Oliver has been feeling a bit sick for a couple of days, and it was acute yesterday early afternoon – he was doing the “I’m in pain” cry for a half an hour straight and was inconsolable. Very unusual for him. So we made an appointment to see the Pediatrician and by the time we got in there (~3 hours later) he seemed pretty normal, though really tired still because he is sick and doing all the extra crying, but sleeping and eating ok again.
The Pediatrician was concerned that he was sort of difficult to wake up and was worried about the loss of appetite earlier in the day and the bout of really bad crying we told him of, and said that kids 2 months and under are really vulnerable… their immune systems are not yet able to localize an infection, and his blood-work came back with an increased white blood cell count. So he recommended a 23 hour observation at Kosair’s Children’s Hospital and in fact a LP (spinal tap) to check for meningitis (which was terrifying to hear). We tried to do an “are you sure” check, but he certainly was and had one of the other Pediatricians agree with him, mostly because Ollie is just barely 2 months old… If he’d been 4 months, they would have just sent us home.
So poor Anita went to the triage room with Ollie (about 6pm) and was stuck there while Dr.s and incompetent nurses in training did their thing. Ollie was smiling and flirting with them, so they didn’t force the LP issue (which we were very happy to hear) but it’s still a grueling thing and a health risk being in the hospital. They finally made it to a hospital room by 10pm and I visited for a bit (I’d been at home with Poppy). The room was ok, but stuffy and still not a place you want to be, especially with your little one.
Doctors visited this morning and said that he seems fine and the cultures they took are still incubating… so Anita and Ollie are still on wait in the room to finish out their 23 hours.
All in all, I’m very happy to have a healthy (mostly, he is still a bit sick) kid and when it comes down to it, that’s all that matters. On the other hand, I’m mildly annoyed at the hospital’s execution in keeping her waiting and honestly, in keeping her still there. If the kid is healthy enough that everyone is comfortable, it seems like he/they should be released. Also, though I trust the explanation given by the Doctors, I can’t help but wonder if this is a case of CYA – the doctors being afraid of potential litigation have to do everything they possibly can, even if it doesn’t seem reasonable.
Of course, if things had gone another way, and they said to just go home, and it turned out to be some serious disease…
Oh well, looks like we’re going to make our insurance deductible early this year.
