After I took that really cute picture of Precious yesterday, she went down for a nap. She awoke fairly quickly, crying. She was also really warm. I took her temperature, and it was a little elevated, but not too much. She was clingy, low appetite, and very warm for the rest of the day. I gave her Ibuprofen at bedtime to give her some comfort and to preclude the possibility that her temperature might rise while she slept.
I checked in on her at 2:00 when we *gasp* finally went to bed. I'm not sure how that happened. We were settling down when New Daddy felt something touch his other side. Alas, it was a haggard two year-old, eager to climb in bed with Daddy and Mommy. She placed her order for some water, and after feeling her temperature, I gave her some more Ibuprofen along with her water. We all slept soundly after I convinced her to stop grabbing/mock-pinching my arm.
This morning, I happened to place my hand on her chest while she was lying around. Her heart was beating really fast and hard. I was immediately alarmed and went down to tell New Daddy. He came up and measured her heart rate at 180 bpm. I called the doctor and told the receptionist-nurse the circumstances. They couldn't see her until late this afternoon, and told me to take her to the ER. I quickly got us dressed, and off we went.
At triage, the nurse told me that an elevated heart rate is a normal companion symptom to a fever. I was surprised, but relieved, and beginning to feel a little sheepish for being there. We saw the doctor, who discovered swollen glands and "acute pharyngitis"-- ahem, a sore throat. She wrote us out a prescription for amoxycillin and sent us on our way. It was only an hour and a half after we walked through the doors-- not too bad for an ER, albeit on a Wednesday mid-morning.
Of course, I won't be filling the amox prescription. The risks are too great. First of all, there wasn't any bloodwork done to determine whether her bug was viral or bacterial. An antibiotic will only eliminate a bacterial infection. Viral stuff just has to run its course. After the antibiotic has run its course, it will have destroyed all bacteria in its wake, good, bad and ugly. To destroy the healthy intestinal flora that actually enable her body to fight this bug defies reason. The doctor was very pleasant, but by the end of our visit, I could tell that we had no business in the emergency room!
I guess it's "better to be safe than sorry." The higher heart rate really scared us. After reading the literature they gave me on treating a fever and a sore throat, I realized that her temperature hadn't even been high enough for me to call the doctor! I guess sometimes I'm still a "New Mommy." Maybe I need to post "102 degrees F" on my fridge!
Now that we're home, here's how we're handling this bug. Yesterday, Precious would not let me make her a garlic poultice. Though, I made her some delicious chicken stock, and she seemed to really enjoy it. After today's doctor visit, I told her that the doctor said that she had a bug that we were going to treat with a poultice (worded very carefully so that I wasn't lying to her). She took the intended "advice."
For good measure, after I put the garlic through the press, I picked out the leftovers and chewed them up with a glass of water. After Precious awoke crying, and then remained fussy, I taped a garlic clove in each ear. Man, do we we smell all Italian and stuff!
I checked in on her at 2:00 when we *gasp* finally went to bed. I'm not sure how that happened. We were settling down when New Daddy felt something touch his other side. Alas, it was a haggard two year-old, eager to climb in bed with Daddy and Mommy. She placed her order for some water, and after feeling her temperature, I gave her some more Ibuprofen along with her water. We all slept soundly after I convinced her to stop grabbing/mock-pinching my arm.
This morning, I happened to place my hand on her chest while she was lying around. Her heart was beating really fast and hard. I was immediately alarmed and went down to tell New Daddy. He came up and measured her heart rate at 180 bpm. I called the doctor and told the receptionist-nurse the circumstances. They couldn't see her until late this afternoon, and told me to take her to the ER. I quickly got us dressed, and off we went.
At triage, the nurse told me that an elevated heart rate is a normal companion symptom to a fever. I was surprised, but relieved, and beginning to feel a little sheepish for being there. We saw the doctor, who discovered swollen glands and "acute pharyngitis"-- ahem, a sore throat. She wrote us out a prescription for amoxycillin and sent us on our way. It was only an hour and a half after we walked through the doors-- not too bad for an ER, albeit on a Wednesday mid-morning.
Of course, I won't be filling the amox prescription. The risks are too great. First of all, there wasn't any bloodwork done to determine whether her bug was viral or bacterial. An antibiotic will only eliminate a bacterial infection. Viral stuff just has to run its course. After the antibiotic has run its course, it will have destroyed all bacteria in its wake, good, bad and ugly. To destroy the healthy intestinal flora that actually enable her body to fight this bug defies reason. The doctor was very pleasant, but by the end of our visit, I could tell that we had no business in the emergency room!
I guess it's "better to be safe than sorry." The higher heart rate really scared us. After reading the literature they gave me on treating a fever and a sore throat, I realized that her temperature hadn't even been high enough for me to call the doctor! I guess sometimes I'm still a "New Mommy." Maybe I need to post "102 degrees F" on my fridge!
Now that we're home, here's how we're handling this bug. Yesterday, Precious would not let me make her a garlic poultice. Though, I made her some delicious chicken stock, and she seemed to really enjoy it. After today's doctor visit, I told her that the doctor said that she had a bug that we were going to treat with a poultice (worded very carefully so that I wasn't lying to her). She took the intended "advice."
For good measure, after I put the garlic through the press, I picked out the leftovers and chewed them up with a glass of water. After Precious awoke crying, and then remained fussy, I taped a garlic clove in each ear. Man, do we we smell all Italian and stuff!
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