Back in college, it was common for two roommates to go to the campus health services with the same symptoms, and to receive two different diagnoses.
Over the weekend, we had dinner and playtime with friends. Their son was running a bit of a fever, and Trystan had a slight cough. I'm not super panicky about health issues now (I think Trystan's issues have sort of killed off that instinct in me). He handles colds ok.
Come Sunday afternoon, he woke up from his nap cranky, which is way out of character. Monday morning he was almost warm--not quite running a fever, but if we sent him to daycare, someone would be leaving early to pick him up. He stayed home with my husband, and by afternoon was running a fever. I called the pedi and set an appointment for Tuesday morning.
Driving sucked on Tuesday. Our pediatrician is wonderful, but when we selected her after Char was born, she was 10 minutes away. Two moves later, and its 30 minutes with no traffic. Its worse in sleet. Oh, and my windshield washer fluid is now freezing up when I'm on the highway. Which makes it really hard to see unless I crank the interior temp to 75 and turn the front defrost on high.
Trystan's not a big fan of the doctor's office. I don't blame him. He had a strep test (swab to the throat), ear check, pulse ox reading (small device touching his finger...not the least painful, but he freaked), a breathing treatment (Trystan hates masks), and a RSV test (swab to both sides of the nose).
The verdict: RSV. Respiratory virus that can cause pneumonia. Which accounts for his fever and nasty cough. The treatment: there's not much of one. We got a prescription for oral steroids which can help the lungs, especially as he has asthma (especially when sick). Otherwise, just tylenol/ibuprofin, xopenex as needed, and keep him comfortable. And home. Its contagious through saliva, and dangerous for babies (like at daycare).
He spent the remainder of the afternoon glued to my chest, protesting violently if I put him down to do such selfish things as use the restroom or order pizza by phone. Light diarrhea (that was compounded by his coughing) made his butt raw. That didn't help in the least.
By bedtime last night, he was improving, and willingly laid down in his bed to sleep. He only woke up twice last night. Maybe three times. Better than the every-hour night Monday.
All in all, though, it was a better day than Amanda had. I'm willing to bet that her Little Man's pneumonia was kicked off by RSV (or aggravated by it). I don't know who started this little germ fest, but I'm fairly certain that our sons traded them over the weekend. I'm glad that her son's doing better and getting treated. And I'm happy that I haven't ended up in the ER with Trystan again (I've been there plenty, thank you, and I'm hoping that my frequent flyer points are expiring soon).
Today, it was my husband's turn to stay home again, and it seems that Trystan is improving (I heard a rumor of an actual smile, and perhaps a few minutes of playing!). I'm taking another sick day tomorrow. Hubby's probably taking Friday off. In theory, he can work from home, but not while attached to a toddler (or while aforementioned toddler attempts to pound on the keyboard), so he'll be limited to whatever naptimes Trystan agrees to take, or on asking for babysitting favors.
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