Frustrating Doctors

[sharlan]

My 6 mo has been running a fever on and off (mostly off) for almost 2 wks now. Mom has been to the dr 3 xs, urgent care, and the hospital ER tonight. Except for tonight, each time, Mom has been told that baby has fluid in her ear, but nothing else.

Tonight when leaving, Mom noticed that baby was warm. (She has been happy and cheerful all day, no fussiness at all.) We checked and her fever was 101. Mom leaves and calls pedi on her way home. Pedi says take to ER and have them do a urine test (catheterization) and chest x-ray.

ER takes urine, blood, and does an x-ray. Mom texts me that they are going to admit the baby. I asked why, she wasn't sure. She was waiting for the dr to return.

Next text says they're sending them home with a prescription for an antibiotic for an ear infection.

When Mom called the first time, I told her that I wasn't a dr, but I didn't see any signs of a UTI or breathing difficulties requiring the testing. My concern was the fluid in her ear that wasn't going away.

I AM NOT A DR, but IMHO, had the dr treated the ear issue two weeks ago, she wouldn't have had to endure all the testing tonight.

[MN Mom]

I hear you! I avoid doctors / urgent care / er's because it takes to long to diagnose the problem. We had a couple of private practice offices pop up in the last 2 years...one who is a former pediatrician for Mayo Health System. I take my kids to him. Its cheaper, it's faster, and there is less bull-poopie and red tape :-)

[Kaddidle Care]

It's just teething.. sorry just had to do that.

I wonder about a few Pediatricians around here too.

Several years ago one sent a child that had a rash at the hairline a cream for allergies and said it was something the child ate. The child had head lice! GRRRR!

Hopefully the antibiotic will do the trick. Fever for 2 weeks does indicate infection somewhere.

Mark my words.. this will probably be a child that gets tubes in her ears in the future.

[SunshineMama]

I think it is very hard for people to accept that doctor's do not have all of the answers. They can only offer their best guess based on what they learned in medical school, which is not all-comprehensive. Natural and holistic medicine, healthy food, etc, don't even cross their radar.

I hope the antibiotics work. Something is definitely not right!

[Lilbutterflie]

Yes, doctors can be frustrating. While there are some out there that IMO should not even be practicing, I have to agree with Sunshine Mama. The doctors don't always have all the answers. They probably get very frustrated too!! The human body is so incredibly intricate and complicated. I have a bachelor's degree in Biology, believe me, I know!! And there are so many different diseases and symptoms it's hard to make any kind of diagnosis!

Sometimes we all need to try to be a little patient with doctors b/c they don't know everything. Sometimes it all comes down to experience with doctors. A doctor with experience with a particular disease or diagnosis can easily spot it next time and quickly diagnosis and treat it; while another doctor who hasn't seen that disease before would be completely perplexed by the symptoms. KWIM??

[sharlan]

I agree that doctors don't have all the answers, especially in a tiny infant. There is no way that she could communicate if and where she hurt.

I would have bought teething over an UTI in an infant that was having normal, wet diapers.

I still think blood, urine, and x-ray was a bit over the top for an ear infection.

I do hope the antibiotic helps because Mom has already missed 4 days of work. The baby has been happy and cheerful through most of this. Mom is the one missing out on all the sleep due to worrying.

[Willow]

I personally prefer docs that don't throw medicine at everything that might or might not be an ear infection. Fluid doesn't necessarily indicate infection that's treatable with drugs, and using an antibiotic could have been overkill.

I'd much rather a doc wait it out and see if the child's own body and immunities can fight it off alone with supportive symptom care. If worst comes to worst admitting a kiddo for testing to confirm what's wrong, when it's not entirely obvious, instead of just throwing antibiotics left and right is a good choice. I see so many kids at 4 and 5 who are basically immune to them because they've been on them so many times. Antibiotic resistance and dependence can then lead to a kiddo literally needing tubes, sometimes multiple times, for something he/she should have been able to fight off all on their own.

My kids have never been on one and I'm glad (not because I protested, they've just never been deemed ill enough to need one yet). If they should ever need one in the future for something serious odds are they're going to have the full power of effectiveness behind them instead of some watered down effect or them having no effect at all. I feel awful for parents who's kids have been on them habitually, it's a terrifying prospect to consider their adulthood with potentially zero backups at their disposal. And people wonder where things like MRSA comes from??

I'd google "antibiotic resistance" OP and then remind your parent that although this may have been an inconvenience her doctors delay in starting them wasn't necessarily a bad thing at all. To get you started if you are interested in sharing with mom:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/antibiotics/FL00075

http://children.webmd.com/news/20110901/study-kids-are-getting-too-many-antibiotics

http://www.momlogic.com/2009/05/ear_infection_antibiotics.php

Between parents pushing drugs and docs being lazy kids immune systems are getting weaker and weaker literally with every ill child visit and that doesn't bode well at all for the child or the general population. (Not that I'm saying what this mom is doing is pushing for drugs or anything, I'd just hope she could see the value in a doc like that, especially if her child has been happy and well functioning throughout despite the fever. These are just my thoughts on the topic in general, I definitely prefer to take the conservative route first is all.).