My Eye-Opener

I had a rather eye-opening experience yesterday.
I get a call from my mother-in-law saying that my daughter is running a fever (103) & that she has thrown up her tylenol. Now normally, I wouldn't go get her, but I have made this sort of silent vow that I am not putting work before my family anymore.
So I leave work, go pick her up & give her a tepid bath to cool her off. No luck, fever is rising & is 103.8, even after the bath. I'm not normally a paranoid mother, so I'm okay with the high fever as long as I know I can get it down. But for some reason I was a little more concerned than usual.
Off we go to the doctor's office. He decides she needs an x-ray to check for pneumonia. I noticed the X-ray tech looking at the films a little strangely, but hey, I'm not *that* paranoid mama, so I'm okay. Then I see it for myself. The spine is very very crooked. Probably just scoliosis, I think. But wait, her heart looks very enlarged? And why does her liver shadow look so big?
The doctor comes in & states that he thinks she was rotated & that he would like a repeat X-Ray to check her spine. He also feels that she looks just a little jaundiced & wants to check her liver enzymes & a blood count.
Okay. Paranoid mother is here. I call my husband. All sorts of scenarios are playing through my head. I have always been unable to watch the starving children or St. Jude commercials because just the thought of an ailing child is enough to make me cry. I've always said "I couldn't handle having a sick or terminal child". So the thought that something may be wrong with my precious little girl is enough to send me into a panic state. I started praying. Hard.
Luckily, everything checked out. She was rotated, her liver enzymes were normal. She is very sick & still running a fever, but she got an injection & is on oral antibiotics, so I am sure she will be fine in a few days.

My prayers are with all the mothers & fathers who have to live out my worst nightmare. My prayers are with the children who have to endure countless tests, needlesticks, and x-rays. My prayers are with the nurses who have to inflict pain on a child that doesn't understand you are only trying to help them. My prayers are with the doctors who have to break the news to a parent that their child is going to die, and there is nothing they can do about it - but pray.