My joyful, cute, smiling, adorable baby (2) has returned after weeks of hour-long tantrums, grumpiness and misery. I am experiencing all the relief of a person realising that the huge terrifying bear , which had been chasing her for miles, had been temporarily distracted by a jar of honey. Nervous joy. Knowing that the respite will most likely be short-lived. But so grateful for the fleeting relief.
Yesterday morning, as I heard her gradually awaken from her surprisingly sound restful sleep, my stomach did its usual nervous flip. What would she cry about? Would it be my hair? The fact that she didn't like what I was wearing? I held my breath.
''Mommy?'' she inquired, checking if I was nearby. I peered over the mountain of blankets which she had kicked off, nervously checking her expression. I was greeted by a huge smile - her increasingly- rare, nearly-forgotten beautiful smile. I choked back tears of relief and joy.
''Mommeeee!!!!'' she shrieked happily. Yes, happily! I prayed silently that her mood would last a while longer.
And it did. In fact it lasted for the whole day. And for the whole of this morning. There've been smiles, laughter, dancing and singing. So much joy. Mine and hers.
I've been planting dozens of kisses all over her chubby little face. I've missed her so much.
''I yuv you sooo muts'' (She still hasn't mastered saying the 'ch' sound, which makes her accent sound very Cape Flats), she said a million times, hugging me.
I loved it when she took my face in her hands, stared deeply into my eyes and said, ''You're a good girl, Mommy, '' echoing the words I'd been saying to her for the whole day. My desperate attempt at positive reinforcement - in the hopes that she'd remember those words when her next tantrum was about to hit. Hoping that she'd remember that she was a good girl - and that that realisation would magically defuse the explosion.
But thankfully it hasn't come to that yet. She has just finished breakfast, chatting away happily - after having spent a few minutes shaking her hips shamelessly to the neighbours' blaring ''I'm sexy and I know it''.
She is on her way to the doctor with her dad, where her liver will be examined to see if it has reduced in size (It had been a bit enlarged at last week's visit). I'm praying that everything is normal in that regard.
I'm so relieved and happy right now. Although this past week has been difficult I have never stopped counting and appreciating my blessings. Just now, with Aisha's return to her normal happy self, this has been so much easier to do.
Let's hope and pray that this light, joy and positive energy are here to stay.
Showing posts with label visit to the doctor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label visit to the doctor. Show all posts
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Monday, 23 April 2012
A cold, flu and a severe case of googlitis
What a challenging few days these have been.
On Wednesday afternoon we took Aisha (2) to the doctor, who diagnosed a viral flu. Since the cause of her illness was not bacterial, we were not to treat it with antibiotics, but had to focus, instead, on treating the symptoms (fever, nasal congestion and slight phlegmy cough).
The doctor also noted, while doing a routine exam of her abdomen (pressing down with her fingers), that Aisha's liver was still quite prominent, i.e. it could still be felt with the hands when pressing down. According to her, this was unusual for a child older than 2, since the liver moves upward behind the ribcage at that age.
She said that we should come back in two weeks to see if it had reduced in size, as the enlarged liver could be a result of the viral infection. If it is still enlarged by then, we would be referred to a paediatrician who would do scans and the necessary tests for liver disease. She pointed out that Aisha was, in fact showing no obvious signs of liver problems, like yellow eyes, vomiting; which did very little to appease the panicked voices screaming in my head while I tried to maintain a semblance of calm.
But for the next few days Aisha's persistent fever and new symptoms (lethargy, diminished appetite, crabbiness, worsening phlemy cough) kept me from dwelling on that scary bit of information for too long. When we noticed that, despite receiving her regular dose of paracetamol (in the form of Stopayne), alternated with mefenamic acid ( in the form of Ponstel), her fever failed to break even momentarily by Saturday morning, we took her back to the doctor.
The doctor, upon doing another check-up, noted that she had now developed an ear infection (in both ears) and bronchitis. At this point she was satisfied that an antibiotic would be appropriate. (I appreciate her reluctance to prescribe antibiotics because I have heard of doctors who prescribe antibiotics at the drop of a hat)
Trying to appear calm and not as if I was about to burst into tears, I asked for more information on the enlarged liver. She said that it was already less prominent than it had been a few days earlier. I wanted more detail on what her concerns were - what was the worst case scenario? I informed her that I had googled 'enlarged liver in two year olds' and had burst into tears at the results.
