Becca is sick. Not from the celiac this time, but from a viral/bacterial infection of some sort. She has puffy eyes, a sore throat, a fever, and loss of appetite. I wouldn't have jumped to take her to the doctor as quickly as I did, except for the call I got letting me know her playmate from this past weekend has now tested positive for strep.
Our dilemma is what to do if the throat swab they took on Becca today comes back positive. Strep is risky business if untreated...but so are antibiotics for our Princess Becca (PB). She is allergic to zithromax (gets that from me unfortunately). All other antibiotics leave her nauseated, with stomach cramping and diarrhea. And when you tell your family doctor that your gluten-intolerant child needs to have all her prescriptions include instructions that the formulation must be gluten-free, they tend to give you that look--the one reserved for uptight, paranoid, delusional, hippie parents.
Any time PB's tummy hurts, she stops eating. Since her celiac disease and hidden dairy problems have left her so tiny, I hate watching her on a self-enforced fast. Our family doctor has indicated that it is fairly safe to wait out the results of the test and to even see if Becca kicks the infection without antibiotics. On that advice, we have decided to delay beginning treatment until the results are in, which could be two days from now. I hope we are making the best decision.
Updates on the strep/not-strep and antibiotics/no antibiotics dilemma will be forthcoming.
Hope she feels better without needing antibiotics.
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ReplyDeleteYours is, as usual, an interesting dilemma. The main purpose for treating strep throat with antibiotics is not necessarily to make her throat feel better (that'll happen in 3-5 days regardless, but maybe happen a day sooner with antibiotics compared to without) but rather to prevent the dreaded, albeit rare, complication of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.
ReplyDeleteOne thought, if she does have strep and you are worried about letting it go untreated, is to give her a penicillin shot - this will strongly diminish her GI side effects (maybe avoid them all together), make her feel better quicker (most likely), and achieve the rheumatic fever-lowering risk the same as 10 days of oral antibiotics would. I am definitely not trying to step on the toes of your family doc, who sounds totally reasonable, but rather offer other options to help any way I can, because the last thing you need is to feel guilty!!! You are such a totally wonderful mother and don't ever doubt that you are doing the absolute best that you can for her.
PS If she ends up getting a PCN shot, don't tell her it was my idea:)
Breck,
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice to have a doctor for a friend! Thanks for the words of encouragement.
We really would prefer the injection, but our current practice doesn't offer them. (If we do, we have never billed it out and that worries me on a whole other level since it's my docs who are seeing her).
Since the strep came back as positive, and her fever continues to be high, we went ahead and started her on the anitbiotics. We're feeding her well with each dose and I'll be letting everyone know how it goes.