John will be coming home tomorrow. Seems like he has been gone forever. When the kids were little, he was gone what seems like "most" of the time. Being stationed on a submarine means hat he went out to sea very often. I would see some of the wives and kids crying and carrying on something awful when the boat would leave. I always tried not to make much of a big deal out of it because I didn't want to upset the children. They knew that when daddy was gone, there would be many trips to FRIENDLY'S for dinner and always ice cream afterwards. John being gone wasn't such a hardship on me because my job was always to take care of things at home. If something broke, I knew who to call. I always knew that John's work was important to him and he did a good job there and was willing to let me handle things at home. I think that is why we always got along so well.
When John was Commanding Officer of the USS Albuquerque in Groton, Ct. Jeff was about 8 and Jenny was 5. We went for a roadtrip with my sister, Bonnie. We went to Boston for a couple of days and the children saw Plymouth Rock and the Children's Museum in Boston. We stayed at a hotel with a pool and I had Jenny wearing a swim sweater while she was in the water. That evening she kept complaining that her shoulders were hurting. I figured that the swim sweater had irritated her skin and didn't think much of it. We drove back to Bonnie's house and spent the night with her before we were going to travel on home the next day. Both children were playing and acting normal. But the next morning when I woke up and Jenny was sleeping beside me, I felt of her head and she was absolutely burning up with fever. I immediately panicked and put the children in the car and started the 30 minute drive home so that I could get Jenny to the doctor. I went straight to the pediatrician's office. He examined her and said it was probably a virus and not to worry. I took her home and put her straight to bed. She didn't improve all day long and my mother's instinct just told me that all was not well. Her pediatrician was a civilian doctor and I just hated to go back to him the very next day, so I took her to the Navy hospital on base. The Pediatrician there told me the same thing. I was frustrated and just felt that my hands were tied and really didn't know what to do. I took Jenny home and laid in bed with her and she would sleep off and on and she continued to complain that her swim sweater had hurt her shoulders. I was a nerveous wreck!! John was out to sea and I knew he couldn't do anything to help matters anyway. I couldn't do anything except worry about Jenny. By the next morning, I hadn't slept all night and her fever continued to spike and she just was no better. I bit the dust and went BACK to my original pediatrician, and insisted on seeing a different doctor. This time, I saw the head of the practice and he was my favorite doctor anyway. Once he examined Jenny, he immediately told me that she had to go to the hospital. He said he would drive and I should follow him in my car. Jeff was with me, so I called a neighbor and asked her to please pick Jeff up from the pediatricians office and take him home with her. I would call my sister Bonnie from the hospital to pick him up.
Jenny was laying in the back seat, still so very sick. I followed Dr. Long to the hospital. They admitted Jenny and immediately did a spinal tap. Dr. Long explained to me that Jenny's neck was stiff. I hadn't realized this before and of course, I really panicked then. After what seemed like hours, the doctor came into Jenny's room and asked me if Jenny had been bitten by a tick recently. I told him not to my knowledge!! He explained to me that they thought she had Lyme Meningitis. They hooked her up to IV antibiotics for 7 days and each day she improved. To this day, I dont' remember any tick bite. Once Jenny was better and the doctor said she could go home the next day...I called John and told him all about it. I was torn as to whether or not to call him during the ordeal, but I knew Jeff was safe with Aunt Bonnie and I could stay with Jenny 24/7 and there was really nothing John could do except worry with me. In the end, I made the right decision about not calling him.
Jenny was fine, but what I didn't realize is that she may have been left with arthritis in many of her joints. Years later, she would complain about pain in various joints. After reading about Lyme Disease I found that one of the later symptoms is arthritis. Although Jenny was later tested, I have since learned that Lyme Disease is a very misunderstood disease and the tests are faulty. I just pray that the antibiotics she had were enough. But I'm fearful that it wasn't. I guess only time will tell.
In the meantime, Jeff would go running with his cousin Harry and Bonnie would take him swimming and he had a grand time staying with her.
I found out about Jenny's illness by a call from the Admiral I was working for while deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. I had been at sea for a month conducting important operations, and I had no idea that Jenny was so sick. The Admiral said I could turn over command to my Executive Officer and go home. I called home and learned that Jenny was already well, so I stayed with the boat. Very scary period!
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