We have been sick for months.
As soon as one of our kids get a cold, then it cycles slowly through our family going from one dripping nose to the next. One person will start to get better, then a new contagion enters our house to infect us all again.
This last illness has not gone away and, to date, it has been months since our house has been free of coughing and runny noses.
In an effort to stave off further infections and to double-check that there was nothing more serious going on, I pulled my little sickos out of school and daycare and took them to the doctor.
The doctor ordered blood tests and a chest x-ray for my son and then we went on our merry, coughing way.Two days later, the receptionist called us because a small infection had shown up on my son's x-ray and the doctor wanted us to come in.
I raced in the next day, pulling my son out of school to bring him into the doctor.
At the appointment, the doctor reassured me that he is young and these sort of infections happen and that we will keep an eye on it. It was frustrating to be called in to the doctor's office to be told that your child has an infection but that we were not going to do anything about it.
I remain convinced that the reason that we were not given a prescription at that appointment was because my son gets excited while at the doctor and does everything in his power to look and act healthy in front of the doctor.He will cough all day and all night and then stop at the doctor's office.
A week later, both kids were still coughing and it was getting worse, not better.
I am a firm believer in trusting your intuition, your gut, particularly when it comes to your children. If something feels like it is not right when it comes to the health of your children, I seek help because I am not a doctor and I would prefer to look like a hysterical mother than to ignore something that could be serious.
As it was, we managed to get an appointment again and we brought both kids in. This time, the doctor agreed with us and prescribed antibiotics for both of them and we went on our merry, coughing way.
My husband went to fill the prescriptions and I took the children home to feed them and get ready for an afternoon nap. At the pharmacy, the pharmacist told my husband that our daughter's prescription was "a bit strong." When my husband asked if he should call the doctor to double-check the prescription, the pharmacist said, "No.It's probably fine. It's not a completely unusual dose."
My husband brought the prescriptions home and told me the story.We gave the kids their medicine and the volume given to our three-year-old daughter seemed strange, in light of what the pharmacist told my husband.So I called the doctor and we chatted and I told him what the dosage said on the bottle and the doctor told me that he would call in another prescription right away.
While I was at the pharmacy, the doctor called our house back to apologize, telling my husband that our daughter had been given five times the recommended dose of antibiotics.
Scary.
Mistakes and errors happen in everyone's workplace; the stakes are quite a bit higher when it comes to pharmacists and doctors. That is why it is important for patients and caretakers to take an active part in their own treatment and to be involved in their health and treatment plans.
I am not angry at the doctor and I respect the doctor immensely for calling back to apologize. I am upset at the pharmacist.When offered the chance to call the doctor to double-check the dosage for a three-year-old, he declined.It takes five minutes to check on something that could have had dire consequences for a child and he elected not to.
I am equally upset at myself for giving my daughter the dosage that seemed high.I could have called the doctor before I gave her the medicine and her tiny immune system would not have been blasted by an obscene amount of antibiotics. It is a good reminder to trust your gut when it comes to your health.
There is nothing to be gained by putting off the doctor's appointment when you know that something is wrong.If you have been delaying in making that appointment, do so today.
