A Second Go of Antibiotics is Hopefully the Charm.

I think the swelling looks a bit less tonight, but probably not after only one dose of Biaxin. He's got a rash on his cheeks now as well, as you can see above. 

Catching some needed zzzz's in my bed, where the heating blanket brings him some comfort.

I hate having a new hospital, which cost $20,000,000 to build and renovate, turn away patients needing care because of doctor shortages and no emergency services.
I understand this to be the times right now, and possibly even the way of the future, but Lord is it frustrating when the kids are sick and need more attention than I can possibly give. Because, while mothers are great diagnosers of colds and flu's, and are awesome boo boo kissers, they unfortunately can't write a damn prescription.
The fact that our "hospital" is still called one is a joke...it should be labeled a Health Center and run as such. We aren't the first family to run to the city to sit in emerg for hours to see a health care professional, and we won't be the last, and having to do so with a more than adequately equipped "hospital" two blocks away is nothing short of a tragedy.
There. Rant over. I'm sure 3/4 of you, dear friends, know exactly what I'm talking about and has gone through this yourself. I also know nurses and hospital staff who hate having to turn the needy away. I guess this is just something we have to get used to, and doctor visits will be saved for prescription refills and general check ups. Everything else goes to emergency wards, where said wards are over flowing with people like us taking up chairs where only those truly experiencing an EMERGENCY should be sitting.
The reason for my frustration comes from calling 4 different clinics, hospitals, and ads in the yellow pages trying to find a doctor to look at Brandon after we couldn't get in to see a doctor in our hometown.
To be told we can come in a few days or a week's time was laughable...I was incredulous....the kid couldn't even swallow and was listless in his bed, and he couldn't be helped. I know doctors are worn thin, but when something is wrong with a child I don't understand why a clinic can't drop their "our doctors aren't taking any new patients" routine. If they aren't taking new patients, how do you get to fill in the line on a form that asks you who your family doctor is??? Answer me this: how do you get a doctor? Receptionists in dental or specialist's offices look at me funny when I write "doctor on call" on the line. What? It's the truth!
The last straw for me today was the receptionist's attitude on the phone at the doctor's office of the doctor on call the night Mike took Brandon to emerg. I finally tracked down that doctor after calling the hospital, and found out which clinic she practiced in. He told me that if Brandon wasn't better then I should have taken him into the emergency before when I realized he wasn't getting better, and that I shouldn't have let him get to that state. I told him my pharmacist said to give the medication 48 hours to kick in, and if there is no improvement to call the doctor back. Call back which doctor...no one would see us. I hung the phone up feeling mad at myself for not trusting my instincts in the first place about the meds he was taking not working. I knew that was the culprit.
I finally hit a jackpot when I appealed to a receptionist at a clinic in the city, and I'm sure she heard the desperation and the tears in my voice as by this time I was unwinding emotionally (I am an emotional wreck when it comes to my kids being sick). She got him in and Mike was filling out a new prescription 20 minutes later.
I felt a lot of relief, and was hoping this time the medication took, as the doctor said it was a very very bad case of Tonsillitis. That's it! The problem I have been having with Brandon is not just his sore throat, which has to just run it's course, it's getting him to eat and drink, as he hasn't had a meal since last Thursday. He barely drinks because it hurts so bad to swallow, and so I have to watch him constantly, urging him to "take a sip, buddy". He finally asked me for jello and ice cream tonight. Not a bad supper is it, having dessert? I made a stew all day and took the broth off of it for him as well.
Here's to a new day tomorrow, and hopefully a few smiles too. I managed to capture this one tonight, but I'm sure it was only because I told him it was going on the blog.

I will say this in closing: I'm so very grateful that I have healthy children. The fact that they get seasonal illnesses is a part of normal life that other parents who have kids with a terminal illness may wish for.  I remind myself of this when I feel strung out and over emotional after a day of looking after my sick kids; I feel stronger by drawing on the strength of those parents, who are super heroes in my mind.