Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for doctors
Here we go…
Ben just threw up for the first time since he’s been a “big boy”. Dave and I were sitting downstairs watching TV when we heard him yelling for us. Dave quickly went upstairs and then shortly after I heard, “Honey, we need you up here!” Always a bad sign. I won’t go into details, but it wasn’t pretty. We both think that he threw up not because he has the flu, but because he’s so conjested that he gagged himself while coughing. He was also burning up with fever…it was up to 103.5°! That’s just so scary when you see a number like that on the thermometer.
Dave and I both felt so badly, but when he went to bed he was perfectly fine, so there was really no way we could predict this. He’s been stuffed up the last couple of days, but this fever just came from nowhere. Obviously, this means that Ben will be staying home tomorrow. Thankfully Grandma Kerber can come in and stay with him so that neither of us will have to take time off. I’m sure that he’ll get a lot of attention and cuddles from Grandma, too, which is always nice when you’re sick.
And so it begins…the cold and flu season is upon us, whether we’re ready for it or not. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long one this year, but hopefully I’m just being pessimistic!
The flu shot, part 1
We decided to get flu shots for both of the kids this year. Emma already had a checkup scheduled last week, so it was easy to simply add the shot into that visit. I knew she would handle it fine. There were a few tears, but she stopped crying pretty quickly, and was singing by the time we left the office.
Ben, on the other hand, was a bit more of a concern. I told Dave that he had to take Ben to get his shot. I figured he would flip out, and I knew that I was not strong enough to help him through it. Let’s face it, I’m a shot wimp myself, so being brave in the doctor’s office is not really a message I deliver well. So Dave scheduled the shot for this afternoon. He had brought it up to Ben last week, and Ben stressed out immediately…asking a million questions about getting the shot. He was having a very hard time understanding why he had to get a shot when he wasn’t sick. Try explaining the concept of preventative shot-giving to a four year-old.
So Dave picked up Ben from Danielle’s early, and Ben was so excited to see him. When they got into the car, Dave explained where they were going. Ben had a few questions, but overall was pretty ok with the idea. They went into the doctor’s office, and he was still fine. Then in the little playroom, he burst into tears. But that didn’t last long. They called his name pretty quick and he and Dave walked back to the room. Dave told me that the needle was huge, which made me even more glad I wasn’t there with him. But Ben handled it great. He did cry when he felt the poke, but as soon as he got the Scooby Doo band-aid, he was done crying. When I got home from work, he was at the table coloring, and was all excited to pull up his shirt sleeve to show me the band-aid.
I was so proud of the little guy. I know that he was scared to death, but he was brave and handled the situation great. Now we just have to do this one more time…because kids’ flu shots are given in two doses the first time they get one. Seriously, doctors? Don’t you get how tough this is??? Stay tuned for part 2 in a month…
Emma’s checkup
This afternoon Emma had her follow-up 2 year check. You may or may not remember that when we went for her 2 year check the doctor was very concerned that she had gone from around the 50th percentile of both height and weight to just barely the 20th percentile in each. Because it was such a significant drop in both areas, Dr. Peters wanted to see her again in less than 6 months. But of course, in the meantime, Dr. Peters decides to leave the practice and area, and now we have a new doctor.
So today Emma and I headed in to see Dr. Jani. Things started badly when I had to try to explain to both the nurse and to him why we were there. Basically, they kept asking all of these questions about Emma’s development and I really don’t think either of them could see any areas of concern at all. Of course this is great news, but it kind of annoyed me at the time…especially since Dr. Peters was the one who was concerned and now he wasn’t even the one to follow up with us. Dr. Jani told me that she will probably end up being somewhere in between Dave and me in height, but she’s not in the worrisome area for either height or weight at this time. Overall, she fell in the mid 30th percentile, so at least she was moving up on the scale.
I have mixed emotions about this whole ordeal. Part of me is thankful that Dr. Peters did want to make sure that everything was ok with Emma. I know that his job was to be concerned with every aspect of her health. But part of me thinks this whole thing was a crock. She is obviously a typical two-year-old, and even though she may be little, she’s not extraordinarily small for her age. She wears age appropriate clothes and shoes, and she’s taller than most kids who are younger than she is. And Dr. Jani even seemed to think that there was really no reason for us to even be there this afternoon.
I guess I will just be thankful that for now, everything seems to be fine with our girl.
Wellness
This morning was Ben’s 4 year wellness visit with Dr. Peters. Luckily Theresa is on vacation this week, so Emma could go to her house while Ben and I went to his appointment. It’s always nicer to just take one of them to appointments like this, because the one who is not involved in the appointment is just bored and that usually means he or she is just naughty. This trip, however, was a breeze. Luckily, we’ve only had very positive trips to the doctor, so Ben loves going there. It’s really cute watching Ben interact with Dr. Peters now. He can answer his own questions, and he knows what’s going to happen. He was very concerned about Dr. Peters tickling him, and he wanted me to make sure to tell him that Ben didn’t want to be tickled. I said, “Buddy, you can tell him that yourself.”
