Wheezing Cough Fever

"Wheezing Cough Fever". No, it's not a new song by the Bee Gees...It's my latest search on the Internet. Have I told you the Internet is my BFF?? (Best Friend Forever). Well, it is. I got my own little medical encyclopedia right in my house. It's a stay at home mom's necessity! I just plug the symptoms in and get the lowdown. Then, when I call the nurse, I sound like a regular doctor! (Talking to the nurse), "Yes, I think my child might have Bronchitis, because he is wheezing and breathing fast. He has a cough that's bringing up thick, yellow mucus and a fever of 102. I don't think it's pneumonia because he's not vomiting, he's eating fairly well and doesn't seem too tired. Do you think we should put him on the chewable antibiotics? He hated the Zithromax and Cephrozil, but the Augmentin wasn't too bad."

Sometimes, after a long dissertation, I'll get the jackpot of an over-the-phone prescription: the mountaintop victory of the SAHM--not having to lug all the other children with you to the Doctor's office for one child. I'll do anything to avoid that because it can be excrutiatingly painful. Ben hates the doctors office. He will scream at the doctor like the doctor is an alien doing experiments on him. Really. My doctor is the most gentle man with six kids of his own...but Ben screams nonetheless. I remember when I was pregnant with Mary and my mom forgot she was supposed to watch the kids so I had to take them with me. Ben screamed during my whole appointment. I had to hold him while the nurse took my blood pressure and the reading skyrocketed. The nurse told me it was higher than normal (now I know I have a biophysical reaction to my son crying). Next came the belly measuring (which always seemed so remedial to me). How could I do this while holding my screaming child? Luckily, he settled down when Sam took him for a walk in the stroller. Thank God that worked. But anyway, I avoid it when I can.

So this morning, Ben is wheezing, coughing and feverish. I know I won't be able to get away with not bringing him in (the over-the-phone dissertations mainly work on little stuff like pink eye and swimmers ear...they always want to check them out for the big stuff like bronchial infections). So the pondering of what to do begins. Sometimes I'm jealous of Ted. If he has to go to the doctor, he just leaves work. He doesn't have to find a babysitter or figure out how to fit his shower in before he goes. Since for me, it's a big deal, I tend to not rush to the doctor's at the drop of the hat. Also, when Sam and Abby were younger I would take them in, thinking they had ear infections and many times I was sent home and told it would run it's course. I dreamed of having the "magic wand". That instrument they put in their ear to see if there was an infection. Of course, one time the doctor let me look through that thing and all I saw was ear wax. "See all that white pussy stuff?" Me..."Hmmm...No".

Back to Ben. This is his third day with a fever. He caught it from Sam who had it before him. Sam's was easy. It lasted for two days, it was a low grade fever and it never became anything else. Every child reacts differently. I don't really mind the things that "run their course" because then I don't have to take them in. However, bacterial infections...yuck. Ben has a bad attitude towards antibiotics. They make these things so horrible to taste (trust me I tried)...that Ben gags and pukes them up. Every time! Research companies spend millions of dollars on antibiotics and they can't find something that tastes good for kids?? We've tried them all. We like the chewables the best. But they don't give those for lung stuff. You always get steriods. *sigh*. This is NOT my favorite part of being a mother.

Called the nurse. "If he's wheezing then we need to see him." That's what I thought. Time to find a babysitter for Mary so I can hold Ben kicking and screaming. Wish me luck!