Thursday, February 26, 2009

Welcome to the Sickside

So Kaylani's sick again. Well, it's possible she never fully recovered from her fever last Sunday, but the bottom line is she's sick. And since we didn't go to the pediatrician earlier this week, we decided that we should go today. It's only the second time we've been to the pediatrician while Kaylani was sick (because this is Kaylani's 2nd cold). And since this was the second time, I processed things a little bit differently.

Last time Kaylani had a cold, it was 4:50pm on a Friday afternoon when we went to the pediatrician. I remember it well because we were headed up to Boston that night and wanted to make sure Kaylani was well enough to make the trip. Since it was 10 minutes before the office closed, there was no one in there besides us and we got seen right away. At that time, it was just like a regular visit.

This time, it was 11am on a Thursday morning, and we were definitely not the only people in the office waiting to be seen. The office is separated into 2 sides, the Wellside, where all the healthy kids go and that we've always sat on, and the Sickside, where you're supposed to sit when your kids are sick so you don't get kids on the wellside sick. Since Kaylani was sick, we obviously sat on the sickside. And I didn't like it one bit.

I like the idea of a sickside to keep the healthy kids from getting sick. Well, I like the idea of a sickside when we're the ones sitting on the wellside that is! But being on the sickside not only means the healthy kids don't get sick (in theory), but it also means that the sickside kids could get sicker! Kaylani has a minor cold that consists of a lowgrade fever, slight cough, and a runny nose that should last less than 5 days. Nothing serious, but still enough to put us on the sickside. The little girl 4 feet in front of us had pneumonia. Does anyone see a problem here?

Here we are on the sickside. Kaylani with a minor cold, and a little girl with pneumonia. I'm pretty sure that the person in the office with the most to lose is not any of the kids on the wellside, but Kaylani! I know it's not right, but I'm going to have to say that I would have rather sat on the wellside and risked the other kids getting a minor cold then have Kaylani get pneumonia! If we were healthy and on the wellside, I'd let a little kid with a minor cold come over so they wouldn't get pneumonia. Okay, maybe I wouldn't, but I would have today!

Anyways, there's no real way around it, and we're just hoping that Kaylani doesn't get pneumonia, or whatever the other 2 kids on the sickside had. Maybe they should consider a sickerside, and we can put all the minor cold kids together, and anything more serious over there. They could even have a chicken pox side, and parents could put their kids in there if they have the chicken pox, or want their kids to get the chicken pox (makes more sense then the chicken pox parties that actually exist).

Well I've rambled on to long. Must be the lack of sleep, or the constant worry that Kaylani caught something worse then her minor cold at the pediatrician's office today. Whatever it is, let's just hope that all the kids at the office today (and even those not at the office) get better from whatever it is they're going through. And if that could happen, maybe we wouldn't need a sickside at all.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just wait until she starts mingling with other kids on a regular basis. She will come home with all manner of colds and sniffles. Just part of "socializing" the baby. It's one thing to deal with your own child, but quite another when you have other sniffling kids playing with you. Your standard of clenliness and sanitation may not be the same as others. And then to let your kids play with them?! That was one of my toughest lessons.

Anonymous said...

Yes it is, but it is LESS contagious than most people think. The cold virus that started the cough in the first place is contagious. But the pneumonia part of the illness down in the lungs is far less contagious. People who are exposed to someone with pneumonia may catch the normal cough and cold symptoms of the virus, but usually don't progress to pneumonia. The formation of the pneumonia is not determined by the particular cold virus or bacteria that the person has, but rather by each person's susceptibility in their own lungs. Nolan had 3 pneumonia so far...his doctor wants to do some blood work to check on his inmune system.

Anonymous said...

If she does happen to get chicken pox from the vaccine (as less than 1% of kids do, but mine did) and you have to see the doctor, you are whisked right into a room so you do not get anyone sick. It is the least amount of time you will ever wait at the doctor!