Happy New Year ?!?!?

Are you kidding me?! This is how I start my new year? I thought it was a fresh start, a new beginning, a clean slate?!

Dilara has had headaches for as long as I can remember. She would complain when she would run around too much. We brought her to the doctor a few times about it. We thought about differential diagnoses that may be contributing to them: too much sugar, too much activity, not enough water, not enough sleep, too much light, anxiety or nervousness, sleeping the wrong way, not eating properly, sinuses, ears, throat, whatever else.

Saturday, January 6th. Dilara had already been to gymnastics once this week on Tuesday but this was a makeup day from missing a class in December. She was running around as her happy-go-lucky self, jumping on all the trampolines and swinging on the parallel bars, lunging herself from the rope swing into the foam pit multiple times. She ran up to me where I was waiting in the lobby, complaining of a headache, tingly nose, feeling jittery, a chalky throat, cotton mouth, her stomach was bothering her, and she just didn't feel right. It all sounded like a sugar problem to me, so I gave her a Werther's Original caramel and told her to drink some water. She felt better and went back to her lesson, a little while later we went home with no problems.

Later that day she said she "felt like gymnastics". She wasn't doing anything too taxing, and her symptoms were not really out of the ordinary, except for the tingly nose. What would cause a tingly nose? She described it as if she was about to sneeze but couldn't. A chalky throat was a little strange too, but she said maybe she used too much chalk on her hands at gymnastics. Over the next few days these symptoms became more intense and started occurring multiple times a day. She went to her friend Lila's house after school, but she was hesitant to go because of the way she was feeling, yet we encouraged her to go because maybe she would feel better once she was there. She came right back home, and this was very unlike her-- Dilara always wanted to be with her friends. Dilara and Lila just started becoming really good friends.

The jittery feeling never really subsided and eventually became a 'chattering teeth' feeling; you could also see the tremor in her hands when she held them outward. As she came off the bus on Tuesday, she asked to see her doctor. I called on Wednesday and made an appointment to see her favorite pediatrician, they gave me one for 2 days later on Friday. Dilara was upset with me because I wasn't going to be at the appointment with her. I am a traveling nurse working at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens in the Operating Room. Thursday, she stayed home from school because she was afraid to be without her mom or dad. ALL DAY LONG on Thursday and Friday Dilara called me numerous times crying, fearful and worrisome. But mommy had to go to work. Daddy is a stay-at-home Dad. Living on Long Island is not easy on the pocket these days whether they're deep or shallow.

Dilara became very emotional. Daddy took her to the doctor on Friday and was given a script for some bloodwork and told to follow up with the neurologist asap. As an experienced Registered Nurse for 13 years, I started to worry about her. Over the course of the week, I had my concerns but nothing that I thought needed emergency treatment. I've worked in the hospital as an adult med surg nurse for over ten years and I am very passionate about my job. Anyone who knows me, knows what kind of nurse I am and knows that I go to the ends of the earth for my patients. That being said, I am very in tune with my daughters every beauty mark, bowel movement, and bluffing attempt to get out of school, homework, or broccoli; this was not one of those. After a long week of uncertainty, I came home from work on Friday night to my Dilara, hugged her tight, wiped her tears, and tucked her into mommy and daddy's bed.