Aside from my usual insight about Medelita lab coats and medical scrubs, I've got something a bit more personal front of mind. Our 11 month old daughter has had the worst runny nose, fever and cough, and to top it off - is teething, too.
Our usually joyous, happy baby has officially left the building. And her Pediatric ER trained mommy of 10 years (me) . . . seems to have lost all clinical abilities. Little Noses drops and the bulb syringe . . . not doing the trick. Advil and Tylenol . . . she despises and spits out at me. Smart cookie at such a young age. I was more accustomed to the Tylenol bath at age 2. Wheezing? No. Retractions? No. Rash? No. Red TMs? No. Just a really, really bad cold. Is there a code for that? Bad cold squared? There should be. It definitely should be billable beyond the typical URI. And these black box warnings on children's cold medication.
I found myself negotiating with the pharmacists last night at Rite Aid . . . 2 v. 4 v. 6 y/o safety recommendations. Whoever made these rules surely doesn't have children. Looking back, I must have seen upwards of a thousand kids with a chief complaint "URI" or "bad cold". In the ER! Yes! I couldn't believe it (at the time) either. I thought parents (all of them) were surely nuts. Why would they bring their kid to the ER at 2 am for congestion? And as of this week, I'm thinking about sending out a blanket apology for any less-than empathetic bedside behavior I might have displayed. Parenthood is so mysterious. It plays with your heartstrings and clouds any clinical ability thought previously stellar. Perhaps I shall go put on a lab coat and that will help me get back to my normal self . . .