Buttcrack Blues!

The nurse at Alex's pediatrician office didn't know how to spell the word "diarrhea" as she updated Alex's chart.  "How many R's?"  she mused.  "How many H's?"  I found this incredibly suspect considering that, as an alleged pediatric nurse, this has to be a word that she is forced to write down at least six times a day.  I tried to help her out but I think she may have just incorrectly attempted a few spellings before shrugging off the whole thing and just scrawling out "the shits."

Breaking news.  This baby's ass is disgusting.

Alex has had severe diarrhea from the antibiotics that were given to him after he developed a pus-filled abscess right in his buttcrack.  He's off the antibiotics now and the abscess seems to be shrinking, slowly, but also seems to be regenerating more pus.  The doctor today, on Alex's third follow up visit, finally gave me the number to a pediatric surgeon who may have to remove it if it doesn't make better process in the next couple weeks.  Holding the card to a pediatric surgeon- even for something which I have to hope and assume is a relatively minor procedure (right?)- made me want to sob a little.  I don't want my poor baby to suffer through any disease, malady, plight, blemish, infection, inconvenience.  And I certainly don't want him to have to see a surgeon of any sorts.  I need Alex's little buttcrack bump to heal, immediately, so we can just forget the whole thing and go back to normal, not butt-focused life.  This sweetheart of a little boy sure is growing tired of having me poke and prod so much down there, and spending so much time near the asses of my two children- Alex with his abscess and Andy with his potty training work- is just plain draining.  I'm forgetting what their faces look like.

Alex is still smiling, though, because he's the world's happiest baby.  Andy is still smiling, too, even though he knows that Alex has a "sick butt."  Chris is smiling because hockey's back in session and his hair has been looking phenomenal lately. And me?  Well, I'm smiling, too.  Even though I feel a little sick and vomity about the whole thing, I know that Alex is and will be a-okay.  Even if they lance off this abscess and have to put his butt in a cast.  Which I'm telling myself right now is the worst that could happen even though I've made the mistake of Googling this whole thing and reading about staph infections and super bugs and blood poisoning and let me tell you right now, if you're senseless enough Google it, too- do NOT look at the Google images.  Oh boy, big mistake.  Where do they GET these pictures???

Anyway.  Still smiling.  Deep breaths, Mommy Jackie.