Thursday, August 18, 2011

MD or not to MD

You'd think since I'm a nurse, a pediatric nurse, that I'd have all the answers when my own kiddos are sick. Oh, not so! I'm sitting here this morning debating with myself about whether I should call my pediatrician or not. I'm usually a "wait and see" kind of mom. Let's face it, 95% of kids' illnesses are viruses and just need to run their course. Not much good ol' Dr. Jason can do for those. But I always worry that I'm overlooking something that should be obvious--especially since I'm a nurse. I have a tendency to say to myself, "I've seen way worse than that," and therefore not call the doc. But what if.....

So, here's the situation. We've all been a little icky feeling this week. Trey had a stomachache and threw up on Saturday morning. Emerson had a fever that same day and a runny nose. No big deal--Trey was fine after that and Em only had a fever for about 24 hrs. My stomach has been "iffy" all week and I had a terrible headache on Tuesday. Emmy threw up Tuesday night (but only once) and had a little diarrhea Wednesday. This morning she woke up crying, thought she had to puke, and was all sweaty and clammy. But as soon as it started, it stopped and she told me she was hungry. She ate toast, asked for yogurt, then asked for a snack afterward. She's still puny and lying on the couch but says her tummy feels better. No idea. I wouldn't be concerned at all except I just experienced a crazy case at work with similar circumstances. A few days of so-so symptoms that ended up blowing up later. And now, I'm a little paranoid.

Will I call the doctor? I don't know yet. Probably not. Or maybe I should....