Hello all,
Sorry, I'm a bit late with the weekly report; this should have happened Sunday. Better late than never?
Monday, Tuesday: I admit, I can't recall what happened on these days. I'm getting on in years.
Wednesday: Juliet discovers how to blow raspberries. Ok, sometimes it just comes out as a sound not unlike flatulence, but sometimes she gets it right. I'm not sure what's more amusing: when she does this with a look of glee, or when she practices doing it with furrowed-brow concentration.
"Thpbhhhhhhh..." (or however you spell that).
Thursday: As I'm getting ready to leave in the morning, Cassandra asks, "What is that noise she's making?"
"Thbphhhhhh..."
It is difficult, nay impossible, for me to see her do this without joining in.
Ross: "Thbphhh...."
Juliet: "Thbphhhh..."
Ross: "Thbphhhh..."
[etc.]
Friday: Around 10 pm we realize that she's almost out of blood pressure medicine. The bottle is dark brown glass, and we didn't realize how low it was. It can only be bought at one pharmacy in town (it requires some compounding, i.e. they have to do some work, rather than just dishing out the pills, and most pharmacies refuse to do it). Cassandra calls the order in to their automated phone system. The one place that will do it, People's Pharmacy, require 24 hours' notice to get the medicine ready. I think the main reason they will take the prescription is that they do this sort of thing in order to make New Age-style herbal remedies.
Saturday: I show up an hour before close. They have never heard about this order. The automated phone system said that the order was confirmed, but there is no record of it now. Oh, no. After checking that they really, really don't have anyone there who can do it by this hour, I race outside with Juliet, intending to call Cassandra and ask if she can call up the north Austin location and ask them if they can do a rush order. At this point I realize I don't have my cell phone with me. Shoot, shoot, shoot.
I drive back to Secret Oktober (Cassandra's store), and we strategize. We might, maybe, have one dose left in the bottle for Saturday night, but that's it. Calling the north Austin location reveals that they have closed already. Cassandra calls the south Austin location back and uses her best distraught mother imitation (ok, maybe it wasn't exactly an imitation), and they promise to bring someone in on Sunday to prepare it.
At home, we scrape up about half a dose from the bottle the normal way, then rinse it with water to make a weak half-dose more. She seems fine, but by this point the parents' blood pressure is definitely rising, anyway.
Sunday: I show up at the store as it opens. The only person who can do the compounding, has called in sick. I consider starting to shout, then realize that:
1) it's not like I really want someone unqualified to do this instead; improperly prepared medicine could result in an overdose, which would lower Juliet's blood pressure TOO much, and that would be even more dangerous than it being too high.
2) it seems unwise to upset the people I'm asking to prepare medicine for me.
Nonetheless, obstinacy is called for, and I am obstinate. The woman calls her manager, and they agree to call someone in on a Sunday to do the job. However, this will take time to arrange, and they won't have the medicine ready before 1 pm. Juliet was supposed to get her morning dose at 9:30 am. I ponder taking Juliet to the hospital, but it is unlikely that they would be able to move any faster, since this is not a medicine that they keep on hand either (babies don't have high blood pressure that often). They might even be getting it from People's Pharmacy themselves.
I take Juliet back home, and Cassandra and I spend the rest of the morning watching her for signs that she is ready to explode. I consider taking her blood pressure, but don't, for two reasons: there's not much we can do about it except wait for the medicine, and the act of taking her blood pressure upsets her, often raising her blood pressure significantly.
We open up Secret Oktober at noon like usual, then I go back to the pharmacy, wondering what to do if there has been another problem. Wonder of wonders, there is no problem. The medicine is there, all is well. I thank profusely the lady who came in on a Sunday at short notice to prepare the medicine, and race back to give Juliet a half-dose at 1:30.
We go home after the store closes, and give her her normal 9:30 pm dose, relaxing for the first time in two days.
The last thing I hear before falling asleep is:
"Thbphhhhhh..."