I was wrong.
Two days ago, Joseph started coughing. A horrible, painful cough. My little man lay on the couch, lethargic and glassy eyed with fever. Yesterday, I took him to his pediatrician.
After checking him out, the NP said that it appeared he has allergy induced asthma and gave him a breathing treatment to help, not only his cough, but his wheezing.
A breathing treatment that made Joseph jump around like he'd just consumed 14 espressos.
I asked her what exactly was in this treatment. Instead of speaking to me as if I was a - oh, I don't know - non-MD, she rattled off a list of ingredients that made my head spin. She then gave me a list of prescriptions that Joseph needs to help the infection that's causing his fever, the cough that's making him vomit and the asthma that's leaving him breathless.
And then she gave me a prescription for a mask, a prescription for allergy medications and a piece of paper telling me how to administer it all.
In metric.
Side note: I'm going to go on a tangent here. When I talk to moms about the meds my little man is on, they rattle off the names like they're the members of a hot boy band. How do they remember those names?!?! I have a hard enough time remember the car dealer's name is Steve fifteen minutes after he introduces himself.
While I'm holding a screaming Elizabeth and Joseph's pulling on my shirt, nearly bouncing off the walls and wanting a sticker, I asked, "Are all of these medications necessary? It just seems like an awful lot to put into a 43 pound little boy."
"They are." She then went down the list. "This is an antibiotic."
"Does he have an infection?"
"The fever indicates that he does."
"But shouldn't we let the fever help kill off the infection as long as it's not staying higher than 100?"
"We also tested him for pertussis so this will help if he has that."
"He hasn't been exposed."
"I understand, but I do think that an antibiotic is necessary right now."
"And does he really need two nose sprays? Aren't Nasonex and Flovent kind of the same thing?"
"He needs both."
"Two nose sprays and an inhaler?"
"Yes."
"It just seems like overkill. Out of curiosity, since Joseph has a tendency to develop allergy induced asthma, what can we do for prevention?"
"You know, it's really not time to talk about that yet."
"When can I see Dr. N?"
"She'll be here for our follow-up."
And I left, drove to the pharmacy and walked out with $120 worth of medications. I came home and started researching and still think that it's overkill.
So I'm not giving him both nose sprays.
And I'm holding off on the breathing treatment until I hear wheezing.
3 comments:
Ugggg! Poor Joseph and Mommy!
Zach had the cough and fever this week too. Luckily our ped is pretty conservative with meds and he is doing better.
I would follow up with your ped about the asthma. When we went to Disneyland last year we had Z in the ER because he had what sounded like croup and we wanted him to have a breathing treatment. They "diagnosed" him with asthma. Our insurance company started sending us a ton of stuff on asthma. Our ped does not agree at all although all his croup bouts aren't totally unrelated to the asthma family.
Anyway, no point to that whole thing but I would follow up with your ped to see what you guys can do prevent another flare up. Cold humidifier is one of our standby's this winter.
When you get a breathing treatment they are pretty much using steriods to open up your airways. Poor guy, I have grown up with allergies and asthma and unfortunately they go hand in hand. I myself refuse to take the nose sprays.
watch out for the nose sprays - I've used various ones over the years because of my allergies and get serious nose bleeds from them. No fun. Poor Joe & poor Mandy!
Post a Comment