Well, I thought with the 80+ degree weather we've been having, that we were "out of the woods" with winter illnesses. Boy, was I wrong. Patrick finished up his antibiotic last Saturday from his first bout with Strep ever. It turns out that there is a Strep carrier in his preschool class - and she's struck again
. Wednesday, Patrick refused to eat all day. I didn't think too much about it because it was hot (88 that day - in Ohio, in March!) and he was drinking a ton. Thursday, his teacher told me he refused his snack at school - Oreos are his favorite so I was getting a bit concerned. I even called my mother-in-law to see if it was possible that he never got over his strep (the only symptom he had the last time was refusing to eat or drink). He was pretty cranky, and fell asleep on the couch after "lunch" which he'd refused to eat. He NEVER naps anymore. When he woke up, he said his head felt funny. He was burning up (fever of 103
). So I gave him a bit of tylenol and a popsicle. I called the pediatrician and they didn't have any appointments available, and said I could take him the the Urgent Care if his fever got higher, or I could wait and call them in the morning to try to get an appointment. Does every pediatrician schedule sick appointments only for that day?
By eight, his fever had risen to 104, so I undressed him, put a cool cloth on his forhead and tried Motrin. I was up most of the night with him (he was also getting a lovely croupy sounding cough). I called the pediatrician promptly at 7:30 only to be told - no appointments available
. I got really upset and gave the poor receptionist a piece of my mind because our insurance doesn't cover any Urgent Care Visits, and the nearest Children's Hopsital is a good 30 minute drive. She finally agreed to "fit me in" with "someone".
By the time we arrived, he was so miserable he refused to walk.
So, I carried him in and waited in the waiting room for 45 minutes and when we were finally taken back EVERY room was empty. I had to badger the NP to take another strep test. She kept saying "he just finished an antibiotic, he can't have strep"...guess what? He has strep. After listening to his cough, and other symptoms, diagnosed him with RSV
. So, we're on antibiotic #2 (augmentin this time) and breathing treatements every four hours for the RSV so hopefully it doesn't turn into pneumonia. I had just remarked to my husband that maybe Patrick had outgrown his lung issues because he hadn't developed RSV since last June.
He's cuddled up on the couch with me, watching Toy Story. His fever is down to the 102 range with Motrin so we're just cuddeling, pushing fluids and hoping his medicine kicks in quickly. Thankfully, our school had yesterday off (make-up day for a snow day which we didn't need) so my husband and I have been able to alternate hanging with Patrick, taking care of our other two and we've been able to "switch" sleep in shifts so we can give Patrick his breathing treatments.