Buster Is Fine
Always give the good news first, then tell the exciting news.
We had our first visit to an Emergency Room for the children last week. Buster’s week-long illness still hadn’t resolved and as Kelly and I talked about our plans for the end of our visit, and the long upcoming drive, even though he was slightly better, his cough remained. I didn’t want to end up having to go in the middle of the night, so around 5 p.m. last Thursday, Buster and I headed to an Urgent Care center near Kel and Paula’s.
If you want to hear my full, grinding story about my parenting being denigrated by the Urgent Care Doc, let me know, but for this post, suffice it to say Buster and I went from Urgent Care to the closest hospital with a Pediatric ER.
Long story short, the ER had a Wii and we spent several comfortable hours there while he played and I read.
A few chest x-rays later, and with a diagnosis of pneumonia, we waited at the hospital pharmacy for his meds to take home.
At that moment, he looked up at me with big eyes and said, “Mom, I’ve got hives.”
Oh, boy, did he. He had hives all over his arms and legs, across his shoulders, and even up onto his cheeks.
Back we trotted to the ER.
The ER doc was pretty unimpressed. He had only received an ibuprofen in the ER, so this was not an allergy to the antibiotic. They’d just give him benadryl since he wasn’t having any breathing difficulties, so not really worth re-admitting. I bought benadryl at the pharmacy, dosed him up right there, and the hives had calmed down by the time we got back to our Virginia home.
Here we sit, back home, four days later. He still has a slight cough, but his energy has returned. Those crazy hives still come and go, though with much less frequency. Thanks to Gina and Kelly’s suggestions, Buds and I learned there is such a thing as stress hives, which is what we believe they are.
All-in-all, a good experience with solid healthcare. I’m grateful for insurance and modern medicine.
And grateful to be home with a child on his way back to good health.
