Blended Family

Lin

Joey was pissed I was making her stay home from school yet again. Elliott had informed me yesterday morning that she'd been drinking 5-Hour Energy in ridiculous amounts. I'd been so busy that Joey easily had been able to hide her struggling. Now that I had her home, I could see how tired she really was. Yesterday, she slept nine hours during the day, then went to bed again at nine p.m. She had bags under her eyes, which she'd hidden well with concealer.

The doctor didn't have an opening yesterday, but they had one today. Around 10:00 I woke my daughter up and told her to get dressed for her appointment. She made it clear she thought I was overreacting, but half an hour later she was dressed and ready to go. The doctor was just a few blocks over, so we walked together.

"I need to go back tomorrow," she told me as we walked.

"We'll see," I told her, anticipating that she wouldn't.

"We have a debate team run through," she went on. "It's important to practice for our next meet."

"If you miss it, the world will not end," I told her, but she was unconvinced. We arrived at the office and I checked her in as she messed around on her phone. Soon, we were called back. The nurse took her weight, height and blood pressure, all of which were normal.

As we waited, I leveled with my daughter. "You need to be honest with the doctor," I told her. "I've been busy lately so I may not have been noticing things. You won't get in trouble. I just want you to tell her what's going on."

She sighed, slouching in her chair. A few minutes later, the doctor walked in and shook my hand, then Joey's. "What can I do for you today?"

I looked at Joey, signaling for her to tell the doctor everything. She sighed and sat up a little straighter. "I guess I've been super tired lately," she told the doctor. "And school's been really intense."

She nodded, taking notes on her computer. "Have you been getting nine hours of sleep a night?"

"No," she told her.

"How much?"

She looked at me, looking nervous. "It's okay. Tell her."

"Ummm...maybe six?" she confessed.

"Have you used anything to help you stay awake?" the doctor went on.

"Yeah. Five Hour Energy shots," she said, rubbing at her arm.

The doctor nodded. "How many a day?"

"Three," she said nervously. "Sometimes four."

"I've seen a lot of teenagers and young adults relying on those lately," she said. "They have a ton of caffeine. Two hundred fifteen milligrams, which can be over five times the amount of a typical soda. Consuming four a day is way more than recommended. Have you been feeling jittery?"

Joey nodded, tucking her hands between her legs.

"Anxious? Changes in your heartrate?"

She again nodded, biting at her lip. Frankly, I was a bit annoyed that Joey was resorting to so much help. She had been jittery and had changes to her heartrate? It bothered me that she was just pushing through and not taking it as a warning sign.

"Okay," the doctor said. "I'd like listen to your heart and have a feel of your lymph nodes. "

The doctor positioned the stethoscope in her ears and wheeled herself towards Joey. She instructed my daughter to breath in and out as she moved it around her chest and back. She then used both hands to feel around her neck.

"Your lymph nodes seem a bit swollen. I'm going to run a blood test to find your white blood cell count. I suspect you might have mono. Have you heard of that?"