Sick Boy

We had to take Little Man to the ER yesterday. I am incredibly grateful for the wonderful emergency room right up the street from us - it acts as an Urgent Care/Emergency Room with it's own lab/diagnostic testing department, even though there is no hospital physically connected to it. (It is owned/run by one of the local hospitals - the one my mom works for - which is a great hospital.) Anyway, this is the 2nd time our family has had to use it (Daddy Fuss had to go for a severe case of strep throat a couple of Christmases ago) and they have always been quick, efficient, and helpful.

Anyhow, he had this horrible cough that was worrying me and when I called the pediatrician's after-hours help line, the nurse was useless. So, as I saw he got worse, we decided to take him in. I've had too many friends who have had their babies come down with RSV or whatever to risk it.

Of course, when we got there, he was suddenly feeling better. After not smiling at me for HOURS at home, he was flirting with the nurses and smiling at them. And of course, how do you get a 5 month old to cough on command? I think they were nearly ready to send us home until he FINALLY coughed his horrible cough in front of the Dr. That made the Dr. stop and rethink, because he didn't like the sound of it, either. We ended up getting a rapid RSV test (negative) and chest X-ray (positive for... something.) It indicated that there was SOMETHING in one of his lungs, so rather than give him a 2nd X-ray to determine HOW MUCH, they decided to treat him with antibiotics - since that was going to be the treatment either way. The PA described it as "early-stages of pneumonia" which, I guess is sort of how it works - if Bronchitis goes untreated, it can often lead to pneumonia? Regardless, I felt vindicated in my paranoia of taking him to the ER for what could have just been a bad cold.

(I called the pediatrician's office to let them know so that they could request the records from the ER, etc. They are discussing whether or not I should come in - why on earth would I come in? He's got his diagnosis and his medication, what else is there?)

Anyhow, the rest of us are still battling various levels of having a cold, but thankfully, it's manageable. And the baby slept well last night, so we got some decent sleep.