The First Crisis

I like to think of myself as level headed and rational. Then my baby got sick for the first time in his 7 months. When he went down for a nap that day all was well with the world. Then he woke up, and everything changed. I felt him when I reached in to check on him, and he felt HOT, so my instinct was to get him out of his crib and take his temperature to see for sure what the temp was, since I was sure he had a fever. When I got him out of the crib, I saw that he had a rash developing on his face, and when I undid his onsie to take his temp, I saw that the rash was all over him. The panic was beginning to rise up, but was not at full peak yet. I took his temp. 102.6. Increase panic. He's not happy. Sweating from the increased body temp and cranky from clearly not feeling well. I call the Dr.s office and tell the nurse what's up, literally, and she says to give him a full dose of baby Tylenol, then bring him right in to see the Dr. OK, now the panic level is maxing out. So I load up the car and I'm on my way, making the 30 minute drive seem like eternity. Slow moving cars I'm stuck behind, every red light possible, then a traffic accident taking up 3 of the 4 lane road and other travelers not letting you merge to get by. He's crying in the backseat the whole way. Ah! OK, I'm there and I am boogieing through the lobby to get up stairs. We get right in and the nurse retakes his temp: 101.8. Time to wait for the Dr. He comes in, and is in good spirits. OK, panic subsiding slightly. He completes his exam and tells me it's viral and not to panic. OK, silly me, panicking. So he says it's either Roseola or hand-foot-mouth disease. Both very similar, fever, rash etc. says the fever should go down with Tylenol and the rash should fade over a few days. He says the baby should behave normally once the fever is down, but if he starts acting unlike himself that I should bring him back in. OK. I panicked for nothing.

That night is the actual crisis. We are watching him like a hawk, and he's sleeping by 9pm. Midnight, he wakes up, fever spiking, shivering and acting almost convulsive like. His temp is almost 103, so we decide to go to the ER. 30 minute drive, he's awake all the way while I sit in back trying to comfort him. We arrive at just after 1am, go through triage and they give him Motrin for the fever. Then we wait. 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours...Um, hello? They finally call us to a room to wait some more. another hour. And another. Almost 6am and one of the minions posing as a Doctor comes by to politely apologize for the long wait. He gets our story in full, only the 4th person we've told so far, and examines Isaac, again the 4th person to do so. Then he says he has to consult the boss, the Dr in charge for the night, and will be back shortly. Another hour. Nothing happens. A nurse wanders in and checks on us and we ask if it is time again to give Isaac anything for his slowly returning fever. She agrees, gives him Tylenol and again examines him, waking him up after he finally dozed off. Then a few minutes later says "you know we need to get a urine sample, right?" No, we didn't. No one has told us anything. She tells us they will need to catheterize him to get a good sample. Super. Make him more uncomfortable. Ideal. SO they do what they need to do and the minion Dr comes back and asks us if the Dr in charge has come by yet. No, no Dr. He apologizes, again, and says she will be coming in. Then my dad calls to check on us. We've been there almost 5 1/2 hours, it's daylight out. I tell my dad about what's been going on and how angry I am that it's taking so long and no one is telling us anything. I was making no attempt to be quiet. Once off the phone, the boss Dr comes in almost immediately. Guess she heard me. Good. She tells us everything that she has learned and the results of the lab test on his urine sample. Conclusion: It is a viral and the presence of the rash means he is at the end of the stage and should be better within 48 hours. Ahh...answers. And it only took 6 hours. We go home and wait for the fever and rash to go away. 2 days later, fever stops returning. Still waiting for the rash to go away though, no idea how long that will take. Crisis of my little man getting sick is coming to an end. Thank God.