Emergency Room - Adventure Or Panic?
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October 10th, 2007
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The doctor sat down and looked me in the eyes. My daughter had a urinary tract infection which had also caused an infection in the kidneys. Either it was an infection that could be treated or there was some kind of malfunction in the body that must be corrected through surgery.Doctor: "A urinary infection can be difficult to diagnose, even it it reaches the kidneys".Me: "Yeah, I guess we were a little bit lucky, I think we discovered it relatively quickly".Doctor:"Tell me again, how long has she shown the signs of illness? Irritable, cranky, impatient, naggy, and occasional fever?Me: "Oh shit…., I know exactly when she got the illness. Constantly irritable beyond belief, zero patience, cranky, demanding, and naggy? She got it on August 9, 2006.Doctor: "Ehhh, what? What happened that day?Me: "That's the day she was born………".
This happened a couple of weeks ago. We had a few bad nights with very high fever but the medicine worked well and she quickly came back to her now quite happy and less demanding self. We happily finished the medicine but a few days later she got high fever again. Turns out she had gotten the same thing again. It's been an interesting few weeks for the family…..
How do you feel about a visit to the emergency room? Do you see it as an adventure and interesting challenge or are you panicking and flapping like a salmon? Personally, I don't mind taking my kids to the hospital, even if it's the emergency room. It's kind of a fun adventure trip, which the kids seem to think as well. As long as it's not a life and death situation of course.
When my daughter got ill I told my wife I would take her to the emergency room. Alone. I'm still on paternity leave and even though wife is not working she gets way too nervous in the hospital. I also volunteered to pick my son up at day care and bring him as well. Wife called me crazy but I told her to relax, get some stuff done at home, play tennis, and I would see her later. It would be a great adventure trip with the kids, which my wife couldn't imagine
My son is awesome in every way. When I got to his day care and told him we were going to the hospital he looked at me with a big smile. Even though he loves being at day care. He also looks at these trips as fun adventures. Even if it's him going to the doctor.
As long as it's not a life and death situation, what's not to like at the emergency room? They've got tons of cool stuff to explore but a little preparation helps. I know emergency room waits can be long so I brought along toys and a cooler full of food. I counted on many hours at the hospital, just how easy could it be to make a 13 month old girl pee in a cup and take lots of ultra sounds?
What fun stuff can you possibly do in the hospital? They've got cool wheelchairs, those little bikes doctors ride around on, elevators with lots of fun buttons, beds that go up and down, and doctors with all kinds of fun instruments. And have you seen the rooms? They are full of toys instruments for eyes and ears plus tons of little plastic syringes, band aids, and cups. My son loves the place, regardless if he's healthy or sick.
I'm used to obscene amounts of stress and don't get worried unless it's a very serious situation. My daughter did have quite high fever, 40 Celsius (104 F), but I wasn't too worried. It was bit worrying that the fever barely went down despite giving her medicine designed to decrease fever fast. Being nervous doesn't help and I know doctors know what they are doing.
To make a long story short, everything went really well and we did have a nice time. My young daughter did great and managed to pee a few times through some bladder they taped to her butt. My son explored all kinds of hospital equipment, got to try out instruments with doctors, and was proud to tell Hot Wife about all the cool stuff when we got home in the evening.
The second time she got sick, about a week later, wife took my daughter alone to the emergency room. Everything went fine but it was anything but a relaxing adventure. I could hear on her voice she was suffering and close to crying. Despite our daughter not really being that ill. These kinds of situations are just tough on the wife and she's unable to remain calm and positive.
I must say that being at the hospital with two young kids causes every father I know to panic but I kind of enjoy it in a sick kind of way. I know I can handle anything with the kids and they always behave really well with me. No need to be nervous, anxious, or frustrated.
How is my daughter doing? After two days into her second round of medications she was like a new child again. We still have some advanced tests to perform in a couple of weeks to determine if she might need surgery or not. Everything looked good on ultra sound so we are not worried. And if she might need further treatment at some point I'm sure we'll handle it well.
Next time you go to the emergency room, and it's not a life and death situation, try the adventure approach. It's a lot less demanding on a parent and the kids are likely to see doctors and hospitals in a different and more positive and relaxing way.
I totally agree - and my husband and I are like you & Sandra in reverse. I enjoy taking the kids to the doctor and hospital. My oldest daughter has always loved going to the dr, even as a baby, and will ask to go for the slightest cough or runny nose. Since I stay home and my husband works, I think he took one of our kids to the doctor once, never both, and never to the hospital. That’s OK with both of us though.
Funny way to look at an emergency hospital visit. Hope she doesn’t need surgery. All the best.
Moms are made that way. Can’t do much about it. Even the strongest of the lot get jittery and worried :)
Ah, I used to be the calm one in situations…until it comes to Erik and even a little scratch, I panic. Chhimi is the calm one when it comes to our son…of course, his laid back approach also caused Erik to fall flat on his face after coming down a slide meant for OLDER toddlers not an 18-month (which Erik was fine…but Mommy wasn’t. SIGH!)
We’ve taken the boy (now 2) to the ER at night twice in the last year. The boy didn’t feel great, but he liked the big fishtank in the waiting area, and the room overall was quiet and not too crowded. Now, during a mini-epidemic I don’t know how things would go.
LOVE your perspective on this. I will have to keep this in mind should we ever be in a similar situation. Our dd had a UTI this past spring. Thankfully, she was able to tell us it hurt to pee so we did not have to deal with the fever issue–we caught it early enough. I hope your little one stays well and that there are no surgeries in her future.
I HATE going to Emergency! It just takes hours. Of course, the last time we went we arrived there in an ambulance when they thought my son had meningitis so go figure. And our Emergency is actually at the hospital so there is a lot of stuff going on. There is a walk-in clinic with extended hours that’s not too bad for when you can’t get to your regular doctor and it can be fairly fun for the kids, but the wait can still be really long.
Though I have to say, I think viewing emergency as either an adventure or stressful is not just about your perspective, it’s about the quality of care. If you walk in anywhere here a small child’s temperature at 104 degrees he’d get bumped to the front of the line.
I’m impressed at your ability to keep your sense of humor during all this. I haven’t been to the ER yet with my kids and I’m hoping I never will. (Wishful thinking, right?)
I love your outlook on life. It’s a breath of fresh air. I love to mess around in the doctor’s office. My wife thinks I’m crazy for doing this, but that’s just me. Thanks for your positive mind-set.
We had to take my daughter to the emergency earlier in the year and that was creepy. Sometimes it’s tough to look at the whole picture when you’re in the middle of it all.
As a new dad, I’ve gotten a lot of great parenting tips from http://www.dadlabs.com/ . It’s a fantastic resource, I highly recommend it.
Jeff
Oct 19th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
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[…] AdventureDad placed an observative post today on Emergency Room - Adventure Or Panic?.Here’s a quick excerpt:When I got to his day care and told him we were going to the hospital he looked at me with a big smile. Even though he loves being at day care. He also looks at these trips as fun adventures. Even if it’s him going to the doctor. … […]