The end of the month has not been without incident. On Thursday I took young J for some rather overdue training for a Swimming Distance Badge she is booked to try out for on 19th April. The idea being to better the distance of 100 metres covered last year at age 5, which is double what you see here.
She dived in professionally, swam the length, did a neat tumble-turn, and returned. Then she did it again. And again. And again…
In all, she did 16 lengths or 800 metres, without persuasion or coercion. She kept saying she would do two more lengths, and at the 16-count said she would still be able to carry on. I was quite amazed and said that was enough for now. Her swimming teacher had told us she was already capable of doing that distance, but I hadn’t believed her. J had, and so she proved it. I should have remembered, though, that her sister had done the same distance a year younger.
On Friday, morning though, J had a severe headache and was bringing up, and in the afternoon started having increasingly bad convulsions.
In some panic her mother and grannie rushed her to hospital, where very shortly they were met by the paediatrician J has had since birth. She was put on oxygen, given scans which showed that she had meningitis from infected sinuses. Two consecutive doses of antibiotic were administered on a drip, and she had a lumbar puncture to ascertain that the infection had not gone to bone marrow.
I had to stay to deliver R for a planned sleepover with a friend. feed the cats and dogs, do the chores, and chew fingernails to the wrist. By early evening I had the welcome message that the fever was down and J was out of danger. Her mother needed to stay with her so I gathered clothes etc. and set out to deliver them and fetch Much Better Half.
The car refused to start.
That is, the battery wouldn’t turn the engine over.
Fortunately, I managed to grab a passing runner, and with his help pushed to enough of a slope to get it going. Then, at the hospital end, I had to find a slope to park on while I did the delivery and collection.
This morning, J was discharged from hospital and arrived back relatively chirpy. It does not seem that there was any direct connection between the attack and the effort of the day before, but we will have to see. It will be sad if she misses a chance at the 800metre badge after she has proved she can do it, but it may well turn out that way.
Anyway, today I went to do some necessary shopping, and wisely parked near a downhill. Sure enough, in spite of all the charging the battery had received since initially going on strike, it simply got the starter to utter a pathetic moan. Straight to the spares shop where the tester promptly registered ‘Replace Battery’, so I did.
All in all, a lot of preparation … for a week visit by Elder Daughter, who is due to arrive from UK tomorrow evening … didn’t happen.
© March 2018 Colonialist
Colonialist's Blog 
Wishing young J a full recovery-there is nothing worse nor more worrying than a sick child. Your day sounds proof of the fact that it never rains, but pours! However, your excellent problem-solving skills were well utilised!
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That was not a good day. The doctor says she shouldn’t swim for a week. She utterly defies that ban, and her mother has given up.
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I am so sorry to hear about J. It must have been very frightening for all of you. I am delighted she is responding to treatment, long may it continue.
So glad you managed to keep the car going until you could get the battery replaced.
The other morning I was shocked to find when I opened my garage door that I’d left my lights on all night. The lights are automatic but I’d used manual for the fog, and it seems I didn’t notice the usual warning bleep. Fortunately, the car started first time!
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Thanks.
Your battery must be in really good condition!
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Amazing after four years and most journeys are short ones!
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Ag dis so sleg as die kleintjies siek is. Baie bly sy is beter!
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Dis wonderlik hoe dit gaan van baie, baie siek tot heeltemal vris!
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Re the meningitis, you’re sure there’s no connection with the swimming pool? Here, they say Insufficient chlorination and a too warm pool can result in kids getting the bacteria in their noses.
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Could be – but which pool, I wonder? The response was too quick for the blame to be laid at the door … steps … of the local Olympic-sized one.
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That’s a worry. We have occasional outbreaks of meningitis. As soon as I read J’s symptoms, knowing she’d been in the pool, I immediately thought of it.
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Well, not liking the meningitis bout but glad it resolved favorably. As for the battery, they do occasionally need replacing, but they should last a number of years.
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In olden times, a battery would register signs of aging like needing a boost now and again. The modern batteries work, and then abruptly they just stop working.
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Like union workers going on strike.
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