A Scary Day For Mommy
If you are a mom, you know, that nothing hurts worse than your child in pain, nothing is more nerve-racking than your child scared, and nothing can make you cry more inside than seeing your child's tears roll down their cheeks.
My children (thank God!) have always been the picture of health--especially Gracie. She has been to the Dr. only twice with non-wellness visits, and she is 6! She takes after my father (and me somewhat) in that department.
So, facing a new doctor, in a new place, with your 6 year old on the ridiculously high table--everything imaginable enters your mind. Well, it does after you are asked 20 questions and then 20 more with puzzled looks on faces.
First, let me say that NEVER have I been in the room with more skilled, confident, reassuring and down right wonderful medical professionals! Gracie has been through 2 pediatricians, and Thomas just had 1. I didn't have issues with the pediatrician they shared in Strasburg, but I was definitely not a fan of Gracie's infant one in Winchester. But, anyway, I had no idea what children doctor's and nurses could be like. Garren says it is because we are in a bigger area and there is more competition. I don't care. They took their time, the were so nice to me and Gracie, they looked and acted genuinely concerned, they answered all of my questions, and they explained things to me in a kind and understandable way (without the medical jargon).
Let me back up.
Gracie has always struggled with allergies, so when we moved and got a house with a back yard for her to play in (our first), and we were still cleaning up the dog hair (and everything else!) from the former owners, and we attempted to adjust to a different climate--we expected her allergies (and every one else's) to go haywire.
If you have a child with allergies you probably notice the clearing of their throat, the watery eyes, scratchy voice early in the morning, and sometimes a dry cough.
Gracie had developed a slight cough in the mornings and at night going on 2 months ago. We gave her some cough medicine when the cough got more persistent at night, and then we gave her a dose before school when the morning cough got worse and we prepared ourselves for another first grade illness.
But, she never did get a cold. But her cough seemed a lot more persistent. It was going for longer periods in the morning and longer at night, and now it was keeping her up at night.
Garren and I talked about the Dr., but just off -hand. We are firm believers in not rushing to the doctor's office over every little sniffle! But, when the cough became a bark, I knew that we had to go in.
Thankfully, I had asked Heather about pediatricians in the area when we moved here and she suggested hers. So, I had a place to start. I called and got an appointment (after an hour or so of updating/re-listing/and blah, blah, blah, our insurance and primary what-ever).
I had to pick Gracie up from school in order to get her to the appointment on time, and she was at first thrilled to be picked up, and then very less than thrilled to learn the reason.
We were in the office for 1.5 hours. Now, at first the situation was from a broken computer and we were new and had tons to fill out and have entered in said computer, but even when we went back we in there for over an hour. Ordinarily this would be a terrible thing--but that is how long they worked with us to be sure that we got the proper care. Wow!
Having to take Thomas with us and attempt to keep him still or at least somewhat still made the trip difficult, but these people were so patient and wonderful.
Here's where the "worried mom" comes in to play.
They asked a million questions and started to ask about the diagnosis I had been worried about since yesterday--asthma. I was terrified that she would have such a difficult illness that would require so much medicine and her not being able to be as active as she is.
An hour later and after listening to her lungs, which were clear, the Dr. came to the conclusion of allergy induced asthma.
So there was the "a" word I was dreading, but it wasn't as limiting as I was afraid of. She prescribed an inhaler just until the cough subsided. And, she gave her a more powerful allergy medicine (which I was hoping for!).
Combined we are hoping this will help get rid of that cough, and keep her allergies more in check.
We left the Doctor's office and got the prescription.
It wasn't until tonight when we had to "help" our six year old use and inhaler that mommy about lost it. I waited until the drama (and I am not exaggerating here!) was over, but I lost it. My beautiful baby was having to pump/spray medicine in to her body to help her breathe better.
I know there are moms out there that have had to go through so much worse, and I am sure that there is "worse" to come. But, for right now this is the scariest thing I have had to deal with as a mommy.
