Sunday, September 20, 2009

Tis the Season

My 5 year old has seasonal allergies. For whatever reason his allergies are worse this year than usual. His regular allergy medicine doesn't seem to be working as well. He goes to the school nurse almost every day. His teacher sends me notes home letting me know. I hear him coughing. I give him medicine. I know. But what else can I do? I already worry that I'm overdosing him.

After a week of his coughing getting worse, not better, yesterday I made a call and took him to the pediatrician. The pediatrician checked his ears. All clear. He checked his nose. All clear. He checked his throat. Not all clear. He decided to a strept test (which came back negative).

The pediatrician moved on to my son's chest. He listened for a while and finally decided that he heard some wheezing and prescribed an inhaler. And since the strept test came back negative, my son had no fever, and no one else in my house was sick, my son was given a clean bill of health.

My 5 year old used the inhaler at 1pm. At 8pm he suddenly had a fever of 101.4. I called the office hoping to speak with the doctor on call. A nurse called me back. She reviewed his age, weight etc. Then reviewed his symptoms, the allergies, coughing, the medication, new inhaler, the doctor's specific request not to give him any additional medications. After all of that do you know what she said? She said, "Give him some honey and a warm shower."

I wanted to reach the phone and strangle her.

Honey and a warm shower???

I'm calling to find out #1 if it is possible if my son is having a reaction to this new inhaler and #2 if I should even continue using this new inhaler and #3 what else I can give to help his fever and you suggest "Honey and warm shower?"

I wanted to tell her what she can with that honey and her warm shower.

But I didn't. I re-asked questions 1-3.

Luckily my son is much better today. No thanks to the worthless nurse. Oh, and I didn't try her honey or warm shower suggestion. Go figure.

16 comments:

Joyce-Anne said...

Call the pharmacist--he or she would know and probably be more helpful than that nurse.

So, glad your son is feeling better!

Cookie said...

Great idea Joyce-Anne but the pharmacy was alrady closed by then.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Cookie, I do remember these days of raising kids. Sometimes we just don't know what to do. Glad your 5 yr. old is better now... That is what is important. Sometimes even doctors don't know whether a child has a cold or an allergy. Sorry about the unhelpful nurse.

Hope tomorrow is a better day.
Hugs,
Betsy

TALON said...

Cookie, I'm glad he's feeling better. Joyce-Anne's suggestion is a good one. I hope you find out what caused the spike in temperature. Definitely sounds like a reaction to the inhaler. Warm shower and honey? Yeah, she's lucky you didn't reach through that phone!

Maude Lynn said...

I'm glad he's better. Do you still think he might have had some sort of reaction to the inhaler?

Anonymous said...

Honey and a warm shower?! I am all for homemade remedies for illness, but not from a licensed healthcare professional! And after starting a new prescription?! Yikes. That might be worth a mention the next time you are in to see the pediatrician.

(Reminds me of the time a midwife in my OBs practice told me eat refried beans to help with the morning sickness that had already caused me to drop 10 pounds.)

Michelle said...

Yikes - that's not a good thing. Any chance you'll have a little discussion about her with the ped the next time you talk to him? And what -- truly no 24 hour pharmacies by you? That is NOT fun.

Karen said...

Wow, I think I would have had a few things to say to the nurse if I was given that lovely suggestion. Since when is honey and a warm shower a fever reducer?

Unseen India Tours said...

I cant say anything but i can only pray my God for the quick recovery and i am sure everything will be ok soon !!Unseen Rajasthan

Christine said...

I had complained that my son was not gaining weight for 3 years because of his medications. When the doctor did nothing after repeated visits I took him off. Next Dr visit I let him know I had taken him off, and the Dr was actually a little (alot) annoyed I didn't call him first. I did for 2 years I went in every 6 months and told him I was worried. Ahhh Dr.'s, can't live with them, would die without them.

betty said...

so sorry your little one has been having trouble with allergies and then this fever; although I'm not a health professional, as a mother, I can tell you that one time I had my daughter into the doctor in the afternoon at 3 o'clock with a fever, her ears were fine. She ended up having a febrile seizure and I took her to the ER 3 hours later and she had a roaring ear infection. The ER doctor told me kids can get sick that fast. So for the nurse to kind of "blow this off" doesn't set right to me. And also if the kid has a fever you don't give them a warm shower, tepid bath to help bring the fever down along with of course Tylenol/Motrin. Again, this doesn't set right with me. I think I would call the doctor and ask if this is the usual policy for after hour calls or something.....

glad he's feeling a bit better though, but I know the agony of them being sick and not knowing how to help them or what to do sometimes

betty

Donna said...

So glad your Son is feeling better! Some nurses are there just for the pay check...hughugs

Lynn said...

So hard to watch when the little ones are sick. Good job with persisting with that nurse.

Anonymous said...

Glad he's on the mend. He's your son, you know more about him than a nurse does.

Wisdom Words said...

It is really painful when Kids are not well !! Entire home feels alone.Hope everything will be fine soon.

girlytwins said...

Happy to hear he is on the mend. I know your woes when it comes to dealing with nurses after hours. We have had our share of some doozies.