So everything is fine.
In fact, everything is so fine, we've stopped Bridget's antibiotics.
Based on worries and suggestions, we did call her pulminologist who ordered a chest x-ray. At the same time, Bridget's temp went back down to normal, even though she said her ribs still hurt. She isn't coughing.
This morning: normal temp, no coughs, pain in throat only, and chest x-rays showed no pneumonia and only some chest wall thickening possibly due to a virus and her asthma reactions.
So, again, we stopped antibiotics.
So the summary:
*Pain in ribs and shoulder
*Low grade fever that disappeared and came back strong then left again
*Junky cough for only a few days
*Very good oxygen numbers.
It seems like a normal virus (except for the spike on Monday morning). I know atelectasis can sometimes cause fever, but it's only done so once for us and that was in the worst hospital event.
We have no idea what caused her truly severe pain. I'm taking it as a data point. If she never has pain in her ribs again, then this was some weird funky thing. But if she does, perhaps it is some new manifestation of her funky problems
I know in comparing risks of x-ray to the risks of un-needed antibiotics, people have differing opinions. We know kids are way over-prescribed antibiotics and it has long term effects. We don't hear of kids being over-prescribed x-rays and it's been over 2 years since her last one. I have a feeling she'll end up back in the hospital at some point, and I'd rather save her sensitivity for antibiotics when she needs it. Not just to be conservative because she has funky lungs.
So there.
Of course, Conor started running a low grade fever this morning. Kit had it last week. Apparently, it's going through our house.
And no one is seriously ill. Thank the god(desse)s.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Same? Different? Squirrel-o-rama
So back from the second doctor's visit in two days. Bridget has some pain in her "waist" (really, her ribs) when she breathes. That's been going on for about 5 days, and it keeps switching sides. Also, she says when it's on her right side, it also hurts her shoulder.
She had a low grade fever for about 24 hours, Friday to Saturday. It went away and came back at 102.1* this morning.
First doc said she'd pulled a muscle and that's why her ribs hurt. :-/
Second doc said today we could hear some depressed breathing in her lower right lung lobe. (I'm sure "lung lobe" is not a correct phrase. It sounds really odd to say: Lung lobe. Lung lobe. Lung lobe. So I shall say it repeatedly) To be fair, yesterday Bridget said her left side hurt and today, she said her right. First doc didn't spend any time at all on her right side because Bridget didn't say it hurt.
We're starting her on antibiotics in case the depressed lower lung lobe is antibiotics. LOWER LUNG LOBE, FTW!
I have to be honest with you: Dave and I really feel like we've been here before. Diagnosis of pneumonia that really is atelectasis and, well, things happen. However, Dave and I are no longer novices with Bridget's lung lobes.
We've got a pulse oximeter and we know how to use it. We have a top notch pulminologist who will be our next step, should her oxygen numbers start to go down. We have a pediatric team that knows she's funky.
The crummy part is that neither option is great here: Bacterial pneumonia or virus-causing atelectasis. Yeah, at this point, pneumonia is the better choice. I guess??
Blergh.
No one is naive here. This may be the end of the diagnosis and we're done. Or, we may be at the start of something.
Blergh again.
She had a low grade fever for about 24 hours, Friday to Saturday. It went away and came back at 102.1* this morning.
First doc said she'd pulled a muscle and that's why her ribs hurt. :-/
Second doc said today we could hear some depressed breathing in her lower right lung lobe. (I'm sure "lung lobe" is not a correct phrase. It sounds really odd to say: Lung lobe. Lung lobe. Lung lobe. So I shall say it repeatedly) To be fair, yesterday Bridget said her left side hurt and today, she said her right. First doc didn't spend any time at all on her right side because Bridget didn't say it hurt.
We're starting her on antibiotics in case the depressed lower lung lobe is antibiotics. LOWER LUNG LOBE, FTW!
I have to be honest with you: Dave and I really feel like we've been here before. Diagnosis of pneumonia that really is atelectasis and, well, things happen. However, Dave and I are no longer novices with Bridget's lung lobes.
