It never stops!

The events never seem to stop in this household! I have 2 reviews written and waiting for me to just add the pictures (already taken, but on a different computer), a handful of other things to review (well, they are reviewed, just not written up), and you'd think with still job-hunting, I'd have more time to do it. Of course, this isn't the case.

Aside from Squiggle (who really needs a blog name now that she's here) being super clingy through her growth spurts, Bobble got another upper respiratory infection that required another nebulizer for breathing treatments at home. His oxygen was down to 91, and they debated between hospitalization and take-home treatments with the nebulizer. Two days later, he's back in with a double ear infection and pink eye in both eyes. Needless to say, it's not been dull around here!

Bobble getting his oxygen tested

Bobble getting a breathing treatment and falling straight asleep because he didn't really sleep the night before since he couldn't breathe very well.

I'm not a fan of medicine... in fact, I'm pretty anti. With pink eye, I'd prefer to use breastmilk to treat it (really, it works wonders!). With an ear infection, I'd prefer to use breastmilk, again, to treat.... except the one ear was pretty bad (and this was his first ear infection ever). The double pink eye on top of the double ear infection on top of a respiratory infection that nearly put him in the hospital, and he's on antibiotics. I'm looking into some more natural ways to help him stay healthy, and many have suggested Elderberry syrup. I bought some today at the health food store, but I have a question for you, my readers.

Do you use elderberry syrup? Do you use it daily, or only when sick? Do you make your own, or do you buy?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all my readers! I hope you are having a fun (and safe!) time with your family and/or friends! We didn't have any festivities tonight, but we went to a party last Saturday with Bobble. He went as Charlie Brown, just as I mentioned a while back. I will upload a picture when I have the opportunity, likely over the weekend.

Also, if anyone was curious, this Kick-it Immune stuff seems to work really well. It could be sheer coincidence.... but Bobble is 100% better already. That was pretty darn fast. He also surprised me by signing for "more" of it after a full dropper (it suggests 2 droppers for kids over the age of 1, but I only gave him 1 the first day to watch for a reaction). He takes a dropper, shakes his head with squinty eyes and a crinkled face, then signs for more. I love it. Again, I have no clue if it was sheer coincidence or not, but if it really is this stuff being that awesome, I'm buying some.

If anyone can, I would also appreciate it if you went and voted for Bobble on Thirsties Facebook Contest Page. He's the one with the little leaf in his hand that is captioned "autumn leaves are falling". There seems to be a glitch, however, and it has duplicated my picture. Please vote on the one with the higher number!

Surprisingly Hard

It's been surprisingly hard trying to write here these last two months.... and not for a lack of things to say! Everyone that reads is aware (by now, anyway) that Bobble was sick for pretty much seven straight weeks. We were able to finally get over the illnesses, and we had a fantastic week last week! He was doing great at Montessori, he was sleeping beautifully, he was eating really well..... it was all just awesome. I missed having a happy little boy. I also thoroughly enjoyed having good sleep again!

Every Friday our local library offers a program for little kids (under age 5) to play for a couple hours. It's free, it allows for social interaction (for me and him!), and they have lots of toys that he just doesn't get exposed to anywhere else (like those really expensive playmats and structures made out of that material). My husband suggested I take him, and I thought that it would be a brilliant idea because he simply hasn't been in two months.

Guess who was exhibiting signs of a cold the very next day? *headdesk* Now, I haven't caught anything, so I'm holding on to that sliver of hope that it really is the fact his bottom two canines are visibly coming through.... but man. Talk about FRUSTRATING.

I'm very excited that we signed up to get a sample from www.wishgardenherbs.com a bit ago, and we actually got it in the mail yesterday. I heard about that company from a coworker (who uses namely holistic 'medicines'), and then saw that they had a FREE SAMPLE offer going on. It's hard to turn down a chance to try something for free when you wanted to try it anyway, so I signed up for a free sample of Kick-it Immune (For Kids), and we got it in the mail yesterday. I gave Bobble a half dose of it (simply to see if he had any reactions), and he didn't seem to mind it, though it smells like a shot of some random adult beverage. I let him taste a droplet first, and he signed 'more', so I gave him the whole dropper.... to which he signed 'all done' after. It was probably pretty strong. It did say it could be mixed with water for taste or simply placed under the tongue. I went the direct route. Anywho, here's to hoping that this stuff works. It's meant to boost the natural immune system and response, so I'm crossing my fingers. Obviously taking him to the doctor over and over (and over and over) didn't do diddly squat.

