Sick Kids.....Vent.

[Lisa CCU RN, RN]

Yep, I'm here to complain about my kids getting sick. I know this is the season for illnesses and that kids in daycares get a sick alot and that they pass around germs, but it's starting to stress me out.

My son said he had a sore throat this morning, so I took his temp and he was 97.1. Then I felt to see if his nodes were swollen and looked to see if he throat was red. Nothing. He had had the sniffles in the days prior, so I assumed he had drainage from cold that was irritating his throat.

I take him to school and tell him to tell his teacher if he felt anything else hurting. At 3:40 I get a call that his temp was 102.7 at 3:15, so I go to pick him up. He is running around, shouting, and jumping when I get there and asking me what we are having for dinner as usual and begging to eat some of his Valentines candy, so he isn't acting very sick.

I take him straight home and his temp is 98.7. That I don't get--it's like a five minute drive home, so in less than an hour with no interventions his temp dropped.

Anyway, I was suppossed to go to OB clinical tommorrow and have a presentation ready and as of now, it isn't typed up although I know what to say, just wanted something on paper.

I was gonna call a sitter, but the service I use will end up costing $100 for emergency care and everyone I know is in the nursing progrm awith me, so no sitters there.

So, I call his doctor and get a receptionist that says I need to leave the nurse a message and she will call back and tell me if he needs to be seen otherwise next appointments next week. Next week I have a test and I can't take him back to school till I have a doc's note. So, I take him to the ER ( I know, I know) and get the lecture on how I should have went to my primary doctor ( they didn't call back for two hours).

So, he is diagnosed with a viral URI ( like I already knew it was) not strep like the daycare is always afraid of ( I know they have a reason to worry believe me).

Basically, I'm a little conflicted now with my son's not feeling well and my going to climical.

I fed him dinner and he wolfed it down and then has been playing all evening. The nurse said it was up to me if I wanted to send him to school and the note she gave me says that he's "excused" from school till 2/15/07, so I asked her to change it and she mared through it and it says "excused 2/14/07 to 2/14/07 and she signed it, so I hope the daycare takes it.

He still has no fever and no other signs and I still wonder why my thermometer ALWAYS says something differne than theirs and I have two digital ones and one is brand new.

I know this sound silly, but the closer I get to the end of school, the more I worry and I usually am very cool- headed.

I just have it in my mind that I'll miss tomorrow and it'll be the catalyst that gets me put out of school ( silly huh?).

I know I can take him to school and see how he does, but that worries me too.

It is really stressful being a single parent.

Somebody shoot me. :scrying:

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

I understand...while not having any children of my own, many of my classmates vent about having some aspect of childcare which kept them up. One woman missed clinical orientation day because of her daughter being sick, and even though I came over to help her out and try to help her keep up, I think that kept her so far behind that she had no clue how to really do clinical.

Many daycares are just so paranoid when it comes to sickness, that even once we are nurses, they probably still wouldn't take our professional judgement in these types of situations.

In terms of taking them to school, try to give instructors a heads up. Some are ok, some aren't. Depends on what you're going to cover that day.

just a thought....