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We've spent much of the last two days in the Emergency Room of St. Joseph's Hospital with Amado. His temperature has been hovering around 40C / 103F for almost 4 days. We went in yesterday about 7:30 a.m. and saw a doctor pretty quickly. She wasn't able to diagnose him, other than the fact that he had a fever and had been throwing up, which we knew. She had us continue with the Tylenol and added doses of Motrin on top of that to battle the temperature and told us to come back in the morning if he didn't improve.
The double dose of Tylenol and Motrin wiped Amado out. He was mumbling and stumbling around the house. Wendy said he reminded her of one of her clients. We didn't like what it did to the little guy, so we stopped the Motrin and continued with the Tylenol. Besides that, the dosage the doctor wrote down was really hard to figure out and when we checked back we got several conflicting messages about how much Motrin he should be taking.
Last night, Amado's temperature soared above 40C / 103F and he wouldn't touch anything to eat. In the morning his temp was 39.9 C / 102F, so at 6:00 a.m. we brought him back to the ER. This time the place was swamped with a lot of kids--several of whom had pneumonia. We saw a different doctor this time, the head of the unit, who basically said that fevers are a natural part of childhood and other than making a child uncomfortable, they wouldn't hurt a kid. Nothing to worry about he said. He wagged his head when we told him about the other doctor prescribing Motrin. "That's just the drug companies pushing that. It has nothing to do with medicine." Umm, ok.
He found Amado to be slightly dehydrated and had us force feed him electrolytes in the waiting room for almost two hours.
Now we're back home. Amado and Wendy are sleeping. I almost think the way it has turned out we might have been better off figuring out how to care for Amado ourselves. But I am glad we at least had a couple doctors take a look at him. Poor little guy.
[Above, Amado being a trooper this morning near the ER fish tank.]
I remember going through things like this with Annie. So frightening when they're happening, such intense relief when they're over. It's also difficult because although we want to be more in control of our children's care, we get scared and then rely solely on doctors.
ReplyDeleteAside from the obvious good news that Amado is sleeping and will be fine (poor baby), getting fevers and colds strengthens his immune system, and that's a wonderful thing!
Love to you, Wendy and Amado,
Katie
How I wish I lived in your town at tmes like this. I could be at home making chicken soup and stuff like that. Your health system is beginning to sound a little like ours. Except here, you spend hours and hours in ER getting conflicting and mis-information and then you pay a whole bunch...Can't wait to hear Booji is better. Love Grandma Coop
ReplyDeleteThanks folks. Overall the hospital experience was quite good. Everyone was really great, even though we aren't quite what we are supposed to do now except keep the boy hydrated and give him Tylenol. I wish they could have fixed him or at least told what he has though. I guess they would have done something different if they thought it was menningitisis, right? Right?
ReplyDeleteRight!
ReplyDeleteHey there- I hope Amado is feeling better- I remember hanging out with Chase in St. Joe's ER for 2-3 days when Clara was only 7 months old- before we left TO. So hard to see your little one sick.
ReplyDelete(FYI from a pediatrician about advil- a great fever reducing med. useful to give at night when children have fevers in order to have them sleep longer without fever as the med lasts 6-8 hours)Very common practice to use both in high fevers, but don't use if your little guy is at risk of dehydration ie. vomiting/diarrhea won't drink) Most pediatricians recommend it otherwise if the fever is really bad- and while, the doctors are right that fevers are normal ect. and don't hurt Amado- a fever of 103 or greater does mean that the child should be seen- because with that high a fever there is a risk of a bacterial infection rather than just viral) So bottom line...you did the right thing...not that you guys need reassurance...now I'm rambling.
Christina
as a proud canuck - don't lose sight of the universality of our health care, even when it sucks ...
ReplyDeleteas a parent - hang in there ... we've been down this road many times ... buckle your seatbelts you may have other more interesting ER trips ... lego up a nose, tongue stuck to braces, stitches, fevers, ... it's all about the adventures of childhood ...
Hope the wee fellow and you and Ms W are feeling better soon ... rest ... juice ... more rest ... good food ... it all helps ... and the old stand by - chicken noodle soup can't do much harm ... when our three were little like Amando - rehydration was helped through popsicles and freezies ...
thoughts and prayers to all of you ...
Thanks Dr. Christina. Always nice to have the advice of a real pediatrician on our blog! Rev. Shawn, the Canadian Health Care experience has been the best part of this whole thing really! Bring on the popsicles!
ReplyDeleteLast night I was going to make a post to say that it looks like things are on the upswing.... Amado's fever seemed to have broken in the afternoon. He was playing with a few toys, he laughed, he ate some "nogurt" (as he calls it). Then about 10:00 I heard a cough and ran into the bedroom and he was throwing up in our bed. It was quite a mess and took a while to clean up, all the time Amado sobbing. (Wendy was at work). I'm not sure what happened. We thought he was getting better! This morning he seems improved. He's not so hot and he ate a piece of bread. Best of all, he's chugging the water all on his own.
Thanks again!