I could probably write a book on this subject but I will settle for a blog series!! As a mom, I have learned that there is a delicate balance between being a nervous wreck and being sane. Sometimes I feel like I am constantly waiting for the next shoe to drop and days that are full of struggles. But don’t get me wrong I still relish in the milestones, the fun days and the sweetness of my children. But I will tell you the main cause for my Mom nervous wreck behavior and anxiety is my children’s health and their pediatrician. With my first child, I over analyzed every cough, sneeze, funny looking poopy diaper and rash. And off the pediatrician’s office we would go. And I am sure a lot of mom’s can agree that there are several phrases we hate to hear at a doctor’s appointment: the fever virus, it’s just allergies, it is viral, and let’s wait 3 days and if no improvement we will see you again. It stinks to watch your child be in pain or not feel good. It stinks when you kids have to miss their beloved activities or school to stay home and wait it out. But equally I am that mom that will keep a sibling home from school so we do not spread our germs through 2 preschools in town. As an adult when we get sick we turn to over the counter medications to help our symptoms but for the under 4 age bracket that is not an option. Tylenol and Motrin are pretty much our only option and some medications I think are sold just to make mom’s feel better. Although I do love some Zarbee’s cough syrup even if it really is not helping the situation. But I have found that there is a thin line between something is really wrong and this too shall pass and that is when your mom intuition kicks in and to be honest we have to trust it because our kids can’t say “Hey Doc, there is really something wrong with me and I need answers!”
There have been three times in my oldest child’s life when I have had to say I want a second opinion or we need to analyze this further. The first was when we discovered my daughter had a milk and soy intolerance. She had a bloody diaper at 2 months old. We went in and didn’t get to see our regular doctor and I was told she just had a little bug. Well a week of bad poops and lots of spit up later I insisted to be rechecked by a different doctor and he suggested a formula change and – BOOM – problem solved. The second time, she was 5 months old. She was vomiting and had severe diarrhea resulting in a brutal diaper rash. Went in to the doctor and just like I assumed the doctor believed we needed another formula change. This time it wasn’t an easy fix. I was having trouble getting her to take in any formula, I was using Pedialyte to keep her hydrated and she was just blah. We went back in and I insisted on some sort of test. So we sent a stool sample off to EAMC. The next day she was extremely lethargic, no wet diaper, no tears and our doctor admitted us to the hospital for fluids while we waited on the stool sample results. And sure enough at 5 months old she had somehow gotten Salmonella. The on call doctor at the hospital even said he was thankful that I had pushed for a stool sample. After these two experiences, I started asking more questions at appointments and realized that a mom’s intuition sometimes goes a lot farther than a medical degree.
Fast forward a few years. I worked on building our whole families immunity. It was working. Someone in our household is rarely sick. We made it through flu season this year with a newborn healthy. And then it all went downhill. My now 4-year-old came home from school complaining of a sore throat, headache, tummy ache and just feeling yucky. Que the red flags flying for Strep Throat. Because her birthday party was in 5 days, I called and took her in that afternoon. The doctor agreed her throat looked horrible, her tonsils were touching. To my surprise the strep test was negative and the overnight culture was negative as well so the doctor chalked it up to allergies or a viral infection. No worries, we spent the next day home from school, snuggling and playing. And then went about our week. She never had a fever, never complained again so I didn’t worry. We were going in the next week for her 4-year-old well visit anyway so I figured if it got worse we would retest. Sure enough at her checkup the doctor said her tonsils were nasty but once again the strep test was negative and the overnight culture negative as well. But this time it just did not sit well with me. She was up three and four times a night, not eating because she would gag and just in general was a hot flipping mess. So, when no one from her doctor’s office called to let me know that the overnight culture was negative I called an ENT for an appointment. We just had to make it two weeks. Well that night at dinner she choked so bad that she vomited for a solid 10 minutes. And she was struggling to catch her breath. It made me so nervous!! So, we hopped in the car but this time to our beloved urgent care for a CBC to see if she was fighting an infection. I think the nurse was surprised that I walked in asking for a CBC but it is the only true way to differentiate between a bacterial infection and a viral one. Her white blood cell count was 20,000 and the doctor was shocked that this had been going on for almost 15 days with no treatment. And his strep test was positive. He explained to me how strep could be slow to develop and off we went with her first antibiotic in her 4 years of life. The antibiotics worked, she felt better was eating better, and her tonsils were no longer white. But wait, why are they still touching each other? Why are they still so dang big? Thank goodness our ENT appointment was in 3 days. Apparently, her tonsils had been so enlarged from fighting strep for three weeks untreated that they just would not go down. The ENT did confirm the infection was gone, thanks Urgent Care doctor for actually listening to this crazy momma, but her tonsils needed to come out. And he filled me in on some valuable information. Who knew that enlarged tonsils could affect a child’s behavior and cause sleep apnea? Well that just explained everything. I was no longer on edge I was over the edge. I was so angry at our Doctor, but after speaking to another pediatrician I found out that the wait it out game is played by 85% of the doctors in our huge practice.
So, what now? Well she had her tonsils removed this week. And now I have zero trust in her doctor’s office and will probably be 
on edge whenever she gets sick until we decide to change doctors or change practices completely. The moral of this story. Our kid’s health will make us insane. It will make us question our actions. It will make us question their environment. And it will surely make you question your doctor. But I am thankful that I am a helicopter mom when it comes to my children’s health. Even though I am laid back about activities, preschool, sweets, vegetables and screen time I will no longer be laid back about their health. I fully understand sometimes it is a fever virus, sometimes it is viral. And sometimes it is allergies with this crazy Alabama pollen. Even though after two kids I no longer question every cough, sneeze or rash I will trust my mom intuition when I think it is more and urge you too as well. It never hurts to ask for tests or go in to the office because let’s face it when you constantly live life on the edge of sanity and insanity, peace of mind is worth it’s wait in gold. Stay tuned for Things that put Moms on Edge: Part 2, Preparing your Child for Surgery!!
