“Nevaeh, it’s time for school baby. Wake up,” I whispered as I lightly shook her arm.
“Mom,” she groaned, “my back really hurts. It’s so stiff again. Can I have some of my medicine?”
Taken aback by my daughter’s statement, I headed to the kitchen to get her medication. Maybe she just slept weird. It’s odd because she’s been doing so well. I wonder what’s causing this all of a sudden.
“Here you go honey,” I handed her the medication and a glass of water. “Take this and I’ll start getting your clothes out.”
“I don’t want to go to school today momma. I hurt. Can I just stay home?”
Remembering what the doctor said, I replied, “No, it’s important that you go to school. Remember the doctor said it’s important for you to stay physically active, and going to school will help you do that. You can always rest when you come home.”
“No, mom, I don’t think I’m going.”
I was still rummaging through Nevaeh’s closet trying to find a warm sweatshirt for her to wear that chilly day. “Nevaeh, you have to go to school. Besides, this is your last week before Christmas break,” I added, trying to convince her that she would only have to go a couple of more days.
“No, Mom, look!” Nevaeh said as she attempted to move. “I can’t move my legs at all!” she began to panic.
“What?” I spun around to see what she was talking about.
Sure enough, when I looked at my daughter, she was stiff as a rail and unable to bend from her waist down. Her whole lower body were as if it was stuck in a sitting position; she couldn’t stand up straight.
“Nevaeh!” I exclaimed, alarmed of her sudden onset of symptoms. “When did all of this begin? How long have you been like this?”
“I don’t know. I was pretty stiff yesterday. Lorraine gave me some medicine while I was at her house and by the time you picked me up, I was feeling a little better. When I went to bed, it started coming back but I figured I could wait for more medicine until the morning.”
“Oh, baby. No, if you hurt, you need to tell me. Every time! Sometimes you might have to wait a few hours until you can have another dose, but always tell someone so we know. I could’ve given you some right before bed. Were you only stiff yesterday or were there other days?”
She looked down at her legs and stared at the blanket until it became fuzzy from tears in her eyes. “I’ve been hurting for about a week. I just didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t mean to worry you and I was hoping that it would go away.”
“Sweetie, you have to tell me these things. It won’t get better on its own. You have to have medicine when this happens. I’ll call your school and let them know you’ll be absent today. Hopefully, you’ll feel better tomorrow.”
At this point, this was all I needed. I couldn’t afford to miss work right before the holidays. In dire need of cash for Christmas presents and money for bills, there was no way I could miss work. There was also the fact that I only had two points left until I would be terminated if I missed any more work. I called my best friend to see if she could come sit with Nevaeh while I went to work.
“Lorraine, I have a big favor to ask,” I announced when my friend answered the phone.
“What is it?”
“Nevaeh can hardly move. I think it’s her AS again and she must be having a flare-up. There’s no way she can go to school so I was hoping you could come sit with her today.”
“Well…I have to take Tyrone to work today because his truck is in the shop, but I can come over as soon as I drop him off.”
“Okay, what time will that be?”
“Around ten o’clock.”
“Oh, no. I have to be at work at nine. There’s no way you can come over earlier?”
“Hold on a sec,” she put the phone down and began calling for her husband.
I could hear a muffled conversation between the two of them as she asked her husband to bring her to my house and keep their SUV.
“Okay, I’m back,” she announced. “Tyrone’s going to drop me off at your house in about 45 minutes and then he’ll take the SUV to work and come pick me up when he gets off.”
“Perfect! You’re a life saver. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
Relieved that Lorraine was on her way, I called the school before I jumped into the shower. Washing my hair, I began to wonder if I should call the specialist. After a deep conditioning and some thought, I decided that it would be best if I did. This, after all, was Nevaeh’s first real flare-up since she’d been on the methotrexate and NSAIDS. Not wanting to take any chances, I made the phone call as soon as I was dressed with my wet hair wrapped still wrapped in a towel.