I hate when my kids are sick.
I know, that's kind of a redundant statement; no parent loves it. But my hypochondrial tendencies kick into high gear when my children are concerned and I can't stop torturing myself with thoughts of all the horrible things that might be wrong with them.
Peanut is on his 12th day of what we think is some kind of upper respiratory virus. Fever, nasal congestion, throat irritation causing dry cough, the usual drill. Except...twelve days? These things usually run their course in a week at most. He's on his fifth day of a round of antibiotics, which has cleared up the bacterial infection that had been developing but not touching the original illness - of course, since it's a virus.
He's (for him) lethargic and cranky, and has no appetite. Do you know how hard it is to keep a normally active three-year-old happy under these conditions? It does not, however, keep me too busy to google his symptoms and wonder, in panic, if he's got pneumonia or leukemia.
Fellow parents: what do you do in these scenarios? Do you keep pestering the doctor? (He just saw him on Monday and last Thursday). Do you set a time frame and then pester the doctor? Fortunately ours is a family friend who I can actually call at home if I'm that worried. But I'm always second-guessing myself as a paranoid parent.
I go with my (or my husband's) gut. Knowing you can only relieve the symptoms if it's a virus, I would try OTC's/antibiotics and call the DR again 5-7 days from the previous appointment.
ReplyDeleteOK, I know I don't have kids—however, I'd go with your gut feeling. I would think as long is there is no fever, swelling, basically strange things; just use the medications.
ReplyDeleteWe have a great book called "Take Care of Yourself." It's a medical book given to Lindsay from a company trying to reduce health care costs. However, it is very clear on when to see a doctor, when to use home remedy and when to go to the ER. Might be worth a look.
Also, have you considered allergies or mold in the house? Those two have very similar effects of a cold.
I take them to the chiropractor, and if she says not to worry, I don't. When Joy had croup as a baby, our chiropractor took one listen, told us it sounded like croup, adjusted her, and then told us if we didn't see an improvement within a day, to take her to the pediatrician. (Thankfully, with the adjustment and some home treatment, she was better by the next morning.)
ReplyDeleteAnd then, of course, I always panic to my husband, and usually call my mother and panic to her, because he isn't sympathetic enough.
Love your blog page...its so cool..pics of the indians are awesome. Hope they get better soon. ps.
ReplyDeleteNeed new headshots of you & Matt for the website.
could you come up with something that is candid somewhat but professional disbiz too?
arh matey..