Yesterday morning I took Gleek to a local instacare center. She’d been running a high fever for two days and during that time had done nothing buy lie still on the couch. I left the house at 8:30 am. By 10 am we’d seen a PA, ruled out ear infection and strep, drawn blood for testing, and peed in a cup for urinalisys. Based on the results the PA sent us to a hospital for an ultrasound and a CT scan to check for apendicitis. By noon we’d been handed a diagnosis of appendicitis based on the CT scan. We moved Gleek to another hospital where there was a surgeon who was good with kids. By about 2 pm the surgeon had examined Gleek, discussed the CT with a radiologist, and declared that he didn’t believe it was apendicitis. By 4 pm Gleek had been examined by a pediatrician who agreed that it wasn’t apendicitis and believed we were dealing with a kidney/bladder infection. He decreed that we get another urine sample for testing and then start IV antibiotics. Gleek was dehydrated and didn’t pee until 7 pm, it was almost 8 by the time the antibiotics were started. By midnight Gleek’s fever was gone. By morning she felt well enough to sit up in bed. We were out of the hospital by noon.
I stayed at the hospital with Gleek all night. They had a roll away bed for me. The sleep was pretty interrupted because Gleek needed to potty twice and the IV drip beeped several times and the nurses had to come in and take vitals a couple of times. At first I was so exhausted that I just fell back asleep after every interruption. But around 3 am I lay awake for an hour playing What Could I Have Done Differently, and Did Anyone Make A Mistake, and Could This Have Been Avoided. Bladder infections are fairly simple to treat once they’re diagnosed. I’ve had several and all they involved was a trip to the doctor and a trip to the pharmacy. Unfortunately Kidney infections are a bit harder to deal with. I landed in an ER with one of those once. So could I have diagnosed this earlier and avoided ultrasound, CT scan, and hospitalization? After about an hour of circling this question I think the answer is no. Howard and I made the very best choices we could make based on the information we had at the time. All of the doctors did the same. But the next time Gleek lands on the couch with a 103 degree fever, I’ll much quicker about hauling her to the doctor’s office.
Another thing I mused on while listening to the hum of medical machinery at 3 am, was my belief in a cosmic parenting scoreboard. I realized that one of the reasons I was obsessing about the questions in the previoud paragraph, was because I felt like if I’d contributed to a misdiagnosis I would have failed somehow. I wondered if things I’d said led that very first PA to consider appendicitis when she might not have otherwise. If I hadn’t led her astray would we then have been sent home with an antibiotic and Gleek on the road to recovery 12 hours sooner? Did Gleek really need the hospitalization or was that just a side effect of the apendicitis misdiagnosis? In retrospect, she was pretty dehydrated. Her fever was running over 103, but her hands and feet were cold, even bluish. She wouldn’t eat or drink more than a sip in an hour. Her body was beginning to shut down. Within 30 minutes of starting the IV drip she looked worlds better. But she wasn’t that bad on Friday night. Do I lose SuperParent points for not recognizing that she needed a doctor on Friday? Do I gain SuperParent points for recognizing that she needed one Saturday morning? Why do I care about SuperParent points anyway? No one else is keeping score, just me. There is no cosmic scoreboard, so why am I spending so much mental energy second guessing the events of the last 48 hours?
I’m not looking forward to sorting out all the medical bills. Why is it that every single person who even walked by Gleeks hospital room will bill separately? I’ll bet we even get a bill from the surgeon who didn’t operate.
I fervently hear you on the medical billing. (I stopped tallying up the pre-insurance-rate bills on my medical care since the accident several years ago when, by my estimate, it passed a half-million dollars.)
The good side of all this, of course, is that Gleek has a relatively minor problem and will be fine. May fortune continue to favor you so.
I fervently hear you on the medical billing. (I stopped tallying up the pre-insurance-rate bills on my medical care since the accident several years ago when, by my estimate, it passed a half-million dollars.)
The good side of all this, of course, is that Gleek has a relatively minor problem and will be fine. May fortune continue to favor you so.
I’m so sorry about all that has in happen the last few days. I’m glad things are going better now. I’m sure Gleek will be bouncing off the walls in no time. my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
I’m so sorry about all that has in happen the last few days. I’m glad things are going better now. I’m sure Gleek will be bouncing off the walls in no time. my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
3 am is a rotten hour for that… and you are not the only parent who does it. It’s a way of using the guilty feelings to try and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. If Gleek is prone to bladder infections, encouraging a taste for cranberry juice in her might help.
Em is prone to strep infections so the first thing I do when she is puny is smell her breath. I have a master nose for strep now. She is also prone to ear infections… so I never let her go out on a windy day without something covering her ears even if it’s high summer. (She doesn’t kick much since I do the same thing to myself.) She hasn’t had an ear infection in two years (knock on wood).
Every child has some things that they are more prone to get than others or than other children. When you determine what it is for each child, you can take preventative steps.
And, finally, thank goodness she’s alright! Antibiotics are wonderful things. And bless that doctor for looking again even if it did take longer and finding out what was actually wrong.
