posted
I don't know about the rest of you, but I seem to have a child that is perpetually ill! One of the most frustrating questions I seem to face at least once a month is whether or not this particular ailment merits a visit to the pediatrician. I can never decide! How do you make the determination?
I used to make my decision primarily on whether or not he was running a significant fever. I still lean towards that, but it isn't really that helpful. He's been running over 103 before and it's nothing but a virus. Other times I'll take him in because he's coughing terribly (but not running any fever) and he'll have a raging strep infection. It's so frustrating!
So here's the situation. After years of recurrent strep, almost constant congestion, and a variety of other issues, and ENT has finally decided it is in my son's best interest to remove his tonsils and adenoids. This decision has come after almost a year and a half of pestering by his pulmonologist to have them removed. The decisive factor was not his recurrent strep that caused Asthma relapses, but instead his disrupted sleeping and speech impairment. His surgery is scheduled for March 2nd and his pre-surgical exam is this coming Friday.
Everyone seems to have been sick this week, but aside from the usual congestion, my son has been fine. However, suddenly tonight he started complaining about his ear hurting. He hasn't had earaches in almost two years (after receiving a re-vaccination of the pneumococal vaccine - however that's spelled). He was almost in tears because of the pain but he wasn't really running a fever (99.2) and he does not seem to have any nasal congestion. He does, however, seem to have congestion in his throat.
So - should I take him to the doctor tomorrow or not? Obviously, if I take him in and it's really nothing, I'll feel stupid. That's not a MAJOR concern though, because I've done that often enough. However, because we live so far out of town it will mean completely restructuring our day and it might interfere with his Kindergarten registration. On the other hand, if he is ill, I want to get him on antibiotics as soon as possible because I don't want them to have to reschedule his surgery. I could wait and see how tomorrow goes, but then that means I would possibly have to miss a day of work on Tuesday, which I'd hate to do. I'm already going to have to take a sick day on Friday for the pre-surgery appointment and then will be out for at least one whole week (possibly two) following the surgery in March.
Grrr - what should I do? How do you guys determine what to do with your kids?
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Jun 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Beanie isn't big enough that I've had to deal with sickness much (she's only been sick once so far). If I were in your situation I would take him in. I've always figured ear aches are something that should be seen quickly (since recurrent eardrum damage can lead to hearing problems).
Good luck with everything (especially the surgery). Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Please don't take him to Kindergarten registration until after you've been to the doctor. If it's anything like the Kindergarten registration and pretesting I worked at last year, a sick kid isn't a good thing. Plus you do want him well by his tonsillectomy (I had mine out at 12, I wish it had been earlier).
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Our Kinder registration shouldn't be a big deal. We all have "appointment times", and since he already had to do his vision and hearing screenings a couple of weeks ago in order to fill out his speech therapy paperwork, we shouldn't have a problem with bunching or lines. Unfortunately, part of what they like to do is tour the Kindergarten. If he's ill, I obviously don't want him in there interacting with alot of kids. On the other hand, if he's not really ill, then I'd hate to hold him back from that! Ugh!
As for ear aches, all the things I've read online is that they're often the least serious of childhood ailments because they can be so many different things and will often pass by themselves. My only worry is that the earache is really a symptom or a strep or tonsil infection - or that we don't really have time to LET it pass on it's own because of the surgery.
Thanks for your advice though!
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Jun 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Whenever mine is sick, I call the dr, describe the problem and ask if they want me to bring her in. And if not, what the best home remedy is. Sometimes they say come in, sometimes stay home but I figure they are usually pretty qualified to make that call. Of course, if I had a strong feeling that she needed to be seen, I would override their view and demand an appt, but for iffy cases, I take their advice.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Agreed with scholarette. Call the office first thing in the morning and ask to speak to the nurse. You'll probably have to leave a message and wait for a call-back. They'll be able to give you a better idea of what to do next when they hear what kiddo's going through. You definitely want him to be well for his pre-op exam and the actual surgery.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't mess around with ear problems anymore! My son had 4 ruptures in his life and my 9-month-old had her first a month ago. I'm hoping she stops there and doesn't follow in her brother's footsteps. (He eventually needed tubes.) I've actually had ear infections in my ADULT life and I can completely sympathize with that pain.
I do often start with a phone call as well, but the thing about an ear infection is this: They have to actually look in his ear and if there's something there then they will prescribe antibiotics.
Unfortunately, I've really had bad luck with ear issues. My kids don't often have symptoms before their eardrums burst and stuff comes running out. The two times I went in on suspicion of ear infections the doctors found nothing. One of those times, it turned into a real ear infection 9burst ear drum) 3 days later! (The other time it was nothing.)
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
The good news is that getting the tonsils out should help with the strep. I had mine out at five because of frequent strep, and I've never had it since. It really made a world of difference for me.
I hope he feels better, soon!
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Ah our kinder day was testing, we tested in number and letter recognition, reading reddiness, colors, and motor skills, with each kid going to lots of stations with teacherS (and me a college student who was getting experience). I ended up covered in snot.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