The company also has a bunch of other products, though not everything is available for a free sample. They do have things for Ear aches, calming/soothing, upset tummies, colic, cold season, coughs.... many other things. Oh, did I mention for helping you sleep? The above are also for children or infants, though they do have adult things, too. I decided to try this out since these are made with organic and wild-harvested botanicals, and they are herbal remedies. Again, we all saw how much the medicines from the doctor did for Bobble. *cough* nothing *cough*

So, here's to hoping he gets better (and stays better!) soon.... so I can write more here! I have plans for this blog, big plans... I just need my little guy to not be sick all the time so I can do something about them!

Disclosure: I receive a sample from the company through a promotion they were doing, and have not had any contact with the company in regards to a review on their product. Any opinions or statements above are my own and are not influenced by the company in any way, shape, or form.

I guess I had it coming

Anyone that's followed this blog for a while knows that I wrote about pinkeye, and how I had unintentionally been judging those parents way back when. I just thought it was so gross how they didn't wash their hands, and didn't think anything of it. Obviously, from the entry linked above, you can see I realized that might be inaccurate, and it was unfair of me to assume they don't wash their hands.

Then there's today. I have pinkeye. My son has pinkeye. My husband has pinkeye. The only household members without pinkeye? My 3 cats. So I knew that pinkeye was highly contagious, and I knew that you could get it from not washing your hands after bathroom usage/diaper changes. When I got a letter from Bobble's school (Montessori -- he goes to childcare there) stating that they had a child with a confirmed case of pinkeye, I wasn't too concerned. That child was actually in preschool, Bobble is in the Toddler Program.

Unfortunately, Bobble has been sick since September started, much less October. Teething, Stomach Bug, Cold, Staph (rash), Ear Infection, Pinkeye, Thrush, Yeast..... it's been one battle after another. Two weeks ago was the Upper Respiratory Infection and Pinkeye diagnosis. Drats. I thought I got away without the pinkeye issue. Three days ago I woke up with a less-than-happy eye, but I didn't think it was pinkeye for a few reasons:

• Bobble has no visible signs of Pinkeye anymore
• I had no crusties or drainage of any type
• My eye was only bloodshot near the tear duct, nowhere else

Well, the following morning, I woke up with crusties and my entire eye unhappy. Shoot. On the bright side, I have the ability to just use my breastmilk to take care of it, though I wasn't certain how much or how often to use it. I called my doctor's office and they told me 2-3 drops 4-5x a day. Yes, they actually gave me a dosage for my own breastmilk. At least that means they know it will work, right?

I went to work anyway, as I had a deadline that only I could work on, and they needed it. When I was done working, they "strongly encouraged" me to go home. I was promised I wouldn't be in trouble for missing work (since I had missed a lot with Bobble lately... namely just leaving early for appointments), and then gave me the okay to take off today as well to get "less contagious". I argued a wee bit with them, saying I didn't see how it was that big of a deal. I was using germ-x at my PERSONAL computer if I touched my face (before touching my desk/mouse/keyboard again), the couple of times I used a public computer I lysoled the mouse/keyboard, and I didn't use my hands to open doors at all. I told them that it wasn't like I was going to rub my eye on people. A co-worker chimed in that you can get it without touching the person.... and that she knew this from working at a daycare way-back-when.

This intrigued me, so I Googled it. First things first, I didn't realize there was a bacterial form and a viral form of pinkeye. Here's what I learned:

Viral pinkeye

Viral pinkeye is often caused by an adenovirus, which is a common respiratory virus that can also cause a sore throat or upper respiratory infection. The herpes virus can also cause viral pinkeye.
From: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/tc/pinkeye-topic-overview

Bacterial pinkeye

An infection may develop when bacteria enter the eye or the area around the eye. Some common infections that cause pinkeye include:

• Staph infection.
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).
• Cat-scratch disease.
• Gonorrhea.
  From: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/tc/pinkeye-topic-overview

 Soooo, as you can see, it wasn't just from "bathroom" related things! I honestly had no idea. So we all have had some sort of virus that has caused throat pain and coughing for the last 1-3 weeks (depending on which one of us it is), and my little Bobble also was being treated for a (staph) rash. I guess we were just doomed for this one.

