Michelle October 16th, 2009
When I picked Gavin up from the daycare on Tuesday, his teacher had some concerns. She said that he had not had a very good ‘Gavin day’. He fussed when asked to do things, got upset at lunch, woke up crying during nap, and refused to sing his ABC’s when he washed his hands (he always sings them). We had noticed on Monday that his left eye was watery and the left side of his nose was stopped up. So, we started the ‘get well’ regimen… Motrin, Tylenol, Vicks on his chest, and a Vicks humidifier in his room. He got a couple of hot baths and lots of snuggle time. His flu shot was scheduled for Thursday and we wanted to be sure that he could get that.
I called the doctor’s office on Wednesday to be sure that it would be ok to get the shot. They assured me that as long as there was no fever that it was fine. So, we were going on Thursday. Then, I got a call on Thursday… out of flu shots. They had the nasal kind. So, that is what we will get.
We talked about how the nurse would be squirting some medicine in his nose. I told him that he had to hold very still and do exactly what the nurse told him. We were walking into the doctor’s office and Gavin says, ‘Just like Grandma BB?’. Grandma BB has an oxygen tank that she has to use sometimes. So, Gavin had associated putting medicine in his nose with her oxygen tube that goes in her nose. He is an obvervant kid with an intriguing little mind!
So, we get into the doctor’s office and are done in less than 10 minutes. Gavin held very still and they squirted half the gel up one side and the other half on the other side. Done deal!
Friday morning rolls around and Gavin’s nose is still runny. And, his breath is nasty! We had him brush his teeth after lunch and he took a nap. He sounds so congested… poor kid! While he was napping, Scott and I were talking about his ‘breath’. We realized before his nap that the smell was coming from his nose. Ick!
The plan… use a q-tip dipped in warm salt water and clean his left nostril out. Then, squirt a little bit of saline wash in there. Then we would reevaluate on Saturday morning after soccer and call the doctor at that time. We wanted to catch the infection as soon as possible.
I sat down in the living and had Gavin sitting on my lap facing me. We tried to blow his nose… nothing. We got out ‘the bulb’. I sucked some snot out and then looked again. I had Scott look. Then we asked THE question (which had already been asked earlier with a big NO)… Gavin, did you stuck something up your nose?
Gavin says, “It’s paper towel, I think.”
Scott looked at me and I looked at him… ‘Tweezers?’. I talked to Gavin about what we were getting ready to do. I told him that he had to hold very still just like at the doctors. Then, Scott came down the stairs with the tweezers and a flashlight. He was thinking that we were going to shine that up Gavin’s little nose… Gavin was NOT happy about the light. So, we put the light away.
I asked Gavin to hold still and explained what was getting ready to happen, again. I used the tweezers, reached into his nose, and pulled out a tiny piece of something. I tried a second time. Gavin was getting kind of squirmy. I got another little piece. Then, I explained that if he did not hold still… we would be at the doctor’s office and they would not be as gentle. He held very still. And, this is what I ‘caught’…

Eeeeewwwww! The stench! It was gross! But, I looked at Gavin and said, ‘Does your nose feel better?”. Gavin looked at me with a big grin and said, ‘Oh, yes’.
So, what did you do on Friday night? =)