New Mom Old Mom

What a frustrating couple of weeks I’ve had with regard to my kids and sickness. About three weeks ago, my 9-year-old son had a slight fever and a cough.  That normally wouldn’t send me to the pediatrician, but we had a weekend lake trip planned, so I decided better safe than sorry. 

The doc looked at him, declared it viral, but added the caveat that if the fever persists, if symptoms worsen, or if he develops a rash of some kind, to pay him another visit. About one week later, I returned from two days out of town with my 12-year-old daughter to discover that his cough was much, much worse.  We went back to the doc, and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. The doc put him on a five-day course of antibiotics and said it wasn’t contagious.

Then on Monday night (about three days after my son finished his meds), my daughter started coughing, and by Tuesday, she was feeling lousy.  I took her to the doctor at 5 p.m. Tuesday, mainly because I was feeling guilty for letting my son’s illness drag on for so long before taking him back to the doctor.  Mind you – a 5 p.m. doctor appointment in St. Louis isn’t easy (lots of traffic, lots of working parents in the lobby waiting to be “worked in,” etc.)

Again, the doc declared it viral – no fever, no swollen glands, no rattle in the chest, thus no pneumonia.  However, this time he tells me there is a strain of pneumonia that can be contagious, and said he’d need to take another look at my daughter if she developed a fever or if the cough worsened.

We were home by 6:30 p.m.  By 8 p.m., she had a 103 degree fever, a worse cough, the chills, and she looked horrible.  I was peeved.  Not because my poor kid was sick, but because I know my pediatrician and I know how committed he and his partners are to reducing the abuse of antibiotics.  He almost NEVER puts my kids on antibiotics, and I’m glad.  I am afraid of the antibiotic resistant bacteria.  But here it was, not three full hours since I’ve seen the doc, and I’ve got to put in a call the exchange.

As suspected, my doctor’s partner who returned my call did not want to prescribe anything over the phone.  He said we couldn’t be sure it was the same thing, yada yada yada.  Being 6 ½ months pregnant, I’m a tad short on patience and a tad long on emotions right now.  I got testier than I would have liked, almost cried, and all but insisted that he call in a prescription.  I told him, “I have been with your practice for 12 years. My parents and in-laws constantly comment on how little is done for our kids when they’re sick, and we tow your line.  I would have left this practice a long time ago if I didn’t support your stance on antibiotic abuse.  But I don’t think that one course of treatment, even if it ends up being unnecessary, is going to make my daughter resistant or significantly contribute to this medical problem in general.”

I got my way.  My daughter improved significantly after 24 hours.  Maybe she would have improved anyway.  When I was a kid, my doctor was shot-happy.  I got a shot in my rear if I had a fever and a cough.  There weren’t throat cultures. There was no, “let’s wait and see if the symptoms worsen.”  If you were sick, you went on drugs.  My parents and in-laws think our doctor is lame.  They think physicians today are just afraid of being sued. They don’t believe in this antibiotic resistance stuff at all.  I know antibiotic resistance is a real problem, but sometimes you just have to do what you think is right for your kid versus what’s right for the “greater good.”