Feeling Better

Last week we took Josh to the doctor with a 104 temp. He had a runny nose and cough the day before but it had escalated to throwing up and wheezing. I had spoken to Josh's pediatrician the previous day and explained that someone in ward had been diagnosed with "Swine Flu" and Josh may have been exposed. When we came in, we were treated as if we had the plague. At first we were asked to wait in the car, so we didn't bring germs into the office, but eventually one of the nurses escorted us to the waiting room. With surgical masks on their faces, the nurse and doctor approached us cautiously. After doing her duties with as little contact as possible the nurse seemed to split from the room. Before we left the office with a Swine Flu diagnosis, we received a lecture about contaminating the facility, and were given instructions not to come back unless he went into seizures. When asked if she would test him, the doctor said it was pointless as there is nothing we could do, but treat the symptoms. The doctor explained that they no longer do the test in most doctor offices. I inquired about having him tested at the hospital, to which I was chastised about not considering the newborns and pregnant ladies who may be exposed to his disease. To make a finale out of the drama the nurse escorted us out of the office through a back door and down an old dusty stairway. We will no longer be seeing that doctor.

We brought him home feeling unsettled and worried. His high fever continued through the rest of the day. At about midnight he was so sick we decided to take him to the hospital. We spent the night there from 2 am until 7am. They took chest x-rays, drew blood, and tried to get an iv in him. He was too dehydrated for the iv and after five tries they stopped . It was so difficult to watch him have all those needles poked in him. He's just too little to understand why they were hurting him. He kept asking for us and saying, "all done! all done!". I hope we never have an experience like that again. In the end he end it turned out he had a respiratory infection and pneumonia. Thanks to antibiotics and breathing treatments Josh is now back to his energetic, happy self. He has started using the word "no" alot more lately, and has also decided it is funny to call me "Kayla".