The Little (Ear) Drummer Girl
The trouble with having a child with an astounding threshold for pain is…they have an astounding threshold for pain.
Sure, there are times like during vaccinations or minor scrapes and bumps when it comes in handy, but mostly it’s just scary.
If my daughter should ever cry out in pain, we know it’s serious.*
Take the time she sidled up to the gas fireplace. Though it had been turned off for some time, the glass was still very hot and she burned a loonie sized section of her calf. Even a tiny burn is agony for most, but she didn’t even feel it.
A few days ago Avery seemed slightly under the weather — unusually tired and very pale. She had a low grade fever and not much of an appetite, but she didn’t complain.
When she woke up the other morning, weeping, I knew something was wrong.
She told me her neck hurt (I’m sure she meant her throat), and her tummy, and her ankle too. Who knew “the ankle bone was connected to the ear bone” because an hour later, her ear drum burst.
Our doctor confirmed the yellow liquid oozing from her ear was the result of an ear infection. Her ear continued to drain for two days, but with ear drops and antibiotics, the fever soon went away and her appetite and energy returned.
We had hoped the last set of ear tubes might be the last set…. apparently not.
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| Avery looking thoroughly annoyed about being kept home from school. |
* There are serveral studies linking children with a high pain tolerance to a variety of disorders from Aspergers, to ADHD to neurological issues.
