ciao!
i began writing this post a week ago, then had to walk away from it multiple times because i just wasn’t ready to write it, read it, post it. we’re back in orvieto now–after a week on the amalfi coast–and have been for a little over a week. it was beautiful. the amalfi coast! it doesn’t get much more beautiful in fact. i wish i could stop there and then post a bunch of beautiful pictures of positano from the water, undoubtedly one of the must beautiful vistas on earth, but our trip ended rather intensely. before you go any further, everything is okay now! now you can go on.
on thursday evening, i felt anders’ head as we went to bed and it felt a little warm. then, in the middle of the night, warmer. sure enough, he woke a bit out of it with a fever. that lasted about two days, with him continuing to nurse a lot and sleep a bit more than usual. nothing too out of the ordinary though sick babies tend to put me on high alert in the best of circumstances…and in a foreign country? even more so. on the third day, the day of check out and travel back to orvieto, he became very lethargic, was vomiting, and would not nurse at all. here we are on a bus to positano to catch a boat to salerno to catch a train to orvieto (several hours of travel altogether) and my baby was really sick. my fear was growing by the second as he continued vomiting and being nearly unresponsive. i began to feel so out of my comfort zone, so scared and desperate. experiencing all of this while on vacation so far away was really nightmarish. steve and i made the decision to go to a hospital in salerno with anders and send the rest of the family north on the already booked train back to orvieto. that was really emotional. we arrived at the salerno hospital by taxi and within a few hours had bloodwork done for him and an iv for fluids. he was hardly responsive upon arrival. add to that, we speak so little italian (our fault!) and the main doctor spoke so little english and, without going into too much detail, the hospital was nothing like what we expected or are accustomed to. it felt like nothing was happening fast enough, that everyone was calmer than they should be based on anders’ condition (if they hadn’t been calm, no doubt that would’ve made it much worse!), that i was in some awful nightmare, and how incredibly stupid and selfish it was of me to take my baby abroad when we have a hospital so close to us at home where i could find proper help for him immediately. it felt very surreal, even in the midst of it, and it felt like i was just floating through it all.
finally, an older doctor whose name i’ll never forget walked in and had the most comforting presence, spoke great english, and hugged me as i stood there, fear all over my face. i said, “i’m really scared,” he said, “of course. you are a mother.” he was nothing short of an angel to us. i will be forever grateful to him. he was not overly concerned, he assured me that he will recover, and he gave the most wonderful eye contact as we spoke. we got a room in the hospital, while anders remained receiving fluids, and waited on results.
in the end it seems to have just been a really wicked virus that he was having a hard time fighting. it was all made so much more intense and terrifying with the language barrier (even having to figure out his temperature equivalent in celsius–things you don’t consider!), without working phones or wifi (a side note: they were working for a month–a must for me when abroad for this long–and then stopped working on september 1 when i had explained (i thought) that i needed them working through october. we didn’t have access to the WIND store in the big cities to get them working again and the hospital would absolutely not give access to their wifi.), with our family traveling north with no way to get in touch with them, with steve being told he would need to leave to find a place to sleep (there were zero hotels near the hospital, he checked! finally they allowed him to spend the night and after the three of us attempted to sleep in one child-sized bed, he slept on the floor on a blanket, bless him.), with the conditions of the hospital, without knowing how or when we were going to get home. words fail entirely to do justice to how scared we were. it was terrible. now here we are, over a week later, and anders is himself again. oh how i longed for him to be his crazy, energetic self again. i am so grateful.
i am leaving out so much. there’s really no way to explain it all. the most important detail is that everything is okay now. i need to remind myself of that over and over again as i continue to go back to that day. i am incredibly grateful to the doctors who took care of anders and knew just what he needed. i’ve since emailed with the kind, older doctor (some blood results and such) and he has assured me, “your baby is good. his immune system is perfect. be happy.” i will try to leave this behind me and take his good advice. not before i thank him a million more times though.
You poor love, it must have been scary when you were so out of your comfort zone and kids just love to scare us mamas! 2 years ago we took a family holiday to my home island which is called North Uist and is part of The Outer Hebrides of Scotland. To put it into context once you leave the West Coast of Uist, the next place you hit is America. It is literally in the middle of nowhere and whilst there are doctors and a vary basic hospital, if anything serious happens you have to be airlifted a couple of hundred miles to the nearest good hospital. Anyway my baby girl got very sick, really high temp, not taking liquids, not wetting her nappies, not eating etc etc. I have genuinely never been so scared because I was very aware of how far away everything was so whilst I am not claiming exactly how you felt, I can certainly sympathise. Hoping the rest of your trip goes by with less drama!! 🙂 Take care xx
How absolutely horrifying. I'm so grateful he is okay but can imagine how this was a nightmare. !!!!! Hugs hugs hugs.
My heart is pounding while reading it, I'm so glad and thankful he is ok, you are and that you found someone so kind and understanding at last, so precious. Having your children ill is the scariest thing – let alone being in a foreign country and with language barriers.It's so! hard. I'll keep thinking of you all.