3 am is a rotten hour for that… and you are not the only parent who does it. It’s a way of using the guilty feelings to try and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. If Gleek is prone to bladder infections, encouraging a taste for cranberry juice in her might help.
Em is prone to strep infections so the first thing I do when she is puny is smell her breath. I have a master nose for strep now. She is also prone to ear infections… so I never let her go out on a windy day without something covering her ears even if it’s high summer. (She doesn’t kick much since I do the same thing to myself.) She hasn’t had an ear infection in two years (knock on wood).
Every child has some things that they are more prone to get than others or than other children. When you determine what it is for each child, you can take preventative steps.
And, finally, thank goodness she’s alright! Antibiotics are wonderful things. And bless that doctor for looking again even if it did take longer and finding out what was actually wrong.
why am I spending so much mental energy second guessing the events of the last 48 hours?
Simple. You want to learn from this experience so that you can handle it better next time if there’s anything you did wrong.
I for one honestly don’t think you did anything wrong, from what I can tell. Children’s sicknesses are hard to predict, what with the huge amount of exposure they get, so telling the difference between (for example) a cold that will pass in a day or two and an incidence of strep throat that needs medicating is not something that is apparently at the initial onset of the illness. You did what you thought best at each stage, with the best information you had available. But if you can find something to do better next time – for example, get a high fever checked out sooner, as you said – then by all means, run with it.
why am I spending so much mental energy second guessing the events of the last 48 hours?
Simple. You want to learn from this experience so that you can handle it better next time if there’s anything you did wrong.
I for one honestly don’t think you did anything wrong, from what I can tell. Children’s sicknesses are hard to predict, what with the huge amount of exposure they get, so telling the difference between (for example) a cold that will pass in a day or two and an incidence of strep throat that needs medicating is not something that is apparently at the initial onset of the illness. You did what you thought best at each stage, with the best information you had available. But if you can find something to do better next time – for example, get a high fever checked out sooner, as you said – then by all means, run with it.
I play the SuperParent game, too. I believe it stems from my subconscious desire to know whether I’m passing or failing the class. If I’m passing, I know I can cut back and not stress so much. If I’m failing, I know I need to buckle down and get to work. It drives me crazy not knowing where I stand.
I play the SuperParent game, too. I believe it stems from my subconscious desire to know whether I’m passing or failing the class. If I’m passing, I know I can cut back and not stress so much. If I’m failing, I know I need to buckle down and get to work. It drives me crazy not knowing where I stand.
Not that I would wish more bills upon you, but I found myself thinking that the surgeon who didn’t operate deserves to get paid. I’d much rather pay a surgeon for figuring out he didn’t need to operate than pay one who doesn’t figure it out and operates unnecessarily. O_O
It’s a shame that medical services can’t be incentivized better by money. :/ (This isn’t a special gripe against the US’s current system: ALL systems that I’ve seen or heard proposed have problems offering monetary incentives to dispense the appropriate level of care.)
Not that I would wish more bills upon you, but I found myself thinking that the surgeon who didn’t operate deserves to get paid. I’d much rather pay a surgeon for figuring out he didn’t need to operate than pay one who doesn’t figure it out and operates unnecessarily. O_O
It’s a shame that medical services can’t be incentivized better by money. :/ (This isn’t a special gripe against the US’s current system: ALL systems that I’ve seen or heard proposed have problems offering monetary incentives to dispense the appropriate level of care.)
Diagnosis
Be grateful that you had doctors who considered all possibilities carefully. You wouldn’t have wanted to be sent home with an antibiotic if Gleek REALLY had appendicitis now would you?
The surgeon who didn’t operate recognized that more diagnosis was needed. He was knowledgeable enough to NOT operate until he was sure the diagnosis was correct. You wouldn’t have wanted him to go ahead and operate and then say, “Sorry folks, it wasn’t really the appendicitis after all.” If he bills you, I’d say he earned his fee–at least a reasonable fee. Now whether or not his fee is reasonable is another
issue. . .
Incidentally, if you run spell correct on a posting, the spell checker doesn’t know what to do with Gleek’s name. It suggested the following: Clerk, Geek, Glee, Leek, Greek, Sleek, Geeky, Gerek, Lek, Glee’s, Klee, Glue, Leak
LOL
Diagnosis
Be grateful that you had doctors who considered all possibilities carefully. You wouldn’t have wanted to be sent home with an antibiotic if Gleek REALLY had appendicitis now would you?
The surgeon who didn’t operate recognized that more diagnosis was needed. He was knowledgeable enough to NOT operate until he was sure the diagnosis was correct. You wouldn’t have wanted him to go ahead and operate and then say, “Sorry folks, it wasn’t really the appendicitis after all.” If he bills you, I’d say he earned his fee–at least a reasonable fee. Now whether or not his fee is reasonable is another
issue. . .
Incidentally, if you run spell correct on a posting, the spell checker doesn’t know what to do with Gleek’s name. It suggested the following: Clerk, Geek, Glee, Leek, Greek, Sleek, Geeky, Gerek, Lek, Glee’s, Klee, Glue, Leak
LOL