"Mommy, it's cold", said Aadi. I was surprised to see him lying on the couch with a blanket on him.
I touched his forehead. It was burning. I went to get the thermometer. "It's 102", I told my husband. He said give him some Tylenol. It was Sunday afternoon. I gave him Tylenol. After few hours he got worse, with coughing and runny nose.
"It's flu. One of the kids in his school had flu. Let's go to the urgent care". I was dreading the long wait at urgent care but I decided to get my son checked. When we reached the hospital. There were just two cars in the parking lot. There were no patients there. It was relieving to know that we won't have to wait for hours. We checked in and waited for the provider.
"Aadi", called the nurse. We went inside. The nurse did his exam. Checked his weight, height, oxygen levels and blood pressure. After few minutes provider came in. She got him tested for flu. She also said that his oxygen level was low and his heart rate was really high." This could be due to fever, but I want to check if he has pneumonia or not." His flu test came positive. His fever was now 103F.
She ordered a chest X-ray and told us that she was going to give him double dose of Tylenol, to see if his fever goes down and his heart rate becomes normal.
The nurse gave him the medicine, within few minutes, he was throwing up and he got worse. Provider got scared and told us to take him to emergency.
We went to emergency. There, the doctor asked us a lot of questions. Then gave him medicine for nausea, Tylenol and tamiflu. They observed him for couple hours. They gave him Gatorade to drink.
When his heart rate was normal, they sent us home with prescriptions for tamiflu and nausea medicines.
It was a sad day for me. Seeing my kid sick and then seeing him get worse. It's a sickening feeling. You always want good for your kids, but somethings are not in your hands.
