Check Up and Emergency Room

We had an interesting and exhausting day yesterday. Benjamin woke up with hives on his shoulder, back and legs, so I took him to his regularly scheduled check-up to discuss it with the doctor. He thought the cause of the hives was the antibiotic we were giving him, so he gave me a new prescription. In the process, he was reviewing the medications that Benjamin has been on and wasn't very happy. Apparently, the P.A. that he saw on Tuesday overdosed him on medication and prescribed things that were unnecessary. He told me that he should not have been on ibuprofen and acetaminophen at the same time (I also thought it was odd and questioned her twice to confirm that was what she was prescribing), he should not be taking a decongestant (which I also questioned because he wasn't having symptoms that a decongestant would be needed for), and he doesn't need the breathing treatments unless he is wheezing (which he never was).

We went to the pharmacy to get his new antibiotic and the pharmacist told me to give him Benadryl for the hives and Imodium for the diarrhea that the medicine would cause him to have. Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder why you have to take more medications for the symptoms that the original medication causes?

We went home, I gave him his first dose of the new antibiotic, and we had a fairly relaxing afternoon. At one point, Benjamin came into the kitchen and was scratching his shoulder. I lifted his shirt to check him and realized he was covered from waist to neck in horrible hives. They looked like blisters. I've never seen anything like that and I was suddenly very scared and worried! After two attempts to call the "on call" doctor from the health clinic, and with no success in having him call me back, we decided under my mom's advice to give him the Benjadryl and take him to the emergency room. I was concerned that the hives might move into his throat and he would have a hard time breathing...not a good thing when you live 35 minutes from the closest hospital!

The doctor at the emergency room was wonderful! He never made me feel like I was an overly anxious mom with no reason to be there. He really looked at Benjamin and paid attention to what we had to say. He was thorough in trying to find the cause of the hives (although we're still not sure if it was the medicine or the pneumonia itself). He prescribed a third antibiotic that I am hoping will finally do the trick and clear this thing up.

I'm going to preface the next paragraph with this statement: I am not, in any way, shape, or form, suggesting that you not trust your doctor or follow his/her orders! These next statements are my own frustrations over my own experience and not a reflection on the medical community as a whole! (How do you like my nice little legal disclaimer?)

Do you ever feel like your doctor sees so much sickness on a day to day basis that it's all just routine? I worry that they don't see "people" anymore, they just see the "ailment" or "disease" or "injury". I want to be listened to when I go to the doctor, especially when it's for my children. I am their mother and I probably know what's wrong with them before the doctor does! After this experience, I am going to be switching our doctor and I will be more thorough in finding one that I feel really cares about the health of my family.

Thankfully, the medication errors were not harmful to my child...but what if they had been? What if they had interacted together to cause him to become very sick or bring injury to his body? Or worse? One thing I have learned from this is to trust my own instincts. I'm not saying that I won't take my children to the doctor when they need it...obviously pneumonia is a serious illness and needs to be treated. However, I am saying that when a doctor prescribes medications from now on, I will do my own research and get other opinions before putting these chemicals into their little bodies. It's best when we, as mothers, become educated enough to be able to make informed, intelligent decisions about the care of our children.

I shutter to think if this had been Jack or Addy, who may be more fragile to such mistakes because they are smaller. I am thankful that the Lord has protected them so far from contracting this sickness...which could be viral or bacterial, we're just not sure. Please continue to pray for Benjamin that he will get better soon. He's just not been himself and I want the old Benjamin back! And thank you all so much for your prayers and concern up this point. I am so grateful for them!

Have a blessed day!

Brandi

P.S. If you're looking for the results of the book giveaway, I will post them later this evening! Good luck to all who entered!