We've got a pulse oximeter and we know how to use it. We have a top notch pulminologist who will be our next step, should her oxygen numbers start to go down. We have a pediatric team that knows she's funky.
The crummy part is that neither option is great here: Bacterial pneumonia or virus-causing atelectasis. Yeah, at this point, pneumonia is the better choice. I guess??
Blergh.
No one is naive here. This may be the end of the diagnosis and we're done. Or, we may be at the start of something.
Blergh again.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Mondor's Disease: A Punny
Dadgummit!
I forgot the funniest part of spraining my boob, I mean, self-diagnosing with Mondor's disease.
When I first started searching google and explaining it to Dave, I kept saying Mordor's disease. That will only make sense to you if you are a JRR Tolkein fan.
Mordor's Disease.
Mordor.
Mordor.
MORDOR!
That means my boob is the Eye of Sauron!
UNSEE THAT, PEOPLE!!!
I forgot the funniest part of spraining my boob, I mean, self-diagnosing with Mondor's disease.
When I first started searching google and explaining it to Dave, I kept saying Mordor's disease. That will only make sense to you if you are a JRR Tolkein fan.
Mordor's Disease.
Mordor.
Mordor.
MORDOR!
That means my boob is the Eye of Sauron!
UNSEE THAT, PEOPLE!!!
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
A Shitty Couple of Weeks
It has been tough here in the Mother Thing household. As I was telling a friend yesterday, Conor is the only one who doesn't have something big and possibly bad going on. Four out of five is not good.
So humorous deconstruction of reality. Let's go!
First up: Dave! Dave had outpatient surgery last week. In the interest of HIPAA, I'll let Dave share the reasons why, but it was NOT elective surgery. And while it was outpatient, he has had some significant down time. We expected that. Sort of. I must admit that when I came back to the recovery room, his state coming out general anesthesia was pretty pitiful. It's the first time I thought: How am I going to walk this 6'4" dude into our home and onto a bed. He went back to work on Monday. But Tuesday came home early with a similar look of pain and fatigue. He's working from home today. It's supposed to be a 2 week recovery and we're hoping we're about halfway through it.
Next: Me!! I had a bit of a breast cancer scare, although probably not as much as I thought it was. It started about 3 weeks ago with some serious pain in my breast. YES! You are correct!! 99% of the time, breast pain is NOT cancer! Breast cancer doesn't hurt! But the 1% of the time that it *is* cancer, it's very bad. I waited two weeks for my annual GYN visit and the doc scheduled me for a diagnostic mammogram which was a week later. I *really* wanted one ASAP and they moved it up to two days later. YAY!! Nothing on the mammogram and the radiologist was not amused by my coming in so quickly. I really don't care. Really. No one lost out on my getting in quicker. Doctor's advice? Stop poking your boob.
So, three days later....I SWEAR I WAS NOT POKING MY BOOB!! Instead, I was going "OW! This bra really hurts; let me pull it off the sore spot!!" and felt something. It wasn't/isn't a lump. Instead, it's more like a cord or a tendon or ligament. I haven't had biology since high school, so honestly, I don't know if one's boobage has ligaments. It doesn't. I did not sprain my boob.
Instead, Dr. Google suggests that I have "Mondor's Disease." Basically, a superficial vein in my boob has a blood clot in it and has caused the rest of the vein to swell up and harden. It is believed to be benign, sometimes painful, and rare. It is seen less than 1% of the time in breast clinics. There is really no treatment except waiting for it to heal itself.
So I called my OB/GYN to tell him about the cord I'd found in my boob, who gave me the same advice as when I saw him in the office: take ipuprofen and if it still hurts, he'll recommend biopsy surgery in 2 months.
Huh.
That's not what is going on. I am annoyed. I potentially have this rare but still benign problem and his advice is take two aspirin and call me in the morning? Ok. Fine. It's rare, it's benign, and he clearly doesn't believe me. Whatevs.
So then the Twinnies. This is the part that has been keeping me up at night and making me so anxious that just typing that caused my stomach to drop out. It is possible they could still be be promoted to 1st grade. Despite our wishes and their poor performance on standardized tests, their scores are low but within normal range. So they *could* go forward. Further, I feel like my emails about our comfort with them being retained got their care team in trouble, something I had no intention of doing. I'll be honest with you. Seeing all the other kindergartners graduate to first grade makes me sad. But they are not ready to go up. And I still believe holding them back is a good idea. We are anxiously awaiting the final word.
