Campcation Cut Short

If it wasn't bad enough that our last minute choice to go camping and floating on the Meramec River wasn't disorganized enough (we won't talk about how I forgot to pack pots for cooking, bug spray, charcoal or pillows for King Ralph and I) it suddenly came to screeching halt at 530am today.

I guess when our child returns for her first weekend home from college in a lethargic state we should have heeded the warning sign as to what could come. Or when she woke on Saturday morning saying her throat hurt a little; we shouldn't have brushed it off with the statement "you must have drainage". Maybe when she got a fever midday and I was feeding the Princess ibuprofen like M&M candies, the sirens should have blared, to me, to pack up and leave right then.

So this morning at 530am when an 18 year old Princess A stood at the foot of my camper bed crying saying how sick she felt, didn't sleep all night and how terrible her throat hurt I knew this was something more. I tried really hard to find an urgent care center in the area where we were camping that our insurance accepted. Not because I wanted to continue camping or even go floating but, because I wanted the fasted medical care I could get for my sick Princess.

Who would think this river town has nothing my insurance company can offer. No urgent care centers closer than 75 miles. No Walgreens with a nurse who does rapid strep tests. Or even a doctor willing to make camper calls. So we packed fast and made a b-line for our doctor's office before the Sunday hours ended.

All the doctor had to do was look at that swollen, tonsils-meeting-in-the-middle, flaming red, purple, black and blue, bloody, puss throat and know what was wrong.

Strep!

Actually I was worried it could be mono so, a positive strep culture was a welcomed relief.

And although the owner of the campground and float company is the biggest penis along the Meramec River I managed to convince him that rain checking our float trip to October 2008 wasn't in the least bit sensible. I got it extended to June 8, 2008. It was almost obvious this man has never fathered a child or is just plain heartless.

I think both.

I am so glad that she is home for me to take care of and not lying around in her dorm room alone feeling like poo. Now I'll just pray that my Princess who is now having a sickcation is well enough to return to college tomorrow.

Here's to the speed of antibiotics.