My children (thank God!) have always been the picture of health--especially Gracie. She has been to the Dr. only twice with non-wellness visits, and she is 6! She takes after my father (and me somewhat) in that department.
So, facing a new doctor, in a new place, with your 6 year old on the ridiculously high table--everything imaginable enters your mind. Well, it does after you are asked 20 questions and then 20 more with puzzled looks on faces.
First, let me say that NEVER have I been in the room with more skilled, confident, reassuring and down right wonderful medical professionals! Gracie has been through 2 pediatricians, and Thomas just had 1. I didn't have issues with the pediatrician they shared in Strasburg, but I was definitely not a fan of Gracie's infant one in Winchester. But, anyway, I had no idea what children doctor's and nurses could be like. Garren says it is because we are in a bigger area and there is more competition. I don't care. They took their time, the were so nice to me and Gracie, they looked and acted genuinely concerned, they answered all of my questions, and they explained things to me in a kind and understandable way (without the medical jargon).
Let me back up.
Gracie has always struggled with allergies, so when we moved and got a house with a back yard for her to play in (our first), and we were still cleaning up the dog hair (and everything else!) from the former owners, and we attempted to adjust to a different climate--we expected her allergies (and every one else's) to go haywire.
If you have a child with allergies you probably notice the clearing of their throat, the watery eyes, scratchy voice early in the morning, and sometimes a dry cough.
Gracie had developed a slight cough in the mornings and at night going on 2 months ago. We gave her some cough medicine when the cough got more persistent at night, and then we gave her a dose before school when the morning cough got worse and we prepared ourselves for another first grade illness.
But, she never did get a cold. But her cough seemed a lot more persistent. It was going for longer periods in the morning and longer at night, and now it was keeping her up at night.
Garren and I talked about the Dr., but just off -hand. We are firm believers in not rushing to the doctor's office over every little sniffle! But, when the cough became a bark, I knew that we had to go in.
Thankfully, I had asked Heather about pediatricians in the area when we moved here and she suggested hers. So, I had a place to start. I called and got an appointment (after an hour or so of updating/re-listing/and blah, blah, blah, our insurance and primary what-ever).
I had to pick Gracie up from school in order to get her to the appointment on time, and she was at first thrilled to be picked up, and then very less than thrilled to learn the reason.
We were in the office for 1.5 hours. Now, at first the situation was from a broken computer and we were new and had tons to fill out and have entered in said computer, but even when we went back we in there for over an hour. Ordinarily this would be a terrible thing--but that is how long they worked with us to be sure that we got the proper care. Wow!
Having to take Thomas with us and attempt to keep him still or at least somewhat still made the trip difficult, but these people were so patient and wonderful.
Here's where the "worried mom" comes in to play.
They asked a million questions and started to ask about the diagnosis I had been worried about since yesterday--asthma. I was terrified that she would have such a difficult illness that would require so much medicine and her not being able to be as active as she is.
An hour later and after listening to her lungs, which were clear, the Dr. came to the conclusion of allergy induced asthma.
So there was the "a" word I was dreading, but it wasn't as limiting as I was afraid of. She prescribed an inhaler just until the cough subsided. And, she gave her a more powerful allergy medicine (which I was hoping for!).
Combined we are hoping this will help get rid of that cough, and keep her allergies more in check.
We left the Doctor's office and got the prescription.
It wasn't until tonight when we had to "help" our six year old use and inhaler that mommy about lost it. I waited until the drama (and I am not exaggerating here!) was over, but I lost it. My beautiful baby was having to pump/spray medicine in to her body to help her breathe better.
I know there are moms out there that have had to go through so much worse, and I am sure that there is "worse" to come. But, for right now this is the scariest thing I have had to deal with as a mommy.
Its not as bad as it seems!! She will quickly get to the point where she can moniter it herself and tell you when she needs a breathing treatment or puff of the inhaler. Plus, it becomes a sure bet that she will pay close attention to her body!! Good luck, and I hope the treatments open those airways quickly! Our kids with allergy induced asthma seem to get better as the airways get larger (t barely uses his stuff anymore!) And yay for good doctors!!!
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