Poor Marcie has definitely experienced feeling really sick and also having to function. She started with this dry, hacky cough last Wednesday and I just gave her some allergy medicine figuring that was the problem. Saturday morning, she awoke with a 104.4 fever, headache, sore throat and stomach ache, so I took her to the pediatrician thinking maybe she had strep (child in daycare had it). The rapid strep was negative but the remainder of the weekend, Marcie spiked fevers of between 101 and 103 whenever the motrin wore off. While the motrin was in effect, she pretty much acted like her normal self. By Sunday afternoon, her cough was tighter, so I started her on nebulizer treatments, which really worked well. Monday morning, her temperature was 103.8, so I took a urine sample to the doctor's office but there were no white cells so we figured no urinary tract infection. I wondered about testing her for flu but this illness wasn't really acting like the flu, so we didn't do the rapid test. (MD and I talked about it and mutually agreed). We also talked about getting a chest X-Ray but Marcie looked so good and her lungs were clear, so, we decided to wait a few more days to see if she got better or worse. Since she was feeling much better after the motrin, I went ahead and took her to the rally (I know, not a great idea). She did really well the rest of the day and her fever did not return when the motrin wore off, so I sent her to school on Tuesday and Wednesday. She didn't have enough energy to make it through the entire dance class Tuesday night, and had a headache when she got home, but otherwise seemed alright. I should've known when she refused breakfast and dinner that day that she was really sick. Her cough was still a bit tight, so I used the nebulizer Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. She was hungry Wednesday morning and ate breakfast then ate a good lunch (her lunch box was empty and she said she ate). When I picked her up from daycare Wednesday evening, though, she was hot and whiny. Her temperature was back up to 102.8, she was grunting when she breathed and her left lung had crackles in it (not normal). So, I gave her the motrin, started a nebulizer treatment and called the doctor. After I got the other kids fed and a babysitter arrived, I took Marcie to the ER. Of course, by this time, she was perky, playful and hungry with clear lung sounds and no fever. We waited 2 hours before they did the chest X-Ray and then it came back -- Marcie had pneumonia in both lungs. I wasn't at all surprised considering her symptoms and the way it progressed, but I did feel bad about sending her to school. She got an IV antibiotic and I convinced the doctor that Marcie would be okay at home and that I would bring her back if she got any worse. We were in the ER until 2 AM and then when we got home, I had to get all of the kids out of bed to take the sitter home. Phew!
Marcie was better on Thursday with *only* 100.8 fever in the morning and no fever the rest of the day after the motrin wore off. I did give it again in the afternoon because her headache came back. She also was started on oral antibiotics, and her first dose was Thursday afternoon. She only required one nebulizer treatment last night and her cough was even better this morning. I sent her to school today because I needed to work and she felt ready to go, and haven't gotten a call yet to come and get her. I figured since she had had the potent IV antibiotic and had started the oral ones AND her lungs sounded much better that she would be okay at school. I sure do hope that I was right.
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