Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Again?

This morning I watched the sun rise as I drove Todd to the ER... again. Last time we thought he may had fractured his foot, but this time it was for a head injury. (He's not even a year old and we've already taken him to the ER twice! Goodness.)
Last night, I put Todd in his high chair and scooted him up to the table to munch on some snacks. I had my back turned to him as I was preparing a salad. I all of a sudden hear this big *thump*. I turned around and saw Todd laying on his back, still strapped in to his chair...wailing. I unbuckled him as fast as I could, swooped him up, and put a bag of frozen blueberries on the back of his head. It was hard to console him. Then he started having concussion like symptoms. He got extremely lethargic and wanted to fall asleep (even though he had just woken up from a nap about an hour an half earlier). We had to keep him from sleeping about 3 times. We did some little tests on him, and after all was said and done we figured he had had a minor concussion. About an hour after his fall, he started being his normal self again. He went to bed and all was okay.
He woke up at 3am and went back to sleep... again, just fine.
But then at 5:30am he woke up with an extremely high temperature and his little hard was beating as fast as a rabbit thumping his hind foot. He hasn't been sick at all, so of course I could only assume that his rapid jump in temperature was due to him hitting his head.
I took him to the only place I knew where at 6 in the morning... the ER. Normally I wouldn't have taken him and would have treated his fever like any other fever. But because he had just had a minor concussion 12 hours prior, I wasn't going to take any chances.
We got to the hospital and his temperature was 103. One hundred and three! I was really concerned... but despite my concerns, they all got pushed aside as I was told over an over again that the fever had no correlation to Todd's head injury. I was getting really upset because I just didn't believe them. I couldn't understand how Todd could go from being perfectly fine to having a temp of 103 within an hour and a half. I especially couldn't understand it when they'd tell me he looks "just fine" and his fever is due to his runny nose. Really? A runny nose?
We hung around the ER for a couple of hours and his temperature finally went down, but not much. They let us go home and we have an appointment to go back on Friday.
The thing that upset me the most was that the 5 people who told me that his temp had nothing to do with his head injury made me feel so dumb... like I didn't know anything. All I needed and wanted was a little validation for my motherly concerns. I didn't get any. I just got "his fever had nothing to do with his head injury" repeated to me in a slow and concise manner as if I didn't speak English.
There was nothing for me to do about it anymore. I had told them that their answer didn't satisfy me, and so in response they asked me if I wanted them to call my husband for me for support. Oh sheesh. NO...I'M FINE. Thanks for your concern though. (....was that sarcastic?)
I'm sorry... doctors get such a bad rap (my husband is going to be a doctor!). They're doing their job the best they can. There are just so many emotions involved that make things stressful, and doctors are an easy target to unload that stress on.

We've got to keep an extra eye on that boy.... I don't want to be going to the hospital again any time soon.

6 comments:

  1. I share your feelings...we went to the er a few months ago when Aidyn had a fever of 103...they were all horrible. And to top it off...2 months later we get a bill for $600...and that's with insurance.

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  2. But the one thing a doctor will never have is motherly instinct. Maybe the head injury didn't relate to the fever directly, but that's the motivator that led you to the ER. If he hadn't hit his head you may not have thought to notice the fever. May have even just let him cry it out at night, thinking he just woke up from a bad dream.

    Sorry you had to take him to the ER again. My boys are prone to injuries too. I think it just comes with boys. Though most of those injuries happen when they're with me, which always makes me feel horrible. True, I'm with them more in the day than Brandon, but it doesn't make it any less hard.

    You're a great mama Shauna and what any doctor says will never change that. :) Validation Validation Validation :)

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  3. Doctors are wonderful and I am grateful for them, but there's a special connection between Mother's and their children. Aside from Heavenly Father, you know your child better than anyone! I mean, you were an integral part to them being here on earth. I'm sorry the ER was frustrating, but I think I would have done the same thing and been just as concerned.

    Your family pictures are beautiful!

    I love that you get to live close to the new Temple and some amazing Church History. It's a special place and I miss being there.

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  4. Ugh how frustrating! Its not all doctors that are so frustrating just the few who give all doctors a bad name. Linc had a super high fever for days once and I kept calling the nurse and the on call doctors and they jsut kept saying, "oh it's a fever flu that's going around wait til Tuesday" etc...but i KNEW there was something more serious going on...we get in there and he had STREP! I mean what the crap! That poor baby was probably in so much pain for FOUR days because no one believed me! But I am sure they get a lot of overly paranoid moms in there tooo...but seriously! Ugh!

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  5. I am glad he is ok, I thought I added that but didn't! Poor little guy!

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  6. Oh so sorry you had to go to the ER. It's always hard taking your kids to the doctor. You just feel so helpless! I've heard COUNTLESS rude things. In fact I hate to go without Jake because I get all tongue-tied and teary eyed. BUT I think you should feel awesome for trusting your motherly instincts. There are so many times I think I should have done something and when I finally do I find out I was right! You are the mom, and you know your kids better than anyone. A doctor only has a picture in time of how your kid is doing, so you're just asking them to look for something you can't see. If they can't see something feel good about, but just remember they're not always right either. Trust yourself, your an awesome mom, and you've been blessed with two kids that you get to know better than anyone! You are the perfect mom for them, and they are so lucky to have you!!!

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