Name That Bump

My Twitty friends know that Micah has had a weird pimply-like outbreak for some time now. It's been mainly focused in his diaper area, but occasionally he'll have one on his face, and over the weekend he had one on his wrist and inside his nose. They don't seem to bother him in the least, and I wasn't really concerned as they didn't look angry, irritated, or otherwise harmful. They were just like zits - they would start red, come to a head, and then pop and go away.

I'm not really a panicky mom. I mean, with 4 kids, I'd be at the doctor's all the time if I took them in for every bump, pimple, rash, ache or pain that ever developed. I'm there enough the way it is for crying out loud. But with his tonsillectomy coming up tomorrow I figured I'd better know if it was something that I should know about. So I called the doctor and asked "is this something I should know about?"

Of course their answer is always the same. "You should probably have him seen." Grrrr So I took him into town to waste yet another $10 in gas.

The doctor says nothing as he writes in the chart. I try making small talk to avoid the whole "so what do you think it is?" question. I'm trying to decide if he's writing "another stupid mom wasting my time. This is her second offense. Once more and she's outta here!" or if it's actually something that my son has.

I guess I should tell you that I also err on the side of stupidity sometimes. I had Becky in for a fever once only because I'd just had strep and I wanted her tested. She coughed. He asked how long she'd had the cough. Turns out her persistent it's-nothing cough that she'd had for 3 months was bronchitis. This was many long years ago, but I probably have that label in my chart as well. "Yet another confirmed case of child abuse. Next time I'm calling authorities."

And then the doctor turns around and says it's an infection of some sort. Probably either staph or MRSA. There was a bell ringing inside my peabrain somewhere saying "aren't those both kinda bad?" And again, I'm thinking "what kind of mom am I to these poor children? Someone rescue them from me!"

Because of all the bells and voices inside my head I didn't register to ask how on earth he could have gotten it, but I did ask if it was contagious. That was the dumber question of the two because I already knew the answer. If he's had it for over a month and nobody else has it, then it's not really that contagious.

So we headed next door to the hospital for a nasal swab to see which kind, if either, it was so that we could effectively treat it with antibiotics. I looked up Sam and thankfully he was on his lunch break and was able to help hold Micah down. (Yes, it takes more than one person to hold a 5 year old down. He's freakishly strong.)

Also, while at the hospital, Sam asked one of the doctors there about those two infections. Turns out, deadly though they can be, that everyone carries those germs around with them all the time. Nice, huh? Apparently for some reason Micah just has a few more of them than he should and needs some meds to clear them out. So it's not all that serious. Unless the test results tell us differently.

It'll take 24 hours to get the preliminary test back, which is sometime today. And if there's really something going on, it'll be 48 hours to see exactly what variety it is. That means he'll go into surgery with a maybe mystery infection. The doctors will love that.

Me and my procrastinating ways. If I'd only taken him in any time in the past month I wouldn't be living life on the edge the way I do. If you're a Twit, I'll let you know what I find out.

21 comments:

imbeingheldhostage said...

I'm not a twit, but I need to be, don't I!
Don't worry, our thick charts are probably eerily alike (arrest this woman if she comes in one more time with child that should've been seen months ago). Our issue now is the dentist. I let my little four year old rot his teeth! I didn't floss for him (holy cow, what child flosses every day?!). I'm dying to know about this. Should I take Miss Ky in? She has bumps too.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I'm glad that the Dr. wasn't very concerned, because hearing those possibilities would have freaked me out! But I guess as long as it's only on his skin it's not that big of a deal?

Let us know how it all turns out!

Burgh Baby said...

I can't judge; I'm the one that has to ask my twits if a runny nose is worth getting worried about. At least I'm not the only one that procrastinates thinking that illnesses will vanish on their own.

(Let's be real, though. Lots of times they DO. I guess sometimes we get it right.)

Wineplz said...

I have to say I have never heard of strep or MRSA exhibiting itself in a pimple-like fashion. Of course I'm not a doctor, but I'm one of those weirdos that seems to catch a lot of strange bacterial and viral infections. I'll be sure to wear a HAZ-MAT suit when I meet Micah...maybe he'll think I'm Buzz Lightyear's sister! :D

Becoming Mommy said...

Yeah, I'm sure that both the pediatrician, vets, and our regular family doctor wonder what the heck is wrong with us.

Granted, Sasha goes in all the time, but I wait till he has something that seems like it needs a visit....he's back today. Fever of 104F.

