Monday, October 6, 2008

Double Unhappiness at the Doctor's Office

Emma has been fighting a rash on her face for weeks now. She finished her second round of antibiotics last week and sure enough, it came back this weekend. Back to the doctor for her.

Ryan has a constant runny nose. I know he must have allergies. But this weekend he began to develop a deep cough and was drooling like crazy. This morning he was running a low grade fever and very lethargic. To the doctor for him too.

You think they would give me the 2 for 1 special, but no such luck. Neither one of them was feeling well but Ryan was the sickest. He wouldn't do anything but lay around before we went. Once we got there all he would do was cry.

Emma's rash is a mystery to the doctor. She suggested eczema or allergy. I told her no, although Emma did have eczema last winter I didn't think this was eczema because it went away with antibiotic and comes back a few days after she goes off. Not to mention her eczema just didn't look like that. She thought perhaps it might be strep because she gets a runny nose with it and her throat looked really red. Her ears looked a little red too, even with the ear tubes.

Ryan didn't have an ear infection, even though he had been poking at his ears. His throat was red with a lot of drainage. He had a cough but they didn't listen to his lungs. The doctor and nurse practitioner in training decided that Emma probably had strep and gave it to Ryan. Too bad neither tested positive for strep.

In any case, we had a nifty discussion on Ryan's prior immunizations in China, my refusal to start a new series from scratch, their inability to figure out what titers to draw to determine immunization levels, etc. The doctor made a comment that immunizations were necessary to prevent diseases and if everyone didn't vaccinate their child -- like me-- then more children would be sick. Mind you I was dealing with TWO crying children in each arm during this discussion, but I did point out that I wasn't against immunization, I was against my son getting 4 shots 3 months apart for the next year when it was most likely unnecessary. I didn't see the point of putting him through that yet at the same time I wasn't willing to accept his immunization record. Ultimately we decided that he would get 3 boosters between now and the time he starts kindergarten in 3 years.

I also brought up Ryan's melamine exposure. I told her I was positive he had been exposed to it. He came to me with a bag of Sanlu formula that he supposedly drank at morning and night. His orphanage has had children test positive for kidney stones. The doctor kept asking me if I still had the formula. I told her no, that I had thrown it away in China but that I KNEW he had been exposed to it. She had no idea of the side effects. I told her kidney stones. She she told me she would research it. I suspect she forgot.

In the meantime, as I mentioned, both children were crying. Sometimes just one, sometimes both on rare occasions neither. At one point I just began to laugh. They were both so miserable and upset and there was nothing I could do for them.

Ryan's settled down here and Emma's upset.

Ryan's now the upset one and Emma's calming down. Imagine this going for an HOUR. I had spent most of the time carrying both of them in my arms, bouncing them up and down and singing Yo Gabba Gabba songs and of course the all time favorite, especially for Emma, the name song. Its their name to the Wiggles tune Mashed Potato, Mashed Potato. Emma Linh, Emma Linh, Ryan LongLong, Ryan LongLong. Emma laughs Ryan looks at me like I lost my mind, which I had by the time I left. These photos were taken when I set them down to give my arms and back a rest.

When we left, we had an unclear diagnosis but antibiotic for both. Emma's is the same antibiotic, for a shorter dosage time and a smaller dosage. I think we'll be back for a visit in a couple of weeks.

Mommy was a good girl at the doctor so she rewarded herself with Starbucks which is right next door to the pediatrician. Thank goodness I don't have to go through that everytime I get a Starbucks. If I did, Starbucks would go bankrupt!

11 comments:

Trish said...

Ohhhhhh, I hope they get feeling better soon! Trish

Teresa =) said...

Denise -

We must be cut from the same cloth. As I read this post, I had two thoughts running through my mind:

1. I would have taken a picture of the suffering children, for dramatic effect (you did).

2. I would reward myself with Starbucks after that visit (you did).

My DH thinks I'm insane for taking pictures of things like crying children and hospital visits...hey, we're creating memories here, even if they're BAD memories!

Sorry the kids are suffering...hope Starbucks helped ease your suffering a bit!

Teresa =)

Denise Grover Swank said...

Teresa,

Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo??? You know Kristin and I are talking "Road Trip" and maybe getting tattoos-- with photos for the blogs of course. Maybe you want to join us-- there will most definitely be Starbucks involved.

Denise Grover Swank said...

Oh one more thing, I did feel kind of bad taking their picture but they were crying anyway... it wasn't like I pinched them to make them cry. One day they'll look at those pictures and thank me for them (not likely) but I'll look at them and laugh.

Which reminds me of something else. When I went back later and read my post I looked like some kind of mean mommy laughing at them crying. You have to understand I laughed about 50 minutes into our visit. One would cry, then the other, they would feed of each other. It was like soemthing you would see on a bad sitcom, and I just laughed at the absurdity of it all!

Teresa =) said...

Don't worry, I totally GOT your laughing at the absurdity. Sometimes if you don't laugh, you'll cry right along with 'em!

A tattoo, huh? Hmmmmm...I'm a huge wimp when it comes to inflicting intentional pain on myself. How 'bout I come along, hold your hand while YOU get tattooed, take the pics for your blog, and pay for the Starbucks as your reward??

Teresa =)

Denise Grover Swank said...

That sounds good. You are now official photographer of the Blogger Women's 1st Annual Road Trip. Who else wants to go???

I think we need a better title for our group!

Denise Grover Swank said...

Oh one more thing Teresa-- we'll skip the Vietnamese food!!!

Kristin said...

Oh yes! A photographer. My kids will be so proud to see all this in print on the blog! Not.

Now, we need to find a place to meet, a time, and get up enough courage to inflict pain upon ourselves.

Jesse, James and Lindsey's mom said...

WOW! The nurse in me is shaking my head at the docs. What is so hard about drawing titres. You can draw MMR titre, hep B titres, and DTP titres. We did it and it was not hard. Just a thought...could it be hand foot and mouth your daughter had. It does not always present on the hands and feet. Lindsey had it on her face and her feet. The URI symptoms go along with it. It is very contagious also..but viral. Re: the melamine..get a renal ultrasound to check Ryan's kidneys..we did that on lindsey just to rule out any kidney issues. Sorry to ramble but those silly doctors are making this more difficult for you! Smack em for me.
Hugs to you!
Kathy T
a snowy Anchorage..

Anonymous said...

Hope the little ones and mommy feel better soon! Those are good pics for thier High School yearbook! you should keep those for that lol

Kathleen
Adoppt
G&R July 31,2007
Emily and Kaitlyn now 19 months

Heather said...

Wow, major kuddos to you for not completely loosing it and for getting photo proof for later! Poor babies though, I hope they both feel better soon!
Great reward for you afterward too;) I'm not entirely sure it shouldn't have been spiked after enduring an hour of that though! Heather