104 Fever Hisbodedus
My three year-old daughter spent Tuesday evening shaking and throwing up after suddenly coming down with a 104+ fever. A lukewarm bath was able to temporarily bring her temperature down to 102, however she still continued to throw up and her temperature climbed back up to 103.4 before she went to bed.
In my hisbodedus early Wednesday morning I said:
Ribbono shel Olam, it is written in the Gemara, "The world endures only for the sake of the breath of the mouths of school children." How then can You prevent my daughter from going to school today to learn Torah and sing Your praises?
At school, she sings this song, "Shalom, shalom, Mommy. What do you say? Tell me, tell me Mommy. What do you say? I say, 'Baruch Hashem. Hashem takes care of me every single day.'"
Ribbono shel Olam, don't You see that my daughter acknowledges that You are the One who takes care of her? Please have rachmonus on her and send her a refuah shleima!
13 Comments:
That is so scary - I hope she is feeling better - a refuah shleimah.
Refuah Shleimah to your daughter, ASJ. Your hitbodedut is very powerful and beautiful. Now that it is Thursday, has the fever gone down at all? High fevers are not so uncommon in young children (I remember having 105 degree fever at age 4), but it is certainly scary for the parents...
Shoshana, MCAryeh, and Mirty: Thank you all for your concern. My daughter's fever came down considerably yesterday and she will be going back to school today.
It's often helpful for the child to drink Pedialyte (it's under OU supervision) to restore electrolytes lost by vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Pedialyte is also available in a kind of freeze-pop form that can be frozen in your freezer. Good for adults, too!
Thanks for the tip Anonymous. The OU symbol is certainly hard to find on Pedialyte. They have it hidden next to the Ingredients section. It took a lot of looking the first time.
A - Refuah Shalayma to your daughter! Certainly a very scary experience.
A 'trick' I was told by some emergency room nurses for such a situation. You can give, in such an emergency, appropriate child-sized doses of both Advil (Ibuprofen) and Tylenol at the same time. On a few occasions when we had very high fevers with my young ones, this trick always worked.
In a Baal Shem Tov'ish answer to your question, how can Hashem stop your daughter's praises? Perhaps today he preferred the hitbodedut and cry to the heavens of the parent.
That IS scary stuff. B"H - I am glad to hear that the fever has come down. As a parent, the helplessness felt in these situations is hard to parallel.
My wife and/or I have sat up many a night bathing children and/or placing cold wet towels to bring temperature down.
At those times prayer takes on a whole new reality, dosen't it...
Refuah Shelaima!
I have also been told in the ER to do what Akiva mentioned, and yes, it does work!
Akiva & Chabakuk Elisha: Thank you for the advice. I will be sure to use that "trick" next time.
Refuah Shleimah
I can imagine how scary it must have been for you.
When I was a kid and I was in pain or sick, my father always told me that he felt the pain more than me.
Now as parent, I understand what he meant.
The scariest moment I have ever experienced was when my wife brought my 1 year old son to me, crying and limp. Baruch Hashem he was OK. My brother though has a daughter with leukemia. I don't know where he gets the strength from, but Hashem never gives us a nisayon that we cannot cope with. Barhuch Hashem she is on the way to recovery.
I never had time today to post a comment on your learning schedule. Yashar Koach, it is very impressive, that is a lot of Mesirut Nefesh. I now learn half day in Yeshiva, but I understand how difficult it is to keep up a learning schedule from when I used to work full time.
It is also a very good indication of your Midot that you reply to every comment.
Yehudi Yerushalmi: Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment here. The situation with your brother's daughter certainly is a nisayon. I too do not know how someone can handle something like this without bitachon in Hashem. Perhaps that is the source of his strength.
Finally, I appreciate your complement on my learning schedule. While it is large, I still am not able to devote the amount of time that I should be to learning. As I wrote before; while I cannot do everything, I can do something:
http://asimplejew.blogspot.com/2005/05/but-you-can-do-something.html
I'm a little late but I'm glad your daughter is doing better.
Thanks PT!
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