(no subject)

[lls_mutant]

So, hubby is out of town this week, and my running schedule says I have tonight off. I was all set to curl up with one of the movies I've been wanting to watch (the Donald S ones) or a few episodes of West Wing.

Parents, you're already laughing your asses off and figuring out where I spent my evening.

Toby came home from the park yesterday morning with a small insect bite. But this morning, it was bright red with a big pink blotch around it. Concerned, I googled "tick bite", and while it didn't look like the classic bullseye, there were pictures that sort of matched it. Made an appointment for the doctor and all that, and it did look worse when he got up from his nap.

Plans for tonight included going to Kohl's and going to Wendy's. We were at Wendy's when we ran into a neighbor, who is one of the nicest guys ever married to the absolute nicest woman ever. I asked him if he'd ever seen a tick bite, and he told me about the Minute Clinic at CVS, which I knew about but keep forgetting about. Thinking this would be a great way to figure out if I was just being a paranoid mom, we went there.

The nurse looked at it, kindly didn't charge me for it, and said because it was hard, swollen, hot to the touch, and behind a three year old's ear, we ought to go to the urgent care clinic. So, of course, we did.

I have to say, the wait was not at all intolerable, and the doctors seemed pretty good. I think the bite could have waited for our appointment tomorrow, but given that it kept getting worse, maybe it's better we had it checked out tonight. The doctor says he's not sure what took a bite out of Toby, but it definitely was not a tick bite. He did a few quick checks of glands and lungs and heart and orifices, determined Toby wasn't going to keel over in the next 24 hours, said it was probably some sort of spider, gave us an antibiotic and sent us on our way. He seems like he's completely fine- he's been happy all day, although he napped easily. But still.

So, yeah. First urgent care visit, and first go-round with antibiotics for Toby. What was actually more stressful is that Trevor was up way past his bedtime and a total grouch about it. Not that I blame the poor kid (who did a header earlier today- the doctor actually thought Trevor was the patient at first, not Toby), because I felt like doing the same thing. But all's well that ends well.

::falls over::

Comments

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

What a day! I'm glad the kids are okay. And I grin now everytime I read Toby's name. :-)

Hope the night is more restful than the day was!

[rayruz.livejournal.com]

Glad it wasn't a tick. Lyme sucks. My brother's suffering from a flair up right now. :(

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

UGH> ANTIBIOTICS FOR A BUG BITE?!?!

It just STEAMS me that these doctors can pull shit like that and then turn around and blame ANIMAL medicine for the multidrug resistant bacterial superbugs in this world.

Sorry, off soapbox now.

Good luck to you guys. :) Don't mind my ranting.

ETA: given that it's not a confirmed case of lyme-- in which case the ab's are quite specific and warranted.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Eek. Is antibiotics for a bug bite bad? I figured it made sense, not for the bite itself but because the bite was obviously infected in some way. But I don't really know much about medicine.

We're going to his pediatrician tomorrow. I'll be curious to see what he says.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

It's not that it's bad for Toby as that it's irresponsible medicine and bad for the human population as a whole. Unless it really is infected (I haven't seen it). But totally generally speaking, with the caveat I haven't seen the bite and I take this all back if it's dripping green pus or the doctor took a slide and saw it teeming with bacteria, the swelling and heat and redness in response to insect bites is quite possibly an inflammatory reaction not an infection, in which case the ab's will do absolutely nothing except kill off other bacteria that are susceptible to them and leave a resistant population to thrive without competition. All of which helps to make that particular antibiotic worthless when you really DO need it.

Again. This is not in any way medical advice. It's just a rant against overuse of antibiotics in our society. I FULLY believe in the appropriate use of said-- when there is a known infection and a susceptibilty panel is done, or the antibiotic is selected empirically based on sound medical experience-- I just want our drugs to be effective for us and our children's generation if not beyond. And that does not seem to be where the medical profession is leading us.

And then they blame it on the use of antibiotic in food animals (which doesn't always help the situation, but I urge them to look in a mirror as well.)

I'll be curious to see what your pediatrician says as well. After all, vets aren't 'real' doctors. ;)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Makes sense. I totally agree that we're an overmedicated society. Unfortunately, I'm not that kind of doctor myself, so I take the words of doctors. But not without second opinions :)

The thing I've discovered is that America is also so litigation happy, doctors will do things like this just to protect their own asses, especially if it's not their patient. I remember when I had the car accident when I was pregnant with Toby- they kept me overnight in the hospital for observation, and actually gave me an injection of some steroid just in case he came prematurely. And I had to stay on bed rest until I saw my own doctor. My doctor had me up and back to my normal life after a quick exam.

I don't think they reached different conclusions. I just think my doctor was more comfortable that he was protected, whereas the emergencies doctors wanted to be sure they covered every contingency, just in case. ESPECIALLY in the case of children.

I think because I took Toby to an urgent care clinic, I'm seeing the same thing. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have filled the prescription tonight. But we'll go to the doctor tomorrow and see what he has to say. I feel better knowing that I'm not being paranoid, and while it's not a tick bite, it's definitely something rather nasty.

One of the reasons I like my doctor is that he's not an overmedicator. In the three years we've been going to him, he's given us medication... four times, I think. Twice was for a fungal infection on a toenail (v. obvious), once was for a sinus infection (again, very obvious), and once was for an ear infection for Trevor. They've all been merited.

What scares me is my own inexperience. You hear so much, and while I don't want to be THAT mother (you know the one), at the same time, if my kids need medical treatment, I don't want to be afraid to ask for it, either. I'm never wary when I KNOW something is wrong, and I'm usually pretty good about saying "oh, it's just a cold" or "let's ride this puking out for 24 hours". This was one of those weird borderline cases. ::Sigh::

Also? Parents should never, EVER look at the internet :)

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

No, you're absolutely right that there's a definite element of covering one's own ass in this game and it seems to me you're acting in a perfectly rational and not overly-paranoid way; you're just following the advice that was available on a Monday night. *g*

It'll absolutely be interesting to hear what your doctor has to say as he sounds like a good one.

Hehehee. Deefinitely no internet. *ties your hands and turns off the monitor*

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yup. I'm finishing this chapter of my Dee-Hoshi bitchfight fic, sending it to my beta and going to bed! :)


(Thanks, btw :) )

[blue-crow.livejournal.com]

I think there's a term like, web-hypochondria or something. I totally have that. I have a headache combined with dizzyness and some nausea one day and all of a sudden I think because I'm in the northwest and there's a lot of MS out here that I suddenly have it. When really I needed a glass of water and a nap. D: Internet doctor sites are really bad.

[tin-o-biscuits.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh, talk of bugs. I seriously had to go get the Raid and douse my window frame. Can't handle bug talk. *shiver* Toby's awesome for putting up with the doctoral prodding. I'm sure it's fine.

Also, drawing more toddler Felix for you. :3

[aome.livejournal.com]

Has Toby reached the point where he will TAKE the antibiotics? Sorry you had such a stressful day, but it sounds like it turned out all right. How are things today?