TGIF?

I woke up today very happy to be working from my Troy office today. I was unimpressed with the 40-60 minute one-way commute to Farmington Hills earlier in the week. I got ready and was taking my vitamins when I heard a soft mewing noise. I assumed the cat was up to some shenanigans and swallowed another pill when the cat walked by me, croaked, and sat down to observe. The mewing noise continued but was obviously not being made by Soup. I followed it upstairs to find Lilah still asleep but whimpering in her crib. I ran my hand over her forehead and felt her burning up with fever. She sat up and reached for me, pitifully saying, "Oww Mama," when I took hold of her. I took her temperature - 101.2. I don't have a sickly or feverish child on a regular basis. In fact, her previous ear infection was the only time she has ever cleared a low grade 99 for teething. I wasn't alarmed as much as concerned.

I gave her Motrin and a vitamin C/zinc lozenge and snuggled her after getting her a some water. She refused any food. Dano was up by then and helped me get her settled with a movie as I tried (unsuccessfully) to sneak out the door without her noticing. It killed me to leave, even knowing she was in the best possible hands.

Her fever went down to 99 in an hour and she was playing. I was relieved and went about my work day while still communicating with Dano. I toyed with the idea of getting her a Saturday morning appointment so we didn't have any weirdness pop up over the weekend. I got her new patient forms all filled out and faxed a records request to her previous pediatricians. After only 4.5 hours, the Motrin wore off and Dano reported she was listless and feverish again, this time climbing to 102. I had no Tylenol to supplement with in the house, so I expressed my concern to Maryl, the head nurse who has been in charge of my training. Within minutes, Lilah Rose had herself an appointment with Dr. Kolin for 2 hours in the future.

I watched the computer system click away as the office staff threw a chart together in no time for my daughter, who hadn't been more than a name to them moments before. Unlike other offices, they wanted her to have more Motrin before coming in, choosing to believe the parents and examine a comfortable child rather than have to see the fever and misery for themselves. I got a call telling me that Dano and Lilah were in the elevator - the MAs had been watching out the window. I was unsure how to proceed from there. Maryl said, "Go be a Mom." I was so thankful.

I went to the waiting room to find it empty. They had been taken straight back to a room. The MA Crystal was in the middle of getting Lilah to stand on the scale - 26lbs! Even with a fever she was still laughing and playing around. Her temp was down to 99 after the Motrin again. We only waited about 10 minutes for Dr. Kolin. Lilah had already told me she wanted a girl doctor at the new peds office, so I figured we'd see how she took to Dr. Kolin. She came in and said, "Hi Lilah Rose! I'm Dr. Myra!" She gave Lilah a high five and said she felt so lucky to be the first one to get to know her, and that she was beautiful. She asked me if anything pertinent had been going on lately, anyone we knew with strep, any colds or teething. I mentioned her knee infection and the doctor took a look and said she wasn't at all worried but checked the knee and hip lymph nodes anyway. Her ears looked "beautiful" and no infection there. No cough or congestion. She took one look in Lilah's mouth (with Lilah saying, "Blah!") and spotted some ulcers. "Coxsackies! That's Hand-foot-and mouth disease." Just a virus to run its course. She'd have a high fever for a few days and all we needed to do was keep it down and keep her comfortable. They didn't even have to strep test her. I was amazingly thankful they didn't try to throw her on antibiotics for no reason.

When Dr. Kolin was finished, she offered to hand Lilah back to me. Lilah said, "No, don't want to go to Mama." Lilah was totally comfortable with her. She explained everything she was doing to Lilah before she did it, and was quick without being brusque. We were out in under 30 minutes. I was back at my desk plugging away at my stack of health forms and Lilah was happy as a clam with a fistful of stickers and an orange sucker. In 3-5 days, she'll be good as new. Currently, she is screaming as loud and as long as she can since the ulcers hurt. "Aaaaah! Honey, it hurts. Aaaaaah!" It might be a long weekend, but I haven't felt this comfortable with her care since Dr. Hatfield. She can stay at this practice until she's 18 as far as I'm concerned.