Bits and Pieces

It can be frustrating learning about medical stuff.  Doctors rarely explain a lot about what they're doing or why they're recommending something, and of course they can't agree with each other, or even if they do agree, they're all going to change their minds next year.  I've learned that I have to be bold and ask ALL the questions and even if I'm obnoxious and/or they treat me like an idiot, I gain a lot more understanding that way.  I've learned that medical knowledge, like any other knowledge, comes in bits and pieces, with lots of trial and error in between.

Poor sweet Sam has pneumonia.  The process through which we arrived at that diagnosis was a little scary, although I felt pretty calm through it all.  He's home, he's getting better, and things are going to be fine.  He's taking cefdinir and azithromycin.  I also have a bottle of cefdinir sitting here for Eliza's ears, which I haven't given her yet.  Here's what I know now about antibiotics:

• OK, they really can be a good thing.
• Even people like me, who generally hate antibiotics, will turn to them when we really need an infection gone fast.
• They only kill bacteria, not viruses.
• The reason they always say to finish the course, even if you're feeling better already, is that if you don't, the bacteria may not be totally gone and may learn to fight off the antibiotic in the future.
• If you take probiotics along with an antibiotic, it helps it not kill ALL the good stuff.
• Some antibiotics have a shelf life (like cefdinir - 10 days), so if you choose not to give it right away, you may not be able to use it later.  This is (surprise!) what happened with Eliza.  I just didn't feel great about giving it to her, and then she started puking so I really didn't want to, and now that she's better & I'm giving it to Sam & feeling like it's fine to give to her too, it's too late.  It will go bad before she finishes the course, which could cause the problem listed above.  So it's better not to take it at all.  Luckily, she seems to be getting better and I can still use the leftover ear drops that I have.  I got all this info from the pharmacist.

I also learned some things about fevers, viruses and bacteria:

• Letting a fever run its course is generally a good idea, but in kids, there comes a point where the fever makes them not feel like eating or drinking, which causes further problems, so at that point it's better to control the fever.
• Fevers are not very effective against bacteria because bacteria can still grow in the heat.  A virus has a small temperature window where it can grow, so a fever is more effective against it.
• Bacteria start in one spot and grow out from there.  Viruses spread out all over the place and then grow everywhere they are.
• A virus (Sam had Rhinovirus) can cause a common cold, which will sometimes damage lungs and weaken them enough to where bacteria can take over - hence the bacterial pneumonia.  The pneumonia itself is not contagious, but whatever virus caused the damage in the first place is... or was.  By now, that virus is probably gone, or not catching anymore at least.  Viral pneumonia also exists but I don't really know anything about that for now.  You can tell by looking at Sam's x-ray that it's bacterial b/c it's in one spot and not all over.

And a couple things about x-rays:

• Air shows up black in an x-ray.  Even I could tell something was wrong in Sam's lungs because they didn't look the same.  But I was thinking, 'Yikes! What's all that black stuff?' when really the black was good and it was the cloudy, spider-webby white stuff that was the problem.
• Collar bones are like little twigs sticking out at weird angles, scared and alone in the middle of nowhere.  It's no wonder people break them all the time.

And just so it's down somewhere, here's what I already knew about fevers:

• A fever is your body's way of fighting something off with heat.  Fuel the fire by eating and drinking lots of fluids to help it burn up the attacker.
• However, when a fever gets too high, it can start to damage your body (including your brain - scary!) so you need to watch it and bring it down if it gets high.
• Scary high for kids: 105
• Scary high for adults: 103/104
• Kids can go higher without as much concern because their bodies are smaller and their temp can swing back and forth more quickly.  By the time an adult reaches 103/104, their big body has some serious momentum and things can get really out of control.
• Peppermint essential oil is the fastest fever-reducer I've ever used, and won't give any side effects like tylenol or ibuprofen.
• If you do go the tylenol/ibuprofen route, you can alternate them & take one every four hours.  But only take/give it if you need to.