Yesterday night/today’s morning around 3 am when I was just about to go to bed, kid got a high fever and a funny cough like dog barking. He refused all meds and giving him is futile cos he will sure vomit all his stomach contents with lots of drama. So, we gave him one suppository before he went to bed. His fever was here much earlier yesterday.
So, he gave this woof, woof, woof coughs. Loktor 5xmom damn expert listening to coughs sounds and can tell if a child is wheezing or having breathing difficulties. Eh, don’t pway-pway with me wokay? I can do suction, stuff the tubes right into the nose and throat with a phelgm suction machine, give nebuliser, do chest physio wan, you know? Even the nurses couldn’t bear to do it for their own babies when their kids stayed in the hospital. (pins Mom of the Year award on ownself)
Loktor 5xmom nudged 5xdad who was snoring away : Oi, wake up. Listen to his cough? So tight and congested. But not from the lungs. His face is flushed. Nah, take this torchlight and check his throat.
So, we asked kid to open his mouth and say ahhhhhh.
5xmom : You take a look. I have no contact lenses. See got white spots or red, swollen throat or not?
5xdad the nurse : No, nothing.
Loktor rabun : Sure? How come. He look so weak and uncomfortable.
Loktor to kid : You got pain pain here (indicate his throat). Head got pain pain?
Kid blur blur : No. *gives stoned look*
So, ding dong ding dong, he seemed rather lethargic and his funny coughs continue. I don’t trust his ‘no pain’ because he is known to have very high threshold of pain, even the doctor said so. Finger turned green with pus and doctor pressed also he said no pain.
Loktor 5xmom : Eh, you listen he got wheezing or not?
*Lifted his shirt to check chest movement* Loktor 5xmom dem terror, see child breathing also know what is normal or not. Can count respiration per minute too.
Assitant nurse 5xdad’s rat ears damn sharp and better than doctor’s stethoscope listened. Reported back to Loktor 5xmom, “No, very clear.”
Again, ding dong ding dong, we decided to bring him to the ER because this kid hardly get sick before and the sudden cough didn’t sound right. So, we expect if we bring a kid to the ER at 4 am, sure kena hospitalised. I packed my clothes, his clothes and my LOL, laptop. The hospital got wifi in the room wan, you know? Bring charger, bring phone charger….
But you know what? When assistant nurse went to drive his car into our apartment lot, came up to carry the patient down, he suddenly spring back into action. All active and the fever gone! Can kapster already. Tok kok in the morning. So, what else, I went back to sleep lah. Aiyor…almost 5 am already and I haven’t gone to bed for the night. And the two of us slept until 1.30 pm today.
Just took him to see the doctor. The real doctor lah. And doc said he got laryngitis. His voice is now like an ahkua but still can scold people. The weird sounding cough still around. And the medicines prescribed are still at the pharmacy ‘cos we are too lazy to wait for them. His appetite is still as good and right now, he is watching TV.
I think all parents can relate to this ‘Should we go or should we wait?’ thing about taking a child to see a doctor. Especially during non-clinic hours. My advice – Go with your instinct. It is better to go than to wait, most of the times. And if your baby is below 6 months old, never hesitate. Never allow a child to have prolong fever. Keep a thermometer at home and if the temperature is over 38.5 deg. C, insert the suppository if paracetamol doesn’t work anymore. Make sure you get the correct dosage suitable for your child. But don’t over do the suppository because those are classified as NSAIDs (dunno what la, except that these meds stayed in the body and not broken down by the liver or something like that so not advisable to use too often) Sponge immediately or some young kids can go into febrile seizure when the temper is too high. When a kid get that, don’t try to shake to wake him or pry open his mouth to stuff a spoon inside. Be prepared to deal with seizures. Read up lah, I must tell you everything meh? Hehehehe. I loktor buruk so dunwan to share so many things, cannot ah? Go ask your real doctors. (MyMomsBest has some useful articles written by our local doctors and how to deal with high fever) .
Oh ya, thank God all my little prayers memang work. I don’t know about other parents but I am damn reliant on little prayers for things like these. (like not getting coop up in the hospital) Just only, while I was driving to the hospital with my kid, I joked with him to pray we get a really, really nice parking in the shade, near the hospital building. It was freaking hot and the hospital always do not have enough parking. Carrying him all 16 kgs and a backpack and walk all the way to the hospital, can faint wan, you know? True enough, there was one empty lot right smack in front of the hospital. When I was taking him down, he said “Haiyor…mommy, Jesus so clever wan wor? He really listen to me wan hor?” Heh, that’s what God s means when He said ‘Unless you have the faith of a child, you can never enter the Kingdom of Heaven’.
