The Dobrindt Family: Snow Storm - Saturday, December 6

This is New England. We get snow, and usually a lot of it. But this past weekend we really got socked. In the area I live in, we ended getting around 30 or so inches. Here is how Saturday progressed.

7:00 AM: Woke up to Emily crying. Typical so nothing alarming. About 5 inches on the ground.

7:05AM: Emily not acting her usual self.

7:10 AM: Patti takes her temperature. Rectal thermometer. She is not happy. Temperature of 102.3

7:30 AM: Call her pediatricians office. I head outside to shovel. See my neighbors and chat about how this sucks but deep down inside it is kind of fun because all the guys are out and starting to fire up their snow blowers. It?s the weekend so no one has to go to work.

9:00 AM: Decide to head to the store to get food and beer for the afternoon plus some over the counter medicine for Emily. Doctor tells us to stay put since the storm is supposed to become a blizzard during the day.

10:30 AM: Parking lot of North Quincy Stop and Shop. I put the groceries in the passenger side and hit the unlock button to walk around to get in. When loading the groceries, I reached in and started the truck to give it some time to warm up. Since I was driving and not spending much time outside, I had a light jacket on with gloves and hat in the truck. What I didn?t realize was that I hit the ?lock? button, not the unlock.

10:31 AM: Try to open the driver?s side door. It?s locked. Quick and painful bolt of fear rips through me. I calmly walk back to the passenger side door. Try it. Curse really loudly but since the snow is blowing sideways at 100 miles per hour no one hears me.

10:32 AM: After standing, frozen by indecision and confusion at what to do, plus freezing blizzard, I call Patti to ask her to get in the other car and come get me with fever child.

10:33 AM: Realize I have the only two sets of keys to the other car. In the truck. Locked. We agree to call our friend and neighbor to come and bring me a spare set of truck keys.

10:45 AM: I am doing ok. I don?t want to leave the truck since it is running and all the stuff is inside so I decided to stay next to it. I am starting to get a little cold but doing ok.

11:00 AM: No friend and neighbor yet. Not a problem. My back is to the wind and sometimes I crouch down behind the truck to get out of the wind. People sometimes look at me for standing in the cold. But that?s ok, I probably look funny.

11:10 AM: These stupid plow guys drive by every freakin? minute to clear the lanes in the parking lot. Can?t one of them offer some help. At least see if I need help. Jerks.

11:25 AM: Can?t feel my feet. Teeth are chattering slightly but overall I am doing ok. I found one of those covered booths that people put their shopping carts in. I am now standing in there. I am soaking wet but out of the wind.

11:35 AM: Have to leave the shopping cart house because people look at me with disgust (they probably think I am looking for some money) or fear (they probably think I am looking for a victim). I go back to the truck. This Go***mn blizzard is killing me. I am really cold, my hands won?t open, I can?t remember what day it is.

11:45 AM: Over an hour here. Frozen through. Soaked. Can?t recall my social security number. Think I just saw a Moped sitting in the back of a blue Chevy that went by with an albino midget in a Santa suit driving. Wonder if Riverdance will come back to Boston. Would like to see it.

11:50 AM: Can?t move and hate the bags of groceries in the truck because they are laughing at me while warm and listening to the radio and they could unlock the door if they wanted to but hate me so they won?t but I will get them for mocking me standing here and DON?T LOOK AT ME YOU PERSON IN THE RED JEEP because I lied about not having lunch money in the 1st grade so I could buy ice cream for dessert but fessed up before buying the ice cream so I am forgiven of my sins HA HA HA.

12:00 Noon: Friend and neighbor pulls up. Gives me the keys. I open the car and it?s as warm as Jamaica on my honeymoon in the middle of a summer. I take off my wet jacket and slip in the comfort of the warmth and cry. Thank the good Lord for heaters and dry seats.

12:30 PM: Emily?s temperature is up to around 103.5. We have given her Motrin and Tylenol but they don?t work.

1:00 PM: Our doctor tells us to give her a warm bath to try to break the fever. She cries hysterically during the bath. We take her out, dress her and she falls asleep while in our arms.

1:15 PM: I shovel again. I have an electric snow blower that works if the snow is less than 6 inches. It works fine for my purposes.

3:00 PM: Emily wakes up but is on fire. Temperature is 104. Doctor says to give her some more Tylenol and keep giving her juice.

3:10 PM: Patti and Emily are happily lying in bed watching TV, drinking juice and eating crackers.

4:00 PM: Temperature down to 103.2. We feel a little better. The doctor tells us to check it every hour because the Tylenol should have dropped it more than that. Or the Motrin. One of them should have dropped it more.

