A couple of weeks ago my son started to get a stuffy nose which turned into a running nose almost as quickly has it became stuffy. He had, had this before, so I called doctor just to make sure I did not need to bring him in. My doctor is really understanding and knows as a first time mom I am going to be a little cautious so they said as long as no fever, he was alright and to keep an eye on his temperature, take him in steamy bathroom if that would help and call if I needed anything else. Sounds simple enough right, so I did these things and then on Friday of that week at about midnight he started to sound really horse and while that scared me I kept it together and took him in the bathroom and that seem to do the trick. Then at 5:30 in the morning he woke up crying, having a hard time breathing, sounded like he had a frog in his chest and I could not get him to calm down, I knew right away that something was not right and I yelled for my fiance and told him we needed to take our son to the ER. Of course I forgot the monitor was on and when I yelled I am sure I nearly made him pee his pants because it woke him out of a sound sleep and our monitor picks up even the slightest sound. But anyway we get ready and take our son to the ER, there was not much of a wait and after the triage room my fiance took him back to be seen by the doctor and I stayed out to register him. That task took me maybe 5 minutes and by the time I got back there my son was down to his diaper, getting a breathing treatment and was diagnosed with the croup. This sound completely scary to me but come to find out while it can be serious, it is fairly common in a lot of kids from infants to up to five years old.
Of course the doctor did xrays to insure that he did not have something in his throat as the doctor said one time they thought it was the croup and the child had a feather in his throat. The croup can most times be treated at home but when you don't know what it is you are dealing with your first instinct is I have to get my child to the hospital because let me tell you this croup sounds terrible and the doctor even said that it is very scary if you have never heard it or dealt with it before. So that made me feel better and they gave us papers telling us how to treat him and three medicines to give him to help with the first few days of his symptoms. Prednisone, abuterol and an antibiotic for good measure just in case it was caused by bacteria but most times it is viral and just has to run it course. There is also a chance of dehydration so pedilyte was in the mix as well. I do not believe in medicines for no reason so I was reluctant to give the antibiotic but I did. The first few days were fine but in the middle of the week last week my son got the most awful rash on his bottom, so I call the doctor again because you could not even touch him without his screaming it hurt so bad, diagnoses yeast infection from the medications. So back to walmart to get even more stuff to treat my son, athletes foot cream and Vaseline was the treatment.
This week he is better from both of these things but poor little guy, also cut a tooth during all of this. Of course there have been times when I am calling the doctor and even after the ER visit and the doctor there telling me that most times it is treated at home, that I thought wow these doctors most think I am nuts for going to the ER and calling them but here is my advice to anyone, never let anyone make you feel bad for taking care of your child and seeking medical attention or advice. If they do it is time to find a new doctor, now mine did not make me feel this way it had more to do with me then anything, but even in that case, you are never a bad mother or a worry wart for making sure that it is indeed nothing serious.
I am not a medical doctor and none of this is to be taken as medical advice it is just my experience and how I felt when my child had his first illness other then just a stuffy nose or running nose. Lysol has become my best friend and we practice good hand washing, because these are your first line of defense when dealing with any kind of cold or flu.
Take care and never worry that someone thinks you are over reacting because you are not and you have to do what is best for your child.
No comments:
Post a Comment