Painless

One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.

Sophocles

Our daughter had a shot today. It wasn't the first time that she has had a shot, she is half-way through her second round of shots. My wife and I have decided that she only gets one shot at each office visit. This makes us have to go to the doctor three weeks in a row but it makes the pain less for our daughter. At least that is the idea.
Today's shot must of been different because I have never seen my daughter act like she was today. She couldn't stop crying and it was an angry, I am hurt, why aren't you helping me? kind of cry. I looked into her eyes and she stared back into mine with this look of fear, pain and anger that I have never seen before in anyone else. She was looking to me to make her feel better and there was nothing I could do to ease her pain. I can't explain to her what is going on, why sometimes shots hurt. She can't tell me what hurts her, where it hurts or for how long it hurts. All I could do was look back into her eyes and cry. I felt powerless, like I had let her down and I just couldn't handle her little face being so hurt and afraid.
After about 2 hours of my daughter not acting right we called the doctor. Of course, the office was closed as it was 5:05 and we had to page an on-call doctor. If you have never waited for a doctor to call you back, the wiat time is tantamount to torture. When you have a screaming baby, and it's your first child, every moment that goes by waiting for the call is frustrating. By the time the call came I was all ready beginning to get our daughter in her car seat to take her to the emergency room. I shudder to think what that experience would of been like.
Thankfully, the doctor gave my wife some good advice and my wife was good enough to heed the advice. We got the baby to relax long enough to give her some Motrin and then we placed a cold towel on her leg close to where the shot was given. It took about twenty minutes but almost like magic our daughter returned to the smiling happy baby she has been since she first got into this world.
I have never really thought about how hard it must be for parents who have to deal with their kids when the kids get really sick. I am talking about cancer, heart problems or brain surgery kind of sick. I always felt compassion for these parents but after going through this small taste of what theat must be like, I honestly don't know how anyone can stay sane after going through that kind of an ordeal. Hopefully, I won't find out if my wife and I can stay sane through this. Perhaps, we will continue to be fortunate and our daughter will continue her healthy ways. I guess I have no right to ask for that good fortune but I am asking for it anyway.