Well, I've just spent a reassuring 17 hours at the hospital with Emily. She's doing much better than she was at this time yesterday, when she was pretty much a limp dishrag. (She was ill enough that when the triage nurse saw her in the ER yesterday afternoon, she got bumped to the top of the list and moved directly from triage to a bed in about ten minutes. After our four-and-a-half hour wait in the waiting room last Thursday night, I was seriously impressed.)

She's doing a lot better today, though, after a night of getting intravenous fluids and antibiotics, so I feel much relieved. And spending the night was no problem; since Em is under 18 she was sent to peds, where they expect parents to spend the night and have couches specifically designed for the purpose. We saw a succession of doctors and residents and interns and nurses and so forth; very reassuring. (People kept looking at Em's tonsils and making exclamations like, "Wow!" and "Amazing!") They did a CT scan, discovered the beginnings of an abcess, and made noises about lancing it, but they were easily dissuaded. I found that immensely reassuring somehow; it really seemed as if these people were listening to us.

So I'm feeling much, much less as if we've moved to the hinterlands in terms of health care, and much relieved that Em seems to be on the mend. Looks like we'll get to the bottom of this, and she'll get better soon . . .