Oh lady. I am so so so sorry. As a lady fighting health issues I see the look of terror and fear on my parents faces when a treatment doesn't go well, my body doesn't cooperate how we all want it to, or something is wrong and I am an adult. I can only imagine the absolute TERROR of having all of those emotions and then it being your baby AND being out of the country. My heart literally sank as I read your words as I am sure that even though things have ended well (SOO glad to read that) the potential dark cloud that this has come over your trip and in these last few days and weeks abroad. My prayer for you is peace and joy and that you will be able to forget the terror (somehow!!) and rest. I am so so sorry. Sending gentle hugs across this internet space.
Blessings, Rebecca
Oh goodness, this post hit home for me in such a major way. A year ago, we were living in Mexico City when our baby boy came down with croup. He was gasping for every breath and having to navigate a foreign hospital without speaking Spanish was the biggest nightmare of my life. There is no feeling quite so desperate and helpless as being unable to communicate in an emergency. So glad your little one is feeling better; I hope you're all able to take tourmaline doctors advice to 'be happy' now that this has passed
How scary for you and your family. I'm so glad that Anders is doing OK!
Oh, Bridget, how terribly scary for all of you….I can't even imagine. So very happy that Anders is doing good and that you encountered that sweet Dr who could assure you that your baby was fine. Sending big hugs to you, sweet mama!
Oh wow bridget. My mama heart just broke into a thousand pieces as I was reading. I cannot imagine how terrifying that must have been. I'm so happy that you have all come out the other side in one piece especially Anders. Sending you all the good vibes, karma etc. from this side of the pond! Hope the rest of the trip is just sun, laughter and happiness.
Oh my, how utterly terrifying. I'm so glad Anders is doing well. I hope you can find some peace on this side of it.
You handled it like a pro. And I want that doctor to be my grandpa.
I can't imagine how distressed you were. Being somewhere foreign and needing medical help can be so frustrating! I had a similar experience in an italian clinic as well. I am glad a Good and caring doctor appeared.
There is nothing scarier than a lethargic, sick baby. We won't through that when Henry was 7 months old. It was the scarier thing I have ever been though (and I've had cancer). Being a mother is no joke. The only silver lining I have found from that experience with Henry is that I now know to trust my instinct and how to recognize exactly when my baby needs care RIGHT NOW. Glass half full a year and a half later. 🙂 I'm so glad he is ok!
What an awful scare you guys had, my heart goes out to you. Wishing you a return to peace as you heal from the experience. So glad Anders is ok! Hugs!!
oye. Tears while I read this. Being a parent is the most vulnerable thing! You did amazing. I have imagined the feelings of refugees in the crisis, so many times lately. Like how hard it would be to be with a baby or kid in that situation. your experience gives you a glimpse into that hey? Anne Lamott writes somewhere about how before she became a parent she thought she could tackle any sort of horrible life circumstance (even cancer or a friend dying) but suddenly upon becoming a parent she knew she was screwed cause she wouldn't be able to live through anything happening to her kid.
so so scary. It's hard enough having them get sick like that here at home, but I'm sure it was ten times worse being somewhere where you can't communicate fully with the doctors. I'm so glad to hear everything is OK, and that it was just a virus. It sounds awful though, and like such a mommy nightmare! Hoping for good health the rest of your trip!
I'm so sorry you had to experience all this while on vacation. I understand that "please God someone, anyone help us" feeling. One of our twins has mild epilepsy and that feeling is familiar. It is unbearable. I'm so glad you had that Doctor to comfort you. It's amazing what kindness and humanity can do even with the challenge of the language barrier. You're a great mother. enjoy the remainder of your trip! Xx Rachel of "David and Rach" ❤️
So good Anders is his sweet self again. Thank goodness you had your parents there. Actually, praise the Lord. And, for his care! Here's to healthy days as you continue on this amazing trip of a lifetime!
Oh my word so scary!! Glad to hear your little guy is ok! My husband and I had this chat literally two days ago about traveling with our boy (he's only 5 months now) , I want to take him to India soon but my husband is nervous- I think considering you were in Europe it goes to show stuff can happen anywhere and being able to communicate and be near a hospital is key? you will have to do one of those traveling with a baby posts, I've read one on another blog and it was SO helpful. Loving reading your posts, hope everything is good for the rest of your trip!
That is terrifying. I am so glad he is fine now!
So glad to hear that Anders is okay! Is it alright to comment that I love how he's just chilling in that Eames chair like a boss? Definitely the coolest kid in the room.
I'm so glad he is well and everything is ok. It's always terrifying to get sick in a foreign country.
amen to all that has been said but one should add Kudos also to Lindsey & William & evidently young Parker as well. During the emergency the three were able to travel on by themselves from salerno to orvieto & there they managed to look after each other for at least a day with no contact whatsoever with their parents.
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even after contact was established it's likely the 2 teens continued to manage food, housing & care of Parker all on their own, until baby Anders could be released from hospital & the family could be reunited. Pretty impressive.
ah. while the three of them certainly did rise to the occasion on many levels, my mother and father have been traveling with us for the last few weeks and were here when all this happened (if you follow on instagram, you would've seen them!). so they traveled back with them on the train to orvieto. i don't think we'd have allowed them to do it themselves though perhaps they could've managed it!
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