A quiet few days have been had again 😴.
Poor Hermione. What a Winter we've had so far with poorlyness.
I used to really struggle with being suddenly taken out the loop in terms of normal routine, but I'm coming to learn that there is absolutely nothing we can do when Hermione falls ill. We just have to go with it and accept it will be a few days, possibly weeks, of downing tools, cancelling plans, and just concentrating on nursing her back to health.
But I feel so sad when she's ill, as her little personality becomes quiet and withdrawn, and she's just... Well, sad.
Her little humming is silenced, and she grimaces after waking, and I sit there wishing I could wave a wand and make her well in an instant.
The GP put her back on antibiotics for another respiratory infection, and they do seem to be working thankfully.
One of the things about Down Syndrome is that the extra copy of the 21st chromosome affects every cell in your body, and it can make some people with DS more susceptible to reoccurring respiratory infections, and infections in general. A lower immune system is part and parcel of DS, and therefore recovery time also takes that bit longer.
It's a pretty painstaking process how we get the antibiotics down her (currently in yoghurt with a huge amount of praise and clapping), and with each spoonful you just hope it sets to work immediately.
One positive that has come out of this winter of illness has been that she is actually starting to accept that a doctor will make her better. We signed 'we're going to see the Doctor' before we left for the appointment, and she grinned through her snotty face, and croaked 'doctor' and signed it. I think she was pretty bloody relieved she might get some medicine.
It's all those things you realise take longer to understand and are harder to explain to Hermione. Those general concepts of life; like who will make us better, and what we need to do in order to get better. Things that we may take for granted with a neurotypical brain. A neurodiverse brain still needs to understand these concepts to feel safe, and we as her parents must always strive to help Hermione with this.
It's a good feeling to think that we are getting there in terms of her knowing what happens when we are ill. We feel a little more reassured with each new word or sign around doctors, nurses, medicine and medical concepts in general.
We're just hoping for a bit of a break now, and for Hermione to have some fun again.
I'm sure it's just around the corner, and we're ready for it.
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