Just as the wife makes the return to the land of the healthy, Benjamin passes her on his way back to sickness. Yesterday after lunch, we noticed some spots on his neck, but we didn't really think too much about it. By last night, though, they were all over his body. He'd had the chicken pox vaccine a couple of weeks ago at his one year immunization, and it didn't quite look like that anyway.
This morning, it was getting worse and he was running a fever off and on, but we took him to church anyway. He wasn't quite his normal self, but he seemed to get better as the morning went on. The spots, though, continued to increase. They were more like little welts, really looking all the world like an allergic reaction.
When his fever returned this afternoon and he started getting cranky, even after his nap, we went ahead and took him to the ER. I really wanted to try to wait until Monday to see his regular doctor, because the last ER bill was over $200. (Obie, you remember St. Mary's from their Tenet days, right?) Anyway, we couldn't wait any longer. After a nice long wait, we came home knowing very little more than we did when we went.
They called it hives, but basically said it was an allergic reaction to an unknown agent. They thought it might have been the antibiotic he just finished taking, but that seemed unlikely to me since he showed no problems in the 10 days he was taking it. They recommended Tylenol to keep the fever down (it was 101 when we took him in) and Benedryl for the itching/discomfort, and that they hopefully would go down in a few days. On the positive side, Benedryl may help him sleep through the night, which won't be a bad thing.
Got to watch the first couple of episodes of Alias Season 4 while Benjamin was napping today, but otherwise had another totally unproductive day. A tornado watch became a tornado warning, and as blase as I usually am about those, after looking at the radar and seeing swirling action coming right at us, I went ahead and got the family into the bathtub while I kept an eye on the TV. The radio was worthless--even though we have two local radio stations, the tornado sirens were going off, and one of the few times there really was a threat to the town by severe weather, and I turn it on to ESPN Radio's breakdown of the NFL and some ballgame (maybe an NFL game, I didn't stick around to be sure.) Great job there, guys.
That's our eventful Sunday. Unfortunately, the Thanksgiving break is over and it's back to the grind tomorrow!
stayin alive
12 years ago
1 comment:
I can't say I am familiar with St. Mary's. Anyway, I feel for you. We have been to the ER many times with both of my sons. Emergency medicine takes forever, and more often than not, you leave mad, and still wondering what is going on, medically.
Post a Comment