4:15 PM: I shovel again. Weather channel is predicting worst of the storm to come in around 7 or 8. Would have been a great day except for worrying about Emily.

6:00 PM: Emily?s temperature steady but medicine will be wearing off soon.

7:00 PM: Take her temperature and is at 104.3. Decide to take her to Children?s Hospital ER in Boston. The nurse at our doctor?s call number says Mass General also has pediatrician ER capabilities. We discuss calling an ambulance or the fire department to help us through the snow and stuff.

7:10 PM: Decide to drive ourselves. Patti gets Emily ready while I shovel the driveway and get the truck ready.

7:20 PM: Three of us in the truck. It?s warm. I will never lock the keys in it again. We head out.

7:30 PM: Cross the line from Milton into the city of Boston. Roads in Milton are awful and we get through but it?s tough. City of Boston roads, at least the heavily traveled ones that we will take to the hospital, are plowed to the pavement. Great condition but its slow going. Roads are fine. Mayor wants to get re-elected.

7:45 PM: Pull into ER bay at hospital about 8 miles from our house. Let Emily and Patti out. Suddenly I am overcome with sadness. All day I knew she was sick but it was just a cold or flu or just a fever. I just thought it would pass like any other time she has been slightly sick. But taking her out of the truck with her so lethargic and an expression of worry on Patti?s face makes me a little emotional. This is my daughter going into the emergency room during the worst December storm in Massachusetts history, at the height of the storm, and there was nothing I could do about it. I am sure she will be fine but she obviously feels like shit and keeps looking at us to make her feel better. As I drive away from the ER bay to find parking, I say a silent prayer for her safety. My first child and if she were our fourth I am sure we would be much more relaxed, but she is not our fourth and we are worried.

7:55 PM: Walk into the ER to find Patti and Emily sitting in the waiting area. Find it kind of funny that the waiting room has a big fish tank with some Goldfish but a couple of cool tropical fish too and one that looks like the leader in the fish tank from Finding Nemo. Want to tell the goldfish that all drains DO NOT lead to the ocean and that they will probably die in that tank, but bring Emily and Patti to the receptionist instead.

7:56 PM: Receptionist person takes Emily?s information.

7:58 PM: Emily?s temperature has been taken (104.5), her heart rate and blood oxygen level taken and she has been given some Motrin. All under 5 minutes of walking up to the receptionist. Feel 100% better and 1000% sure we did the right thing by brining her here. For nothing else, peace of mind. Or in my case, piece of mind.

8:10 PM: Admin finishes processing us. Emily is playing in the kid friendly waiting area. Other sick kids and worried parents there. All look like some kind of flu or virus problems. No bones sticking out of shins or nails through fingers. All kids basically lying down on the benches looking freakin? miserable. Parents, siblings and nannies sitting next to them looking bored and tired, cold and anxious.

8:20 PM: Called into an examination room. During the next hour and 40 minutes they will check her, examine her, take urine and send to lab. Nurses and a doctor will check her ears, eyes, mouth and everything else to rule out anything serious and rule in that she is just sick with a bad fever and will get better. Emily is extremely good when strangers poke and prod her and only cries when they put a catheter in to get a urine sample. We take her temperature with a rectal thermometer which she DOES NOT like so she probably thinks we are going to do that. But she settles down right away.

10:15 PM: We leave the hospital. Her temp is down to around 101.5 and she should be fine.

10:20 PM: On the road and not much fun. But since there are no other nuts out driving the roads are clear.

10:40 PM: Let Emily and Patti out and get them into the house. Have to shovel now because there is 20 inches on the ground and it?s supposed to snow all night. See friend and neighbor Bill outside and he tells me how they, they being him, his wife and their eldest daughter who is 4, went to see Cat in the Hat but left early because it was kind of scary and the theater gave them an option to refund the tickets or give them vouchers for future use. They chose future use.

11:30 PM: Come inside to finally have some dinner. Try to watch Saturday Night Live because Al Sharpton is the host and Pink is the musical guest but they have a Best of Steve Martin special on instead. Later learn that some stations would not show it because Sharpton is running for president and there is a law that says stations have to give all political candidates equal airtime and local NBC affiliate, I guess, wasn?t sure if they wanted to give Wesley Clark and Howard Dean an hour and a half to host a comedy show too.

The Dobrindt Family

Random and often meaningless posts about my wonderful loving family written in an incoherent manner using run-on sentences with poor grammar...and other stuff

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December 08, 2003

Snow Storm - Saturday, December 6

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