When you have a sick kid, if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that if mom feels something isn’t right… it’s not.
I called into the doctor again today, because it’s been six days since Monkey first developed her fever, and she keeps getting worse instead of better. She woke up today and her eyes were still swollen, but in addition to the swelling, they were completely blood shot… as in no whites were visible. I figured it was from the dehydration, but it scared the crap out of me nonetheless.
Upon calling I got the typical ‘well you can bring her in again if you want… but…’. I lost it. I started crying and asked for them to tell me what to do.
Yes, I’ve tried a popsicle. Yes, I will let her drink juice if she wants it. Yes, I tried ice cubes. DUH. Let’s move on here people – it’s not my first day on the job and common sense would tell you that if someone is getting dehydrated, they need liquid. My question is HOW.  How do you make a three year old swallow when her throat is so swollen and sore she won’t even swallow her drool, but rather wipes it with a tissue?
No, she’s not urinating more than once a day. Yes, it is very dark in color. No, she’s not eating either. Yes, I’ve tried soup, jello, and fruit. No, her fever hasn’t gone away.
After a barrage of questioning, and tears, an appointment was made. We hadn’t bathed, dressed, or brushed our teeth, but I made darn sure we made it to their office which is 45 minutes away in the hour time frame we had.
Again, our beloved doctor is out of town, so we had to see the on-call doctor. When he walked in the room I was ready for a fight. I was a little nervous because he is quite a bit older than the medical professionals we usually see, and I was a little worried that he wouldn’t even make it through our appointment, due to how frail he looked. For half a second, I was more worried about his health than Monkeys.
He asked the same old questions, and looked in her ears, felt her tummy and listened to her chest and back. Then, after several notes in the file, he looked at me and said:
My guess is she has mono. She has all of the symptoms and the blood test will take about a week to come back, but I am confident treating her as such. The fact that her fever has reduced since she was here last is concerning, because it indicates her body isn’t fighting the infection as it was. Her loss in weight (2lbs in 2 days) indicates moderate dehydration and I can see a pretty bad infection in her throat. Additionally, her lymph nodes are swollen and you had mentioned she had a rash about two weeks ago – therefore I am confident it’s what we are dealing with.
Finally, an answer. Of course, you don’t want your child to have an illness, but somehow attaching a name, even the possibility of a name, made me feel better. It made me feel like the fighting I did with the nurses, the comments that I was overreacting, and the repeated second guess of myself was worth it. Even though there’s not much you can do for mono, having the comfort of knowing I AM doing everything I can – even if that means simply waiting and showing patience – was worth the fight.
Hang in there lady! I fired a ped. once because I was getting the same answers that led to so much more, you don’t want to know, or maybe … A nightmare I do not like to remember!
Angie, email me for a recommended ped. He even makes house calls! And is local, 15 minutes from anywhere. My heart goes out to you, trying to make the so-called smart people of the world listen to you is a challenge!
FYI, All is good with us now thank god, a happy/well kid with no after effects is worth more than worth pissing off, and being nice outa respect, to a white coat every now and then; and I did more than once!
I have been following your saga with interest since it began a week ago 😐 Again, hang in there lady, you’re not alone!
MHD,
I will be emailing you for the ped info… I have to say, I do LOVE her ped, and his nurse… but when he’s gone it’s rough. However, if he ever moved out of that office and didn’t move closer, I don’t know we would stay with him, so I am definitely interested in finding some back ups.
I guess my timidness comes from feeling uneducated about illnesses and what the different symptoms mean. I feel like without access to the internet (which I don’t have in the doctors office) I don’t even know what to ask. However, it does (like it did today) reach a point where I realized I know my kid, and sometimes that’s more than the internet and education put together.
I am hoping this is the end to the chaos. Monkey is actually drinking liquid now, and even ate a couple of bites of daddy’s meatball at dinner (that’s my Italian kiddo!!!). Things are looking up…
Hey Angie,
I hope your little one is better soon. If you ever need a back up in Castle Rock we love our pediatrician, Dr. Lurie with Perry Street Peds, 303-688-5226. Corinne is only 3 months old but they are great and have Saturday hours too.
Take Care!
Ryan and Serenity
Serenity,
Thank you for the recommendation. I will keep that number on file just in case we decide to make a switch.
I am glad you commented … I thought Ryan fell off the face of the earth. 🙂
Hope all is well with Corinne.
A