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| My saving grace |
It's only 8:00 am on Saturday and already it's seems like it's been a long weekend. I took yesterday off (Friday) because Weston and I both needed doctors appointments. Thursday night Weston had his first ever fever :( All week we've both been coughing...my crud started off as aches and fevers on Sunday and then evolved to the worst sore throat of my life with horrible post-nasal drainage. I mean this was the WORST sore throat...I had my tonsils out when I was 5, so I never got strep throat growing up and I've been pretty darn healthy; my whole intern year I think I was the only intern who never got sick, but since I had Weston, I've been sick like once a month. Anyways, because of all the drainage the cough is terrible, and once you start coughing you can't stop until you have some tea or something to break up the drainage. Wednesday morning I broke down and grabbed a NeilMed sinus rinse bottle out of the cabinet. It had been Rolland's that I brought home for him last year, but he hated it because he felt like he was "drowning" when he used it. If you've ever used a Netipot, you might know what I'm talking about. This is a 8 oz plastic bottle that you mix salt water in and then shoot up one nostril and snot and salt water comes pouring out the other side. I'm pretty sure that a 4th grade boy must have thought this up, but it's genius! Because I thought my sore throat was due to "post-nasal" drainage...not an actual throat infection, this was perfect to wash out all that drainage that I couldn't blow out, and couldn't hack up or spit out because my throat was too freekin' sore.
So, as my throat got a little better, my sinus pain actually got worse, and by Friday my whole left face was hurting from my forehead to my upper teeth, and even though I hadn't had fevers in 2 and a half days I thought I was getting a sinus infection for sure! So, since I have my clinic on Monday, and I don't have a crystal ball to know if I'm going to get better or worse over the weekend, I made an appointment to be seen and get some antibiotics. Now, I tell my patients all the time, "you can't have a bacterial sinus infection unless it's been 10 days or more of symptoms"....oh my gosh! If I had to put up with 3 more days of my face and head feeling like they were going to explode I might die (plus I'd have to cancel my clinic...which I actually like). I started to have fevers and chills again last night, so now I don't feel so bad about starting antibiotics...because it is likely that I had a nasty virus that caused a cough and sore throat and then I got a secondary bacterial sinus infection. Awesome.
Now poor little Weston...he's such a trooper. Since he had that cough that started when he was 11 weeks old, it never completely went away, but it was a lot better and he'd occasionally cough after eating and stuff. On Monday, however, his cough definitely got worse, and more productive...but he was still eating and primarily happy in between the coughs (like before). On Thursday night he was kind of fussy and miserable. He only took 3 oz of his 5:00pm bottle and he usually take 6 oz, then he immediately fell asleep and slept until I woke him up from his nap in the swing at 10:00pm. He still seemed to not feel well, so I went ahead and gave him some Tylenol and fed him again. He did take his whole bottle this time, but as I was about to take him upstairs to bed, Rolland gave him a kiss and said I better take his temperature because he felt "warm". Now I try not to be a fever phobia mom, when Weston acts like he's in pain I give him some Tylenol, and when he got his shots I think the daycare couldn't believe I wasn't giving him scheduled doses. When I got him upstairs, I checked his rectal temp, and it was 101.1F...Weston's first fever :( Granted I had given him Tylenol like an hour before already. He slept pretty well, and first thing on Friday I called the clinic to make him an appointment to see his pediatrician. Of course, he acted cute and happy all day, and no thought of another fever...he cooed at the nurses at he doctor's office and made mommy feel a little like a fool. But when Dr Wells listened to him she said he was wheezing, and sounding kind of junky, and when she tried to check his ears they were both packed with wax. After removing the wax, which Weston really enjoyed, both ears were red, dull, and had lost their landmarks...meaning, early ear infections. Probably 70% or more of these are viral anyway, but we pretty much treat all ear infections with antibiotics on the chance that they are bacterial and the kid will get worse in 2 days and not better. So we caved and got antibiotics for him too. My worry what that he would have a pneumonia or something...I didn't even think about ear infections...even though he does go to daycare and that pretty much is a requirement. Poor little man. He took his amoxicillin well last night and this morning, and even though he's not eating as much as usual, he's still happy and cooing in between...such a little trooper, and now, he's spent and sleeping in his swing.
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