Part 91 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog

If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.

Some good news… Ben ate six bites of steak last night and kept them down. YAY! Then he took his night meds and kept that down too. DOUBLE YAY!! He still needs to get more fluid in him and more nutrition but he’s ever so slowly getting better.

Last night’s sunset was as tired as me I think. It showed up, did the thing and moved on.

I took my pill a little after 9:00 and was asleep pretty soon after. I knew that Ben would come for me early, even though Daughter is off and we told him to get Mommy.

2:30am I was on the couch. When the Bounce came I tried to get him to get in bed with me. Then I tried to get him to go get his mother, he said “Get Gramma” so I gave up and went.

I think he stayed awake. I can’t be sure because I did not. My body hit that OFF switch again, and my brain wasnt in charge again until around 5:00am.

He didnt feel warm to touch but I took his temperature anyway. It was 97.9 Yeah, no fever. (I think I’m just going to mentally add one degree to the reading. Those temple/forehead readers seem to read on the low side. Yesterday, when he was so hot to touch and it was only reading 99… I’m sure his actual temperature was higher.)

Meds at 6:30, crushed and mixed with water, taken via syringe with no problems. He spent most of his time on his tablet with his earbuds in. The past couple days he hasn’t even really been interested in his tablet, so it’s good to see him doing something besides sleeping and looking sadly pathetic.

Daughter got up at 7:30 with the “What time?” and the “Why didn’t you come get me?”. I gave my report, uncovered Sven and turned his lights on, then headed to my room for some Horizontal Time.

I dozed off almost immediately, I expected that. I also expected the Bounce that ended my doze at 8:30. I would have liked to sleep a little longer, but I take what I can get.

Ben hung out in my bed watching his tablet through the 10:30 meds (which stayed down, no problem) and beyond. We noticed that his cheeks were really red and hot, but he didnt feel feverish anywhere else. I got the thermometer just to make sure. 97.8 at his temple. Then I did it on his cheek just out of curiosity… 100.4 Wowza! I looked up red hot cheeks in the Goigle (ha, typo…gonna leave it and use it) and everything points to virus. This whole illness with its vague symptoms seems viral. That’s good and bad. Good because his body will eventually fight it off. Bad because it’s taking so long. Whatever kootie he has, it’s a tenacious one.

He fell asleep just before noon. We had already decided to skip the Adderall. We skipped his morning dose today too. Maybe it will help his appetite, although I haven’t noticed it causing any appetite suppression.

(Zeus was waiting for me to come out of the bathroom and Diesel chose to lay next to Zeus rather than with Daughter. She took the picture)

Ben woke up around 2:00. Daughter brought his regular meds plus some ibuprofen. His fever wasn’t back but he had been moaning and groaning in his sleep. It hurt my heart to hear. Ben has an incredible pain threshold, too high really, so for him to be expressing pain in his sleep… yeah, he needed some ibuprofen too.

Daughter ordered food from a Greek place in town. She told me this after she’d placed the order. I asked if she got my usual and if she got fries for Ben. She said she’s not stupid. I told her that sometimes she was. She countered with she is forgetful sometimes, it’s not the same. I conceded the point. The food arrived right after the doping of the face. (It takes more time now, talking him through NOT gagging and taking a breath between drinks)

Ben wanted to go to the living room and he wanted his more obedient servant (that would be me) to accompany him. I gathered his things and moved them, then made a second trip for my things. Daughter had coaxed him into eating one French Fry. I was able to get him to eat a few more. I know it’s not great nutrition but it’s something. Right now something is good enough. Especially when you remember that Ben has a very limited list of things he will eat. He will starve rather than eat something he doesn’t like. Getting him to even try new foods is hit and miss… mostly miss. This is different from the regular “kids don’t want to eat vegetables” kind of thing. Autism makes it a completely different thing altogether.

Younger Daughter called to tell me that Kris the ssssneezy, ssssick ssssnake sssshould’ve had her sssshot yesterday, but sssshe sssshed. (sheesh what a shentence) Anyway, she’ll be bringing the snake by later so Older Daughter can do the injection.

I think we’ll end the reporting of our Adventures for the day. Ben is getting better, but he’s still not well. Today was fairly chill. I got to spend more time on my bed than the couch, that’s always good. I know that no matter what happens, I’ll get through it, and I am thankful for every chill moment.

Thanks for stopping by Casa Cuckoo on this lovely Thor’sDay. Today was also Autistic Pride Day. Won’t it be wonderful when all people are just accepted for who and what they are and we don’t have to have specific “Days” for them? EVERY day will be a “pride” day. I believe we can make real what we envision. Come on by tomorrow, help me make the world all-inclusive just like Casa Cuckoo.

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HUGS!

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