That would be my message to doctors these days. I *know* there are a lot of pushy parents out there that want to tell doctors how to do their jobs - but I know (because I've had recent encounters) that there are also doctors out there who will completely ignore a parent who has a pretty good idea what's going on with her child. Let's be honest here, Mom knows her kid better than you do Doc, so try listening to what she has to say!
Ok, so now that I have that little rant out of the way, I'll tell you why I say all that... As many of you probably already know, Zack got a bad case of the flu recently - directly after he got the flu vaccine. Coincidence? I think not. ANYWAY - he was incredibly sick for more than a week and ended up with an ear infection on top of the flu. He's *still* trying to get rid of a cough. After he got sick, Austin started to get some drainage, etc. Nothing too bad, I thought. Then, Friday night, he started sounding raspy and had a barky cough. Croup. (No, not "crap," croup - though I did THINK the other...) We had a rough night, and Saturday morning wasn't any better. After talking with my pediatrician's office, we took him to an Urgent Care clinic (on their suggestion - because they couldn't get us in). The doctor at the Urgent Care clinic said Austin had bronciolitis - and needed antibiotics and albuterol nebulizer treatments. This was after the nurse at the pediatrician's pretty much confirmed my suspicion of croup...and after saying "croup" at the urgent care clinic. So, I thought, "Ok, well, I guess I was wrong... glad we at least know what's going on now and he can get better."
So, we filled the meds, got him started on them, and then I was able to get him down for an afternoon nap. I was sure he was going to feel/sound at least a little better when he got up - I was wrong. He was WORSE and was having a really difficult time breathing. Long story short (ok, so it's already long), I called the Mercy Nurse and she said take him to the ER. We did. They QUICKLY diagnosed croup, gave him the PROPER treatment, and his breathing got better almost immediately.
Now, Austin's still sick, but the croupy cough is better and so is his breathing. He still has a nasty cough, and cries every time he coughs 'cause he hurts (the poor baby!) but he can BREATHE! We're hoping things just continue to get better for him.
All this to say, please docs - take the time to listen to mom and dad and give them some credit! We'll try not to be pushy about it, but much of the time we have a good idea what's going on with our kiddos. If the urgent care doc had done that, Austin would have been better by Saturday afternoon, instead of worse, and wouldn't have had to make a traumatic trip to the ER.
Ok, I'm done. *Stepping off the soapbox NOW*
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