I have now made it through another one, to wit, Douwe's trip to the emergency room.
He has had a low grade fever for about a day and threw up last night. Douwe does not run low grade fevers, ever. He runs high, spiking fevers in the "bake your brain" range. I don't even change stride for anything under 102 with that child. He does not throw up except under the direst of circumstances; the child has an anti gag reflex, I swear it. All of this was sort of disconcerting but not unduly so; I suspected an ear infection or something similar. He suddenly peed in his britches while sitting on the couch, which is also an unheard of event nowadays, and he was as surprised as I was. Also odd. But not exactly earth shaking, he is five, an age much given to, shall we say, putting things off until the very last possible moment.
Then he came to me and complained of pain in his lower back, and Paul picked him up and headed for the emergency room. Because what Douwe does not do, ever, is complain of pain when he is ill. He denies pain and discomfort most vociferously and declares that he is really quite well and wants to leave immediately for school. Even when he cannot move. When he has a fever of 104, he declares that he wants to go to school as soon as he gets warm again.
So Paul was momentarily restrained and we called the doctor (which was closed) and were referred to the evening service who heard this tale and said to bring him in right now. They thought the same thing I thought: kidney infection.
(Relax, Grandmary, he hasn't got a kidney infection).
It appears, however, that he has got a bladder infection. So he is on an antibiotic and will certainly be well by next Wednesday, I am assured. Which of course means he had to actually take the antibiotic. This was achieved by telling him that it will make him feel better and also giving him a Coke afterward (the ultimate bribe).
Daan was so jealous of the attention (and the Coke) that he insisted on having medicine, too. So I gave him some plum syrup in a spoon, which he made a great show of disliking intensely and then said the doctor said he should have some more.
Now, if I can just break a tooth or a bone or something, we'll be all set to come to the States.
3 comments:
Jeannine:
Oh my, exictment when you don't need it. Isn't that the usual case though?
I leave for glamorous Rome (GA that is) in the morning. Float in a boat for 3-4 days, then return on Friday. I am at the Jameson Inn in Rome should there be a need(hopefully not). I'll call when I get back.
I hope Douwe is recovering. I assume his MD from before in the States will see him if necessary.
I am still in the process of throwing stuff away from upstairs. Egads what a bunch of useless junk. I did get a couple of beds together, but now find that I never knew where the sheets and stuff were stashed. Oh well, it will have to do.
Forget chipping a tooth. Yuk, yuk.
Take care, Love you,
Dad
Jeannine:
PS: Bring some USAA deposit slips.
Dad
Hi, dad,
I am pleased to report that Douwe is responding very well to the antibiotic -- the tests they ran today showed no infection at all --and as a side benefit, the cough which has been bothering him for literally months has finally cleared up. So whether the bladder infection needed an antibiotic or not, I am pleased to have had it to clear up the cough.
Around here, you don't get antibiotics unless you have run a fever for 48 hours or have some dire symptoms. The back pain was enough in this case to make them concerned about his kidneys and go ahead and give them to him early.
It's sort of odd, in principle I agree with this. I think handing out antibiotics like candy is bad, both individually and as a matter of public health. I had quite the anti-medication reputation in the States with my childrens' pediatrician because I turned down the offered antibiotics quite often. It was nearly always a virus so I couldn't see the point. But the flip of that is, when a child develops something (like the lingering cough) secondary to a virus, well, leaving it to cure itself works fine in the long run, but it's awfully uncomfortable in the short run it seems to me.
I think his US pediatrician would be pleased to see him, she found us very interesting, lol.
Didn't you know, if you leave useless junk alone in the dark it multiplies? So do wire hangers by the way. Worse than rabbits I tell you.
We'll jsut go to Wal-Mart and buy the kids sleeping bags, what the heck. They'd like it better anyway.
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