( continues...) pharmacy, to tell nice pharmacist lady who flirts with him (and I must send her a note to tell her I will throw in the root - gratis) the whole story. She thinks it's probably fine to give Ben the Biaxin. Scott calls me, and I say, "Okay, if she thinks it's okay, do it." By now, Ben's temperature is up to 100.9.

While he's en route home, Ben's hives re-emerge in the same exact cluster. I call, but it's too late. He's already got the medicine He gets home, take Ben to the ER. They spend approximately 4-5 hours there.

GOOD NEWS: Ben doesn't have pneumonia. If he did have it, he has recovered to the extent that it is not showing up in the chest xray.

MEDIUM NEWS: We don't know why he's still feverish. They did a culture, but don't do the rapid strep kind, so we won't know for a couple of days.

ANNOYING NEWS: Don't give him the Biaxin, because it was dumb for the doctor to prescribe it, AND the hives may well be from the Zithromax and he's very likely to have a cross reaction.

BAD-ISH NEWS: So, he may well be allergic to two of the primary antibiotic families out there. (I will be requesting tests at some point in the future).

NEWSY NEWS: He's on steroids and an inhaler 'til the chest clears. The doctor wants him kept home at least through tomorrow. Honestly, because steroids weaken the immune system, it's fairly unlikely I'll send him to school before Thursday.

SUMMATION: I am so tired and I'm sure my poor husband is, too, which is why I am throwing in the root, gratis, to the pharmacist.

Poor Ben! What an ordeal, and it's not even over. I hope he makes a swift recovery. I wish the same for your marriage.

Egad, Cindy! That sound like a completely horrific weekend for you and your family. I hope Ben's on the mend and you guys recover.

Owen asked to go to bed at 7:00 p.m. tonight. I suspect someone replaced him with a pod child.

Oh, baby. ::hugs Cindy gently:: You so deserve cake and hot tea, or possibly wine. Hell, all three.

All kinds of healing vibes for all you, Cin.

{{{Cass}}}

Thanks, P-C.

The marriage is good, because we are too poor for it to be otherwise. No, that's not true, and not fair. There was just one little unilateral decision made after discussion which concluded that we'd decide completely the other way thing, but that got all ironed out early on, and I fell in love with him all over again, when I called to tell him about the hives and he said, "Oh, this is enough for that poor kid. I'm just taking him to the ER."

Now, where's this biodata stuff? I must have skipped those pages. I am using a different computer, and just went to 'recent', then back-paged a little, then finally remembered to log onto the board.

Thanks, Cashmere and Amy. (I have cake mix but no energy and no oil.)

Am applying wine, now. Am in cellar with windows open, because I won't smoke in the house, proper, and needed one, although I think this all has reinforced my desire to quit.

Has anyone tried the Commit Lozenges?

Oh, Cindy that sounds so hard to go through - for Ben and for the rest of you! Sending the healing vibes Massachussetsward.

Now, where's this biodata stuff?

Right here, lady. And read some of those testimonials. People sure do think I'm awesome.

Well, because you are. Personally, I'm now 'shipping you and d.

I have to go teach Ben how to use the inhaler. Adios amigos

Sheesh, Cindy, what a clusterfuck. I hope Ben--and you and DH--all feel better soon.

ETA: Raq, insent to your yahoo email.