Waiting to hear if it's something or yet another "fever of unknown origin". He gets those and no one every seems to be able to figure them out.

Tootsie Farklepants said...

Oh man, do not feel bad about waiting so long. HOW MANY TIMES over the years with 4 kids did doctors tell you "oh it's nothing, go home and wait it out"? A LOT more times than when something was wrong that needed treating.

I let my youngest son's couch and runny nose go for like 3 weeks and then finally had to take him in for pink eye and was told he had a double ear infection and a sinus infection to boot. It happens.

Poor Micah. Hugs little man.

Tootsie Farklepants said...

Hahaha... that should be "cough" not couch. Because that doesn't even make sense.

pb&j in a bowl said...

Hope you find out soon what it is and that it's not too serious. I'm a procrastinator also when it comes to taking my girl to the dr. I always feel like an idiot- either I waited too long or came in for no reason.

Anonymous said...

Just keep reminding yourself that you DID call and you DID take him in. Good for you.

We've all been there with both the, "Thanks for bringing him in. It's just a virus that needs to run its course," AND "This is pretty serious. Why haven't we seen him sooner?" So I think you're in very good company.

Get better, Micah:)

caramama said...

I hope he's alright. I had no idea that those could just hang around all the time. Huh.

And it's crazy that we either feel like a nerotic worrywart or a neglectful parent based on whether or not we go in to the doctors with our children. Where is the middle ground where you are considered normal?

Betsy, short for Elizabeth, formally known as Esther said...

Of course! Will they postpone his surgery?

Jennifer said...

Don't beat yourself up, seriously. I think the toughest part of Mommy-hood is knowing when to take them to the dr. If you do and it's nothing serious, you feel like a big dork. But if you wait and it's something major, then you... feel like a big dork. It's a lose-lose situation. And with 4 kids running around, like you said, you'd be at the dr every day if you took them for everything!! I hope he's okay and they're able to give him some good drugs to kill that nasty stuff.

Fannie said...

Geez, we've all procrastinated. Who wants to deal with the nurse who guards the Doc's time like he's the Pope, or the Doc who sends you home saying "it's nothing". Sheesh.

Bluepaintred said...

Just be glad you had the presence of mind to take him in to see the doctor. My son had a "diaper rash" for about two weeks, which I treated with cream and airing out, until the morning when I woke him up and opened his diaper to change him only to find that his penis has swelled so much from the "diaper rash' it has split down two sides. (he slept through it, apparently, as he did not cry in the night)

I rushed him into the city in my pajamas and bed head hair to find out he had a staph infection. That his oxygen levels were severely down, that his kidneys were on the verge of shutting down and that he would be - at one years old - staying in the hospital indefinitely. (He was in for just under a week on IV medications)

VERY Scary.

Unknown said...

I hate taking my kids to the doctor!! I am never right -- if I ignore it, it is awful and vice versa. Like my daughters broken leg, "AAAWWW buck up and walk on it!! It's not swollen or bruised!" It's just a broken bone!

CanadianMama said...

As a new mom I find that I take Chicken to the doctor for everything. Last Friday I took him to the doctor because he was having (what I thought) were too many poops (honestly). I don't know what is worse!

Anonymous said...

You can't be expected to know all, dear. Don't beat yourself up. And, good luck treating the staph infection. Sucky sucky.

Momisodes said...

Please don't beat yourself up. We can never anticipate things like this.

Will the doctors delay the surgery based on the results? Keeping my fingers crossed he gets better soon.

Aimee said...

Egads, woman! What a visit :)

Don't worry - I once took Francie in to the doctor for a generic reason and found out that she had pneumonia! I mean, she wasn't even coughing or anything, I swear!

What can ya do? Just love them and fly by the seat of your pants, I guess.

I'll be following the health updates, because you know I'm a Twit :)

Debbie @ Three Weddings said...

If you recall, I let Peanut suffer from strep for over a week before I finally took her in and if Hubby would have had his way, it would have been longer. We all do it. It doesn't help when our kids can't tell us if something hurts.

JennyH said...

Glad you found out it's not MRSA. You know, Max has red bumps, like you described, on his butt during the summer months. The doctor has called it a few different things. She has said it was staph a few times, yeast a few times, etc... I think it may just be heat rash though. Nothing ever clears it up and keeps it away.

I hope his gets better and stays that way.