She warned against using the internet to diagnose diseases. A few years ago people had been joking that the internet would be putting many doctors out of business, since people could diagnose and treat their own diseases using the net. Ironically, she said, doctors' businesses have boomed as a result of the internet, as people are terrified into thinking they have dangerous life-threatening diseases when they enter their symptoms into the search engines. Harmless heartburn often is escalated to become terrifying heart-attacks to the poor patient. 'Googlitis' can be harmful, as one's state of mind (believing one is sick) can end up influencing one's reality (one's physical state).
For now though, I'm setting those fears aside to focus on dealing with Aisha's flu /bronchitis /ear infections and their accompanying tantrums. And the fact that Shakeel too seems to have a bug, but I have absolutely no time or energy to deal with him. My response to his painful pitiful groaning is to point him to the medicine cabinet with the instruction to take 1 panado and 1 lactovita probiotic capsule. My poor poor darling. I wish I was a bit better at this balancing act.
Thankfully Aisha's fever has broken; I'm praying that her chest and nose will clear - hopefully the ear infection will clear soon too. My passionate prayer is that her liver is normal and that she is restored to health completely. I pray that that her terrifying tantrums will vanish and that my delightful darling will re-emerge. Insha-Allah.
On Wednesday afternoon we took Aisha (2) to the doctor, who diagnosed a viral flu. Since the cause of her illness was not bacterial, we were not to treat it with antibiotics, but had to focus, instead, on treating the symptoms (fever, nasal congestion and slight phlegmy cough).
The doctor also noted, while doing a routine exam of her abdomen (pressing down with her fingers), that Aisha's liver was still quite prominent, i.e. it could still be felt with the hands when pressing down. According to her, this was unusual for a child older than 2, since the liver moves upward behind the ribcage at that age.
She said that we should come back in two weeks to see if it had reduced in size, as the enlarged liver could be a result of the viral infection. If it is still enlarged by then, we would be referred to a paediatrician who would do scans and the necessary tests for liver disease. She pointed out that Aisha was, in fact showing no obvious signs of liver problems, like yellow eyes, vomiting; which did very little to appease the panicked voices screaming in my head while I tried to maintain a semblance of calm.
But for the next few days Aisha's persistent fever and new symptoms (lethargy, diminished appetite, crabbiness, worsening phlemy cough) kept me from dwelling on that scary bit of information for too long. When we noticed that, despite receiving her regular dose of paracetamol (in the form of Stopayne), alternated with mefenamic acid ( in the form of Ponstel), her fever failed to break even momentarily by Saturday morning, we took her back to the doctor.
The doctor, upon doing another check-up, noted that she had now developed an ear infection (in both ears) and bronchitis. At this point she was satisfied that an antibiotic would be appropriate. (I appreciate her reluctance to prescribe antibiotics because I have heard of doctors who prescribe antibiotics at the drop of a hat)
Trying to appear calm and not as if I was about to burst into tears, I asked for more information on the enlarged liver. She said that it was already less prominent than it had been a few days earlier. I wanted more detail on what her concerns were - what was the worst case scenario? I informed her that I had googled 'enlarged liver in two year olds' and had burst into tears at the results.
She warned against using the internet to diagnose diseases. A few years ago people had been joking that the internet would be putting many doctors out of business, since people could diagnose and treat their own diseases using the net. Ironically, she said, doctors' businesses have boomed as a result of the internet, as people are terrified into thinking they have dangerous life-threatening diseases when they enter their symptoms into the search engines. Harmless heartburn often is escalated to become terrifying heart-attacks to the poor patient. 'Googlitis' can be harmful, as one's state of mind (believing one is sick) can end up influencing one's reality (one's physical state).
For now though, I'm setting those fears aside to focus on dealing with Aisha's flu /bronchitis /ear infections and their accompanying tantrums. And the fact that Shakeel too seems to have a bug, but I have absolutely no time or energy to deal with him. My response to his painful pitiful groaning is to point him to the medicine cabinet with the instruction to take 1 panado and 1 lactovita probiotic capsule. My poor poor darling. I wish I was a bit better at this balancing act.
Thankfully Aisha's fever has broken; I'm praying that her chest and nose will clear - hopefully the ear infection will clear soon too. My passionate prayer is that her liver is normal and that she is restored to health completely. I pray that that her terrifying tantrums will vanish and that my delightful darling will re-emerge. Insha-Allah.
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