Very well said, 5xmom š
My parents used to tell me the same thing, that they never hesitated to send me to the doctor’s at the slightest cough or fever. It’s better that it’s only a slight cold, or a simple cough, to be reprimanded by the doctor to not be such scaredy cat parents, than to risk your children getting anything worse. And I’m really glad they never took that chance š
eh those supository is those u insert into the sifat wan rite …
oi, loktor … ini post lu pin 3 x in PPS, spammer!
walauweh.. manyak bagus punya advice wor!
nice post 5xmom! i’ve never understood why my mum so panic when i had a fever during my younger days..
now i know loh..
cheers š
loktor 5xmom…i have pain pain on my bok bok, got cure onot?
Loktor ar, next time you can upload the sound of the breathing and the pic of the swollen throat or not? hahahahaha
Sounds like you son has the croup. One of it’s symptoms includes the bark-like cough. The coughing usually gets worse in the wee hours of the morning. http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/croup.html
My son has it quite often when he started kindergarten. His pead told us to watch out for breathing difficulties during the night. If he gets worse, better to bring him back to see the doctor.
i once heard a story…. a father promised his son that they will go fishing on the coming sunday. the kid ask the father to confirm the trip on saturday, and the father replied…
“sure, we’ll go, provided it doesnt rain”
The kid went into the room for a while and come out. then he told his dad…
“daddy, we’ll definitely be going tomorrow. i just prayed, it wont rain tomorrow”
indeed… we all need the faith of a child.
“Mommy mommy…my head pain pain…Mommy mommy…i feel so hot…Mommy mommy…there’s a mouse moving in my tummy…Mommy mommy…I want eat KFC, McDonald’s, A&W, Pizza Hut, etc…” Wah…Lilian, with all those requests you can still be a Loktor? You really “Mo Tak Teng”…Mamee of all trades. No wonder everyone loves this Super Mamee š
p/s: How is your son getting on now? I hope God gives him a speedy recovery…
You know what .. Loktar Lilian..! i wished i had gotten to know you earlier.. when my brat was a baby. Coz’ hor.. see loktar here.. like asking to see God..!! and then hor.. ask my MIL hor.. she said.. she cannot remember.. *slapped head*!
Can die or not..??
Hope your son is better now.
If they even have a light cough, I will bring them running to our local gp. It’s OK as it is totally free here. Better safe than sorry.
There’s this weird virus passing around here. From wet cough to dry cough. Ang also throwing up and wet stool. Wah, the cough really kill me. I know, I know..is from the throat but I tum sum, tum faii. Beat heart and liver, even it has nothing to do with them. I tum all the way thinking it willl cure. It didn’t cure of coz and my very first time trying on chinese medications. I love it! It tastes like lemonade sans fizz! Yumm! Do take care of your kids, if they cough, tum their sum and faii and feed them chinese lemonade. Go to the Chinese Medicine Shop and they will guide you to the chinese lemonade san fizz and at the mean time, tum your sum and faii waiting for the virus to leave them. Tum! God is with you, Lilian.
Psst..that chinese lemonade..I donno it’s name, but very tasty and orangey/lemoney, I like! Yummy! My first time but I like it! Yummy! You try!
Bravo! You’re a great MOm!
Cibai! comment hilang!
Yes boss! Never hesitate, follow yr mother instinct
Wah! Eh, Auntie, I oso can do suction, insert tube through tracheostomy and chest physio since I was 17. But not on babies lor, me expert on adult wan. Did those all the time when my dad was hospitalized coz the nurses useless wan, ask them do suction oredi grumble like old hag and the face looked like owe them RM1million like that.
Auntie, u open child medic consultation service lah, sure earn lots wan coz u so terrer…:) LOL!
Wahhh..
New look, new feel – I like. š
Anyway, hope that he’s feeling better. I thought I had laryngitis but turned out to be bronchitis. Lucky you took action fast-fast, or else get bronchitis and that would be bad. š
My parents didn’t insist I go see the doc despite me coughing my lungs out until I said I beh tahan anymore. When I got to the doc, it was too late, had to take some mild steroids… š
Anyway, prayers work!!! Don’t doubt it. š
Not easy to be a mom rite? Hope he will recover soon…….
NSAID = non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs.
Hehe, i am a medical student.