'wawa caila

We had to rush Caila to the hospital last night (which, fortunately, was just across the street) because her temperature had suddenly shot up to 39.3 degrees. She wasn’t delirious or anything; in fact, she was her usual playful and active self, but of course I was alarmed. Before leaving our apartment, we gave her some paracetamol, so by the time the nurse checked her temperature, it had gone down to 38.6.
After the doctor checked her chest, mouth and ears, he told us that he wanted to run some tests. He said the symptoms all pointed to (minor) acute bronchiolitis, but he wanted to be sure.
First we went to have her chest x-rayed. I don’t know why but whenever we’re in a hospital or clinic and Caila needs to lie down, she immediately cries and struggles to get up. This time was no exception. We had to place her beloved stuffed dog near her head, I had to hold down her legs, hubby had to hold down her arms, and we told her that the nurse just wanted to take a picture of her chest (which kind of worked since she likes having her photo taken).
After that, we went to have her blood sample taken. I was really nervous the whole time the nurse was getting her blood. If hubby hadn’t been holding onto Caila’s hands very tightly, I’m sure she would have pulled out the needle. She was sitting on my lap and I was holding her head for her to face her toy dog so that she wouldn’t see what was being done to her other arm, but she kept struggling to turn her face. I felt so sorry for her; all throughout, she kept screaming and crying from the pain, but there was nothing I could do about it. When the nurse finally took out the needle and put on a Band-Aid, Caila began to calm down. She was saying “Wawa Caila” with matching sad face and showing us her arm every once in a while.
The next thing she had to do was use a nebulizer for 10 minutes. She thought she was going to get hurt again because she struggled and was letting out shrill cries when the nurse put the mask onto her mouth and nose, but after a few seconds, she began to relax.

Finally, we were done, and the doctor called us into his room again. He showed us the x-ray results, and based on the findings, he gave us a list of medicines that we needed to give Caila for 5-7 days.
It was a good thing she had insurance cover (courtesy of hubby’s company), otherwise we would have had to pay for all these tests and medicines, and I didn’t want to add anymore to our list of expenses.
Naturally, I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. I kept checking her temperature and making sure she was breathing ok. At 3am though, she felt really hot, and when I checked, her temperature read 39.1. She had also woken up by then and was asking for water (which we gave), and then hubby and I struggled to give her paracetamol (she really hates that stuff). I also put a cold washcloth on her forehead (she prefers this instead of the patch) to help lower her temperature. By the time my alarm rang at 5:30am this morning, her temperature had gone down to 36.6. She was still sleeping and she looked weak, but otherwise, she seemed fine by the time hubby and I left for work.
I wanted to stay at home, but I knew Caila was in Ate Cel’s good hands. Anyway, since I arrived at the office, I’ve been sending her text messages with reminders and asking for updates on Caila’s condition. According to Ate Cel, she’s ok; no reason for me to leave work early (that was good to know!).

This cold weather in the UAE is really affecting the entire population. So many people I know have gotten sick since the winter season started. On Christmas Day, I came down with the flu. This weekend, hubby had a fever. And now, Caila seems to have acute bronchiolitis. I really hope and pray things won’t get any worse and we’ll stay healthy the rest of the year.