“No,” Ben said. “I just want you to tell him.” But, as soon as Dr. Peters came into the room and started talking to him, Ben blurted out, “I don’t want to be tickled this time!” Dr. Peters agreed with a big smile on his face, but I think there was a tickle or two in there when he was feeling Ben’s abdomen.
As usual, everything looked great with Ben. He’s growing like a weed and seems to be in very good health, which is always a relief. But this visit was a little bittersweet, because it was our last one with Dr. Peters. He’s relocating to the St. Louis area at the end of August, so we’ll have to switch doctors. We’re switching to Dr. Jani, who Dave and I have both seen before with the kids when Dr. Peters was full the day we were trying to get in. We really like him, and we’re confident that he’ll be great with the kids. But it’s hard to change, too. Dr. Peters was the first doctor to check our kids when they were teeny tiny. He answered all of our silly new parent questions, and he did so with kindness, compassion, and without making us feel stupid for asking. I was worried about choosing Dr. Peters as Ben’s doctor since he is a General Practioner rather than a Pediatrician, but I’ve never questioned our decision since that very first visit. We’ll miss him.
Emma’s checkup
Yesterday afternoon Emma had her 2 year wellness checkup. I took bothkids withme, which is always a bit hectic, but I was hoping for the best. After we checked in at the reception desk we went into the little play room and I smelled her. Man, she was ripe. Of course there was nowhere to change her there, in public, so we just had to wait for the nurse to call us. After about 5 of the longest, stench-filled minutes ever, the nurse called us and we went to the examination room. Of course in there, a tiny little room withno ventilation, the smell intensified. Her response? “Wow, she really doesn’t smell so good, does she?” Nice, eh? Anyway, being the ever prepared mom I am, I had no wipes with me. I only had a spare diaper because I thought of it last minute as we were leaving Danielle’s on our way to the doctor. So I changed her nasty poopypants old school…with a couple of wet paper towels. The poor little thing. And that ever-so helpful nurse’s contribution to the whole ordeal? She got a plastic bag to put the diaper in so “no one else would have to smell that!” My love for her was growing by the minute.
Finally, when Emma was back to her sweet self, the nurse could get her height, weight, temperature and information. Once Dr. Peters came in and looked at all of that, he had some concerns. It seems that Emma has consistently been in the 50th percentile for both height and weight every at every checkup. This time, however, she was in the 10th percentile for both. From 50 to 10 in six months? Yeah, that’s why he was concerned. She’s lost three pounds and hasn’t grown much at all in that time. That’s according to their records. So now we have to go back in three months to make sure that she’s making positive progress and not losing more weight.
While part of me wants to laugh this off to an error in measuring, I do feel a bit concerned, too. I know she’s a little short, but come on…neither of our kids are going to be tall. We’re not. But she’s wearing 24 month clothes and she’s 24 months. Doesn’t that say something? For goodness sakes, she eats more than Ben at most meals…what else can we do?? I just hope that this all gets straightened out when we go back in September. I hate having something to eat away at me until then. Can’t there ever be a time when I don’t have to worry about these kids???
May Day?
Ok, it can’t seriously be May first, can it? Where did April go? Where have the first four months of 2009 gone? I know that we all constantly say that time is flying, but this spring has really been a whirlwind. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re constantly trying to keep up with our kids or if it’s just because we’re becoming old coots, but no matter what the reason…time is really flying this year.
I’m thrilled that it’s May for many reasons
- The weather is improving
- Emma’s birthday is right around the corner
- School is ending in just about one month
- We have some family events (Confirmation and Graduation) which mean fun parties
However, May is always a tough one to make it through, too
- There are some big time ”end of the year” things that have to take place in the IMC like inventory and textbook return before we’re actually done
- The nice weather makes the kids want to be outside all the time…including dinner and bedtime, which leads to several battles between the kids and the adults in our house
- My co-worker in the IMC is retiring this year, which means I have two retirement functions to plan, host, and attend and a “roast” to write and give at our last faculty meeting of the year
- With the thrill of Emma turning two comes planning, shopping for, and hosting her party, getting her 2 year-old pictures taken, and getting her to the doctor for her two year checkup all during this crazy last month of school
But then again, who am I to complain…as long as I make it through this month, I get 9½ weeks off! Yes, all you teacher bashers…it’s not three months off…I just counted! 
