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One Cobble at a Time

Diagnosing Children

Sandra Tayler's Journal

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A cobble by itself is just a small stone, but when many of them lay together they create a path . My life is made up of many discrete parts. I have to find ways to fit them all into place so that I can continue to journey where I desire to go. This journal records some of the cobbles that create my path.

Diagnosing Children

sandratayler
2/3/13 10:50 pm
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responsible woman

I did not quite realize when I decided to have children that I was signing up for a crash course in first aid and preliminary diagnosis. Yet from day one I had to monitor my child and decide whether or not the symptoms merited medical attention and how urgently that attention was needed. At first all of the ailments were new. I learned the signs of ear infections and childhood diseases. I became an expert in the interpretation of rashes. I tended kids through croup, chicken pox, asthma, a kidney infection, RSV, adenoid removal, nearly broken bones, scrapes, cuts, stitches, objects up noses, objects swallowed, and several dozen varieties of flu, stomach flu, and colds. Somewhere in the middle of all of that I changed from a mom who called others to have them look at baby’s rash into the person whom others called with rash questions. You’d think by now I’d have seen it all, yet I’m still scratching my head, consulting google, and trying to decide whether to see a doctor about all sorts of things. This past year we’ve had heartburn trouble, ingrown toenails, strained abdominal muscles, a scratched cornea, and –just tonight– a case of systemic hives triggered by we know not what. I never wanted to be a doctor and yet I’m regularly called on as a first responder and triage nurse.

And this is the point when I should be able to bring all of these thoughts around to say something useful or profound about it all. Mostly though I’m thinking about how unpleasant hives are and how much I don’t want to have to play “figure out what caused the systemic reaction.” Time for bed.

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  • cymrullewes
    2/4/13 04:29 pm (UTC)
    When I had hives it was due to fire retardant on my first ever non-hand-me-down nightgown. Alaric's hives were due to medication allergy. Benadryl and no more of that antibiotic fixed his. The first time Valkyrie had hives, we still have no clue what triggered it but they resolved within 3 hours of noticing them and did not return. Pirate's hives went away after we steam vacuumed the carpet in our new house.

    So for the most part hives are a contact thing. Hope it helps you narrow down that the cause could be and to remove/remediate it.

    • sandratayler
      2/4/13 05:38 pm (UTC)
      I'm thinking this will probably fall into the category of "No idea, hope it doesn't happen again" because we can not identify anything different from her usual habits, foods, and activities.

  • merriehaskell
    2/4/13 08:59 pm (UTC)
    Being a person with systemic hives for over 3 years now and not being able to find a root cause--I will point out that not all hives situations are traceable. I have been to several doctors and specialists over the years; every single one of them has said something to the effect of "Hives are hard."

    Not that you won't find the root, but I'm just going to say--hives are hard.

    • sandratayler
      2/6/13 12:25 am (UTC)
      Ouch. That does not sound like any fun at all. Hopefully this is a random occurrence of the kind that never happens again. But I've stocked up on benadryl just in case.

      • merriehaskell
        2/7/13 03:30 am (UTC)
        *nod* It's unlikely that most people will have my problem, but I like to be reassuring in that one can be driven pretty crazy by trying to find the root cause.

        (Apparently, one of the things that can happen is that a virus will trigger a heightened immune response to histimanes for a long period of time. That's probably what happened to me.)

        The other reason I bring it up is that I know some good hive-relieving tricks beyond sleep-making benedryl! But I hope it's all sorted now.
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