Monday, October 23, 2006

To Think We Went In Thinking All We Were Getting Was a Flu Shot!

I had one of those days that starts out just like every other day, but ends completely different. Not 'in a good way' different either. I took the kids to get their annual flu shots, and my only thought was how to get S. to not throw an 'I'm mad' tantrum afterward. As is often the case, that was not what I should have been worried about.

When the Doctor listened to the Tot's lungs prior to vaccination, I prayed the Tot wouldn't cough. He had a cold last week, but was pretty much over it I thought. I knew he was fine, and I wanted him to get the shot so he would be protected and then I wouldn't have to go back to the doctors AGAIN! With S.'s toenail issue, we have been to the doctor multiple times every month lately. Imagine my surprise when the doctor turns to me and says, "He's wheezing.", like haven't you noticed this lady??? I put the Tot down as the doctor started talking to me about what this meant. He had only begun talking when the Tot started fast-walking around the room. The doctor said to me,"Boy, does he have a lot of energy!" I said,"And I have TWO of them!" Diagnoses? Tot has asthma. Yep. No family history or anything that would make me suspect it. Apparently, it is the cold weather variety that gets aggravated when a virus and the cold hit it, or something like that. I had heard of this since I had a student with this condition. An ambulance had to be called at school because the kid had been playing football outside in the winter, and then found himself unable to breathe. Gave me a heart attack!

I stupidly went to Walgreen's thinking they had a nebulizer. Even though my doctor recommended the pharmacy in the building, I felt it would be better to go where I usually go since my insurance info. was on file there. I felt at the other pharmacy I would end up having to send the receipt in to be reimbursed, and I hate that. So Walgreens did not have one, even after calling three different Walgreens. Finally, the tech. was told they did not carry nebulizers anymore as they are considered 'medical supplies'. Great! So, yes, I ended up having to drive all the way back to my pediatrician's office comple and filling the prescriptions there too. And yes, I have to send the receipts in to be reimbursed. The pharmacist was wonderful though. He took me in his office and explained how to use the nebulizer. Unfortunately, S. was being a total pain! As I went to get him since he walked out of the office, he came back toward me, which knocked me into the corner of the pharmacist's shelving unit. The corner of it. Lovely.

Hubby came home a few hours early to help me give the Tot his treatment. It was good that he did as my boy is a fighter! We have to give him a treatment every 4 hours; even in the middle of the night. Welcome back to babyhood! We were told that we don't have to wake him up to give him a treatment. Yah, I'll let you know how that went!

A few hours later, I had to go to my yearly urologist appointment. (After my first laparoscopy, some damage was done to my bladder, so thanks infertility for that added bonus!) ANyway, I had been having a lot of problems this past summer. Just prior to visiting teachermom, I felt so bad that I feared I would have to cancel our trip there. Luckily, we were able to go. The point here is that my urologist thinks that I now have a disease called interstitial cystitis. We've suspected this for some time now so I had time to look up what it was and all, but now it appears this is what I will have to deal with for the rest of my life. So add another drug to the bunch that I already take! I tell you that I rival any elderly person in the amount of drugs I have to take!!! So I have my information booklet: Welcome to the world of interstitial cystitis. As if you thought you had enough medical conditions to deal with already. Today is your lucky day! You 'officially' have one more. And do you want to know the best part? I have to see the doctor again in 6 months because that is how long this medication may take to work. Well, 6 months is during hubby's busy time. Great.

Then I got to go back home and help give my baby another treatment. I had to see him cry and kick and scream, and look like we were trying to hurt him. Oh, there's my baby now. Looks like that Albuterol is making him hyper just like I said it would. We put him to bed almost 2 hours ago. It's going to be a long night. Oh, did I mention that I'm sick too????

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have IC too and it's a major pain at times. I ended up with what I thought was a bladder infection at 18, and no matter what tests were done, nothing showed up. I had seen several dr's,( I was a Army brat at the time) one dr said I had diabetes, one said I had an STD(which was not even possible) and on and on it went. I finally saw a urologist and he said' You're fine, you just have IC' Apparently when I have a flare up, I get spasms in my bladder and they hurt!! I hope yours clears up a lot faster than mine did.
Kristin

formerteacher said...

Kristin, I had the same experience at age 20. I thought I just had another UTI, but all the urine cultures cam eup negative! It was beyond frustrating! And since I had an HMO at the time, it took me months to be able to see a urologist, and this particular one sucked! I then had a remission that lasted almost 7 years. Then that lovely surgery kicked it into high gear again.

My urologist was treating it with drugs for overactive bladder, but they were no longer working. So now I'm about to take my first pill of Elmiron. Hopefully, it will help!
Thanks for sharing your story; it's so nice to be able to talk to someone who actually knows what I'm going through!!!