ER

Every parent's nightmare - the dreaded visit to the ER. Well this was our first visit with Chase, and I fear probably not our last. Chase had come down with a cold on Monday afternoon (the 6th) and started running a mild fever. His mild fever began to spike on Friday, and with five days of a fever and heading into a holiday weekend, I made an appointment with his pediatrician's office. The on-duty doctor told me that it was just a cold, but he was starting to show some early signs of an ear infection and prescribed an antibiotic for Chase. Chase started taking it on Friday night, and by Easter Sunday his fever was gone and he appeared to be feeling better. Monday morning Chase woke up crying in his bed. I came in to say good morning and he kept sobbing and saying, "walk." So I thought, ok...walk. Apparently that was the problem - he couldn't walk. His legs were not paralyzed, but they certianly were not willing to bear weight. I remembered back to my childhood when my sister was paralyzed from the waist down from what the doctors thought was an allergy to penicillin. In an effort not to panic, I thought that perhaps the antibiotic that Chase was prescribed (and the only drug outside of tylenol and benadryl he has ever taken) had caused an allergic reaction. The nurse line I called told me to take Chase to the ER. After 4 hours and 8 x-rays later, the ER doctor determined that his respiratory virus had settled in his hip. Chase didn't mind the ER though. He had is own room with a nice bed and cartoons running continuously. He even summond the nurse on his own once with the buttons on the bed...oops. He even looked cute in his hospital gown. When it was time to leave and I removed the gown to get him dressed, he yelled, "no, no," and tried to put it back on. I'm sure he was in love with the fact that he had watched more TV in his ER visit than in one week at home. :) The ER doctor recommended that we see Chase's pediatrician over the next couple of days to make sure that it did not turn into an infection which could be serious. We did just that, and by Wednesday, Chase was showing improvement. Phew! What a scare...but he is (will be) as good as new.