Also, don't email anyone in the public sphere. Just don't. Call. Unless you want your email to be part of a permanent record that could bite you or someone else in the butt, DO NOT EMAIL. DON'T DO IT. Unless you *do* want it in the permanent, public record, then feel free.
Blergh.
Summer school is over at the end of this week. I'm teaching two classes, one of which is a new prep. With all this other stuff going on!!! YIKES!!!
I hope the rest of the summer is boring and fun.
So humorous deconstruction of reality. Let's go!
First up: Dave! Dave had outpatient surgery last week. In the interest of HIPAA, I'll let Dave share the reasons why, but it was NOT elective surgery. And while it was outpatient, he has had some significant down time. We expected that. Sort of. I must admit that when I came back to the recovery room, his state coming out general anesthesia was pretty pitiful. It's the first time I thought: How am I going to walk this 6'4" dude into our home and onto a bed. He went back to work on Monday. But Tuesday came home early with a similar look of pain and fatigue. He's working from home today. It's supposed to be a 2 week recovery and we're hoping we're about halfway through it.
Next: Me!! I had a bit of a breast cancer scare, although probably not as much as I thought it was. It started about 3 weeks ago with some serious pain in my breast. YES! You are correct!! 99% of the time, breast pain is NOT cancer! Breast cancer doesn't hurt! But the 1% of the time that it *is* cancer, it's very bad. I waited two weeks for my annual GYN visit and the doc scheduled me for a diagnostic mammogram which was a week later. I *really* wanted one ASAP and they moved it up to two days later. YAY!! Nothing on the mammogram and the radiologist was not amused by my coming in so quickly. I really don't care. Really. No one lost out on my getting in quicker. Doctor's advice? Stop poking your boob.
So, three days later....I SWEAR I WAS NOT POKING MY BOOB!! Instead, I was going "OW! This bra really hurts; let me pull it off the sore spot!!" and felt something. It wasn't/isn't a lump. Instead, it's more like a cord or a tendon or ligament. I haven't had biology since high school, so honestly, I don't know if one's boobage has ligaments. It doesn't. I did not sprain my boob.
Instead, Dr. Google suggests that I have "Mondor's Disease." Basically, a superficial vein in my boob has a blood clot in it and has caused the rest of the vein to swell up and harden. It is believed to be benign, sometimes painful, and rare. It is seen less than 1% of the time in breast clinics. There is really no treatment except waiting for it to heal itself.
So I called my OB/GYN to tell him about the cord I'd found in my boob, who gave me the same advice as when I saw him in the office: take ipuprofen and if it still hurts, he'll recommend biopsy surgery in 2 months.
Huh.
That's not what is going on. I am annoyed. I potentially have this rare but still benign problem and his advice is take two aspirin and call me in the morning? Ok. Fine. It's rare, it's benign, and he clearly doesn't believe me. Whatevs.
So then the Twinnies. This is the part that has been keeping me up at night and making me so anxious that just typing that caused my stomach to drop out. It is possible they could still be be promoted to 1st grade. Despite our wishes and their poor performance on standardized tests, their scores are low but within normal range. So they *could* go forward. Further, I feel like my emails about our comfort with them being retained got their care team in trouble, something I had no intention of doing. I'll be honest with you. Seeing all the other kindergartners graduate to first grade makes me sad. But they are not ready to go up. And I still believe holding them back is a good idea. We are anxiously awaiting the final word.
Also, don't email anyone in the public sphere. Just don't. Call. Unless you want your email to be part of a permanent record that could bite you or someone else in the butt, DO NOT EMAIL. DON'T DO IT. Unless you *do* want it in the permanent, public record, then feel free.
Blergh.
Summer school is over at the end of this week. I'm teaching two classes, one of which is a new prep. With all this other stuff going on!!! YIKES!!!
I hope the rest of the summer is boring and fun.
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