Return Of The Prodigal Patient
We've managed to make it this far into winter without any notable illnesses, and for that I am grateful. Sure we've had some small colds or stomach bugs but nothing like we've experienced in past winters, particularly the winters of 2003 and 2005. But today it was time to make our first trek of the winter into the Peds office. I think the last time we were there was Spencer's 18 month well check last late October/early November.
Abby woke Wednesday night clearly in pain and telling us that her left ear hurt. As far as we knew, the tube was still in her right ear. Carie dosed her up with some pain meds to get us through the night and plan was to call the Peds office as soon as it opened at 9am. It seemed like several families had that same plan since the phone lines were flooded as soon as they opened. Once again, we need a sick visit on the one day our Ped is out of the office. Historically it seems we need to go in on Thursday or Saturday. Our Ped is always out on Thursday and they rotate Saturdays. But we got through and an appointment was set for 11am with our backup Ped who we would easily choose as our primary Ped if we didn't already have an excellent primary Ped.
Abby was doing pretty good Thursday morning and seemed to be doing pretty well managing her pain. As I was getting ready for work and she was getting ready to go to the doctor I decided that it would be great if she just went to work with me. I figured that she would enjoy it and for me it would save a trip across town, a win win for both of us. Sure enough, Abby thought it was pretty cool and special. She had a blast! She couldn't believe how many stairs we have and she was bummed that we don't have crayons at work! We compromised with taking some stairs and using the elevator and coloring with highlighters.
After working on dot to dots and coloring, we were off to the Peds appointment. Sure enough she's got a bad ear infection in her left ear. The Ped didn't have to look long at all to discover the infection and declared it bad. We also discovered that the tube in her right ear is out of place and in her ear canal. While I'm bummed that she does have an infection, it is what we expected. Abby never complains about anything until there is something definitely going on.
We are thrilled with the news about the tube in her right ear. See, this means that we won't/shouldn't have to have it surgically removed. But this also means that we need to decide if a 2nd round of tubes would be beneficial. Sure she's made it through the winter without ear infection after ear infection and fluid filled ears. But only because she's made it through the winter without constant cold or sinus drainage. Not a very good test on the performance of her ears and their ability to function optimally, in my opinion. But we'll wait and discuss all this with the ENT later in the spring.
We also had a great conversation with the Ped about Kindergarten and their upcoming 5yr well check/Kindergarten screening. It was refreshing to hear his thoughts and opinions. While at the Peds office it dawned on me that I should go ahead and make all these upcoming appointments. So we now have appointments scheduled for Spencer's 2yr well check, Abby's 5yr/Kindergarten well check, and Ellie's 5yr/Kindergarten well check. As a bonus, all of the appointments are actually near their birthdays.
After our appointment we stopped to say hello to the nurse that supports our primary Ped. She was glad to see us and at the same time thrilled for us that we haven't needed to come in this winter. She said that it has been a bad winter for things going around. I don't know how we have managed to escape it, but I am beyond thrilled.
Abby woke Wednesday night clearly in pain and telling us that her left ear hurt. As far as we knew, the tube was still in her right ear. Carie dosed her up with some pain meds to get us through the night and plan was to call the Peds office as soon as it opened at 9am. It seemed like several families had that same plan since the phone lines were flooded as soon as they opened. Once again, we need a sick visit on the one day our Ped is out of the office. Historically it seems we need to go in on Thursday or Saturday. Our Ped is always out on Thursday and they rotate Saturdays. But we got through and an appointment was set for 11am with our backup Ped who we would easily choose as our primary Ped if we didn't already have an excellent primary Ped.
Abby was doing pretty good Thursday morning and seemed to be doing pretty well managing her pain. As I was getting ready for work and she was getting ready to go to the doctor I decided that it would be great if she just went to work with me. I figured that she would enjoy it and for me it would save a trip across town, a win win for both of us. Sure enough, Abby thought it was pretty cool and special. She had a blast! She couldn't believe how many stairs we have and she was bummed that we don't have crayons at work! We compromised with taking some stairs and using the elevator and coloring with highlighters.
After working on dot to dots and coloring, we were off to the Peds appointment. Sure enough she's got a bad ear infection in her left ear. The Ped didn't have to look long at all to discover the infection and declared it bad. We also discovered that the tube in her right ear is out of place and in her ear canal. While I'm bummed that she does have an infection, it is what we expected. Abby never complains about anything until there is something definitely going on.
We are thrilled with the news about the tube in her right ear. See, this means that we won't/shouldn't have to have it surgically removed. But this also means that we need to decide if a 2nd round of tubes would be beneficial. Sure she's made it through the winter without ear infection after ear infection and fluid filled ears. But only because she's made it through the winter without constant cold or sinus drainage. Not a very good test on the performance of her ears and their ability to function optimally, in my opinion. But we'll wait and discuss all this with the ENT later in the spring.
We also had a great conversation with the Ped about Kindergarten and their upcoming 5yr well check/Kindergarten screening. It was refreshing to hear his thoughts and opinions. While at the Peds office it dawned on me that I should go ahead and make all these upcoming appointments. So we now have appointments scheduled for Spencer's 2yr well check, Abby's 5yr/Kindergarten well check, and Ellie's 5yr/Kindergarten well check. As a bonus, all of the appointments are actually near their birthdays.
After our appointment we stopped to say hello to the nurse that supports our primary Ped. She was glad to see us and at the same time thrilled for us that we haven't needed to come in this winter. She said that it has been a bad winter for things going around. I don't know how we have managed to escape it, but I am beyond thrilled.
posted by Sonya at 11:08 PM
1 Comments:
You are sooo lucky! As you know, it's been a horrid year for us in regards to illness. I'm glad you were able to stay healthy!
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