Happy St. Patty’s Day
I’ve never been one to be a big celebrator of St. Patrick’s Day. Even though my lineage is that of a mutt and I probably have some Irish heritage somewhere, it’s just never meant that much to me. Ok, so I did partake in a green beer or two back in college, but that wasn’t really as part of some big celebration. There is, though, one thing about this day that I love.
Forty-one years ago my sister Nancy underwent open heart surgery to repair a hole in her heart. She was born with the condition, and the doctors were hoping that she could make it until she was four years old before surgery was necessary, but they just couldn’t wait. In March of 1968 she was admitted to Children’s Memorial Hospital (I think that’s what it was called) in Chicago and was at that time one of the youngest patients to ever undergo this type of surgery. The reason I think about this every year on St. Patrick’s Day is because my mom once told me that she was staying in Chicago (which she did during all of Nancy’s recovery) on St. Patrick’s Day that year, and she can remember walking down to the river and seeing it dyed green. She said it was one of the first beautiful days that year (much like this year) and it just made her feel better to be outside, to see that green river, and to know that her baby was on the road to recovery.
I think about my mom seeing that green river every year. I’m sure it was a really difficult time for my parents. Now that I’m a parent, and Ben is just about the same age Nance was when this took place, I can hardly even imagine going through the same kind of ordeal. And, as I said before, this was one of the very first times that this surgery had been performed on such a young child. I wasn’t even alive for any of this, but it has impacted me nonetheless. I’m not really sure why…I guess it just makes me stop and think about how lucky I am to have such awesome parents. I do know for sure that St. Patty’s Day also reminds me to be thankful that I got to have a big sister.
Health update
We finally went to see the doctor today. After Ali and AJ (the other kids who go to Danielle’s) were diagnosed with Strep and an ear infection respectively, I knew it was time to break down and go. So I stayed home from work this morning and we all piled in the van for a health care adventure.
I have to admit that I was a little nervous taking both kids by myself. I don’t know how single parents or those with a lot of kids do it. I certainly had my hands full, and Ben was really being a very good boy. It’s just a lot to maneuver–carrying coats, the diaper bag, the forms for the nurse, all while holding at least one of the kids’s hands while we get down the hall into the room. Then once we’re in the room, which is clearly not designed for two toddlers, it was on and off the chair, and on and off the examination table, and “I want this book” and “how long do we have to wait?” and etc., etc., etc. Like I said, I was busy.
The doctor checked Ben first, and as I expected, he found nothing. Ben’s ears, nose, throat and lungs were all clear and normal. He did have us go down to the lab to get a flu test for Ben, but even that came back negative. It’s just a virus again. Emma, on the other hand, has an ear infection in her left ear. I’m so glad we went this morning, because she would have been miserable if we would have waited through the weekend. As it was, she was very droopy and cranky, but at least now we’ll get some antibiotic going in her and hopefully she’ll be back to her old self soon. The poor little thing…she really was a trooper when I’m sure that she feels just awful.
I’m hopeful that we’re on the back side of our sickness now. It’s going to be a great relief when they both start to feel better.
The mystery fevers
Ben spiked a fever again yesterday. It happens all the time with him, and I have to say it’s getting old. The poor little guy. The fever jumps up, usually to the mid 100 range…100.3-100.8. He gets completely lethargic, his eyes are all droopy, his cheeks are flushed, and you can tell he just feels awful. Then we give him or Tylenol, and as soon as it kicks in, he’s like a different boy. It usually lasts for a few days, but sometimes it’s up to a week. We’ve taken him to the doctor a few times when this happens, especially when he was younger, but we always heard the same thing, “we can’t find anything wrong. His ears are clear, his throat is clear, and since there are really no other symptoms than the fever, it must just be a virus working it’s way out.” So we keep giving him the pain relievers and wait for it to go away.
Seriously, though, how can it just keep happening all the time? I just want to be able to do something for Ben that will stop the fever from coming back, even though I know that’s not really possible. Nothing is worse than feeling like you can’t help your child. In know in the big picture this is not a horrible ailment, or anything, but this temporary relief crap is for the birds!!
Hopefully this will be a short round.
I wish I made that much
Dave told me this morning that the total cost of Emma’s accident in December has gotten up to $770. Seven HUNDRED and SEVENTY DOLLARS! If you break it down, that’s either $256.67 per hour or $192.50 per stitch. Now I realize that a lot of people were involved in the whole process, but still…that’s a pretty freakin’ good rate to get for services rendered!!
And to think I got annoyed when Dave said, “you know it’s going to be like 500 bucks” while we were deciding whether or not to take her to the ER. I’m glad I didn’t know it was going to be much more than that!!!
On the bright side, she has a very tiny scar that is hardly noticeable at all anymore. You’re welcome, Ems. Good thing you’re worth it!!
