know Noah’s been trying to ‘tough it out’, but he isn’t sleeping well at all tonight. Hopefully, he’ll be rested enough for the English final, but he’s not going to make it through both English and French. It’s too much stress and he’s not getting enough sleep, and French is already hard enough for him as it is. He’s coughing too much.

Sorry to bother you with this. Thanks for your help.

Warmly,
Tara