Well, the pediatrician said my daughter was mostly fine, but that perhaps she's picked up some sort of secondary infection that's extending her illness. Probably a viral infection, so nothing ot be done but get through it.
But, doctor also said - based on my husband's descriptions of all our varying illnesses, that we probably all had H1N1. And, he was quite concerned for me, since my husband said I wasn't getting better and I was a nursing mother.
I am getting better. My husband is a wee bit of a hypochondriac. Last Monday I lost my voice completely for three days, but it's growing stronger every day. Still hoarse, and I'm still coughing a lot, but I'm definitely better. Last Thursday and Friday my throat hurt so much I had trouble swallowing, but I had a strep test and it was clean. I feel fine now - tired, but that could be because my son gets up at 6 am these days.
I think this doctor was showing an exaggerated level of concern. I've had the flu twice in the past 15 years. When you have the flu, you know it. You are flat on your back exhausted and bone deep weary from the slightest exertion. You have a fever. I had none of those things and mostly worked through it all, except for the no voice part.
But now I'm aggravated. With the pediatrician's certainty, maybe we did have a mild case of the swine flu? How to know? So are we done with it and I can stop wishing we'd all get better so we could get vaccinated? If my husband is a wee bit of a hyponchondriac, I'm the flip - it's fine, I'm fine, she's fine, we're all fine, no need to go to the doctor, we'll be fine.
How do you feel about the docotr? About the flu vaccine?
2 years ago
3 comments:
Hmm. Doctors. For my kid, it's if I have a problem that I can't resolve or need a better opinion. Rarely do they tell me something I don't know. (e.g., she has a raging ear infection. Do we assume viral and just treat with tylenol or does she need an antibacterial? Is this cut on her knee stitch worthy or not?) BUT, hey, peace of mind and all that and my office is really good about telling me not to worry about coming in for little things (which I seldom do, but I guess many others do). As for me, I think I really need to be slammed and out of luck with OTC before I go in. And I've been called on that before, but oh well.
Flu shots: I'm a very big believer in vaccines as a matter of public health (which they are) and ergo try and vaccine my family accordingly. I'm amazed Bella hasn't come home with flu yet (KNOCK WOOD), and she was finally vaccinated at her school last Monday. The rest of us duke it out I guess. While I don't worry so much about the effects on my immediate family, I do worry about who it is we're possibly contaminating. I'd sleep a lot better knowing I'm not unintentionally passing bad shit along to someone with lung problems or a compromised immune system when i'm at the grocery store.
My two cents.
1. Pediatricians do not treat adults, so trust your own judgement.
2. When in doubt, medical recommendation is to GET the vaccine if you don't have documentation of H1N1. It's not gonna hurt you to get it, so just do it.
Pediatricians are basically cold/flu specialists half the year. If a pediatrician heard me cough during my kid's appointment and expressed concern, I'd take his/her advice. This actually happened to me once during Little A's pregnancy, and I'm pretty sure I avoided full-blown pneumonia because Big A's doc urged me to go immediately to my OB and ask for antibiotic X to treat a cold gone wild. The OB took the recommendation seriously, too, even though it was from a kid's doc.
But the difference here is that your daughter's doc didn't even see you. So I would take the concern and warning with a grain of salt. You are right about the flu not being subtle! If you were in serious trouble with it, you'd know it.
Hope you feel better soon.
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