Good News / Bad News

"C" had been sick with a cough & runny nose since December 6th. He finally perked up on December 18th but the reprive was short-lived. He woke up in the night on the 19th with a fever that would last through the weekend. I took him to our new pediatrician (LOVE her) on Monday morning. Oh I should tell you that C just cried the entire time we were at her office, and he presented in a manner that led the doctor to believe he had appendicitis (!). So I took her advice and drove immediately to the ER. None of our kids have ever been to an ER. I was feeling like a crappy mom for letting my child suffer through the weekend in need of serious medical attention - guilt guilt.

The ER doctor was skepticle and thought C just needed some fluids to combat the virus he was struggling with. My guilt was dissipating, leading to frustration. At this point I'm thinking "What!? I just paid $150 to walk through your doors 3 days before Christmas to be told it's a virus!" So the nurse started an IV (it was like giving a ferrel cat a bath) and drew some blood for test and gave the little guy fluids. It wasn't long after that when the doctor returned to let me know that C had a white count of 30 - no idea what normal is, but he told me that was high. So he ordered a CT scan to rule out appendicitis. By now C is feeling really good with a hugh dose of motrine and IV fluids. (BTW- I wasn't giving him enough otc meds by following the chart on the package...apparently he could have almost double the suggested dose and feel a lot better without harm.) About 2 hours later I was relieved to hear that the scan ruled out appendicitis, and we would not be spending Christmas recoving from an appendectomy. However, C has pneumonia. That was surprising to all of us since listening to his lungs with the stethoscope never gave any clues to the docs. Anyway, the nurse hung a bag of antibotics for his IV and we were off less than an hour later (I'd left the house at 8:00 that morning and it was now 2:45.) , Later that night you'd never know C ever had pneumonia aside from him being a little tired. I'm thankful for modern medicine even if it comes with a price.