On Friday June 6, it will be six months
since I last spent a day in paid employment. Since then I’ve said I’m still
working – I’m just not being paid for it. Here I am six months into being a
stay at home dad and it has been a tremendous experience for me. For the last
couple of days I have wanted to write a funny blog post that really points out
that after the six months I am still like our dear friend Sergeant Shultz, “I
know nothing!”
However, every time I have tried to write
something (this is my fourth attempt now) either the words have failed me or H
has interrupted me. For instance at lunchtime today, while H had his day sleep,
I tried to get some ideas down. I was thinking especially of what I had dressed
him in today. It was a bit cooler and rainy plus he had a runny nose and wet
cough. I think what he was wearing (boots, jeans, long sleeve onsie with a
t-shirt over the top and hooded cardigan) was actually right for his health and
the conditions – that meant I should strike out my paragraph not knowing what
to dress him in.
As I continued to ponder H coughing, then
sobbing and then screaming disturbed me. Ok, I know that’s not normal so I went
in and got him up. He was hacking up his lungs and I put my hand on the back of
his neck and then on his stomach. They didn’t seem too hot but I used the
thermometer to check anyway and it confirmed he didn’t have a high temperature.
Ok I thought, my son is wheezing and coughing, clearly distressed and not well.
I could give him some Panadol but he might not hold it down and that will mask
a temperature if it spikes and I need to take him to the doctor.
The wheezing was my biggest concern and I
thought it would be best to try our local GP who luckily enough had an
appointment in 20 minutes. As I went to throw on my shoes after dressing H post
sleep I put him down. He collapsed on the floor and continued to cough while
giving me his most miserable look. That miserable look suddenly ceased though
as he leant forward and threw up all the mucus he had obviously been
swallowing. “Ok, good call,” I thought to myself, “We’re on the way to the
doctor.” I quickly wiped H down, threw the dirty towel on top of the spew and
walked out the door. My child is sick and I don’t know exactly what to do but I
know I can get help. I must know more that nothing!
Once we got to the doctor the screaming and
coughing continued, H put on a cracker of a show for everyone. However, his
temperature had risen to 38.5 so good call on no Panadol to mask something as
the doctor could get an indication of where he was at. I managed to get him
calm enough for the doctor to listen to his chest for a few seconds by reciting
his favourite books to him and playing with a toy car. Again – I must know
something here.
As I dressed H to leave the doctors I
didn’t put his long sleeve onsie on under his shirt. Why? Because again I know
something and as he was running a spiked temperature it was better to keep him
cool by removing a layer. I was really thinking at this stage, “I can’t write
my blog about being useless and knowing nothing now.”
There I had been wanting to tell everybody
about how I had been the comical stereotyped dad who bumbled his way through
the first six months when really I was making decisions which were pretty good
ones. When BWM came home from work and H was in the bath she looked at me and
asked if I was ok after the afternoon that we’d just had. I thought about it
and assured myself that yes I did know a thing or two because if I’d had this
day three months ago, let alone six months ago, I would be sobbing in the
corner calling for the bucket of wine. What that says to me is yes I’ve learnt
a thing or two and we’ve got through the day. Here the day ends, not with me
sobbing in the corner on the eve of me being six months into the job calling
for a bucket of wine but with me writing my self-indulgent blog while sipping
from my bucket of wine!
We can chat about this more in person (and I promise I'm not picking on you; you are of course doing an awesome job!), but I'm curious as to where parents get the idea not to give Paracetamol because it will "mask" the symptoms. I see it all the time. Yes it will stop your child from being in pain (yay!) and/or will bring their fever down (yay!), but if you bring them to the doctor we can still figure out what's going on. If you tell me how distressed they were before Paracetamol, or you tell me that they had a fever before Paracetamol, I'll believe you! And sometimes it might actually save you a trip to the doctor. In ED I see it most commonly in kids with abdominal pain, whose parents are worried that we'll miss something. In that case it's cruel not to give pain relief, and if your kid has a serious surgical problem like appendicitis, Paracetamol won't make the pain go away, i.e. we won't miss it. If vomiting is a major symptom, it's still worth a try (and the rectal formulations are good in this instance). The only kids who shouldn't have Paracetamol are children with cancer, because we need to take blood cultures while they're febrile (and therefore don't want to "mask" a fever that may be brewing), and then we can give Paracetamol.
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