I also thought we were in the clear when I caught pinkeye. Bobble had no symptoms anymore, as I said. He has, however, been poking me in the eye (learning body parts, and eyes/nose are his current favorites), and I'm assuming that's how I got it.

Yesterday I administered breastmilk drops to my eye. My husband insisted upon buying the eyedrop medicine. By the end of the day yesterday, my eye looked 2x better than it had (still bad though). It also was instant relief when milk was dropped into my eye. Today, my eye looks barely bloodshot at all. Nobody would think it was anything more than maybe an eyelash snuck into my eye. That's it. I love it! Still using milk, but it's always on hand, so not a big deal. My husband, however, put in eye drops last night. Instantly started going "owwwwwww, this STINGS!!!!!". He still insists that he must use those drops as he doesn't think the milk will help. I guess he likes the pain. I'm just thankful that I'm still breastfeeding!

Medicinal Scare

Some of my readers are aware that Bobble has been sick for pretty much the last month now. Here's a brief run-down of what the poor boy has been through:

It started with teething, drainage from that, and coughing from the drainage. That weekend he got a stomach bug. Then he was getting better, but the next weekend he got a cold. That got better, but his rash on his bottom (which he had since the week before) was worse. Doctors treated it like staph and gave topical and oral medicines. 

His cough and temperature worsened. We went to urgent care a few days later. He had an upper respiratory infection as well. Another antibiotic added on. Oh, and the doctor confirmed that not only is Bobble cutting his 4 canines, but his 4 two-year molars as well. Joy!

Tuesday he went back to the doctor. He wasn't eating for the past month, pretty much. He had let us give him yogurt still, but since he started the antibiotics the week before, he wouldn't eat and refused liquids from anyone but mom. Difference is, my liquids are 'on tap' for him. We go back in and find out that his ear infection is cleared up, so we need to stop giving him that medicine. His bottom now looks like it's yeast infection (from the antibiotics he was on), and he has thrush from those antibiotics. Okay, stop all antibiotics and switch to this new medicine .... DIFLUCAN.

That was Tuesday. That night we got the Rx. It was thick. It was supposed to be oral suspension, but it was THICKER than glue. Not kidding. I looked in the bottle (not even 1/4 full) and wondered how the hell that was supposed to last 14 days. (well, 7.... we had two bottles made up). The dosage was 6.5ml the first day, 3 ml each day after that for 14 days. My husband complained about it and it took about 3 minutes for him to even DRAW UP THE MEDICINE. I said that it didn't look right. It just didn't. We administered the medicine anyway, but while trying to administer it, and Bobble fought and fought. I was able to see a closer view of how the consistency was (since I didn't draw it, only peeked at it in the dropper) and he was BAWLING. Gagging. Throwing his head side to side as that disgusting looking paste was in his mouth. He would sob and then silence for a minute because the stuff was so thick that it blocked air passage. 

I told hubby to call the pharmacy, this is definitely not right. He did. They said to bring the medicine in and they would gladly look at it. I took both bottles in. Not one, but TWO pharmacists looked at the medicine. Not Cashiers. Not Pharmacy Technicians. PHARMACISTS. CHEMISTS. Whatever the heck you call them... the people that make about $90k a year because people's lives depend on them. Those people. Yeah, them.

They looked at the medicine I brought in, then tried to shake it. It wouldn't shake because it was so thick.

They grabbed a new (unmixed) package of the medicine and evaluated.

They discussed.

After all this, they came back to me and said this is definitely correct.

Fine.

I went home and that was that. The next day my poor little pumpkin, again, fought and fought the medicine. I still swore this was not right. He got the last little bit of his dose and vomited everything up. He had FINALLY eaten. Up came the beverages. Up came the yogurt. Up came the segment of donut he decided he had to eat. Up came all the medicine. It bubbled out his mouth and nose, and it was so thick that the bubbles took eons to pop. After cleaning it all up, I called the doctors office. If this was correctly mixed, then we need a different medicine. Him losing what he ate is NOT progress for us.

It was after 5... heck, it was after 7pm, so we got the nurse-on-call. That's fine by me, she'd do what I needed. I explained. She called the doctor on call. Called back and told us to NOT administer any more to make up for what he just lost, and that the dr's office that prescribed the medicine will call me the next day (thursday).

Thursday is the day I got hit hard by the bug going around my house. All my joints ached. My glands/lymphnodes were swollen. It hurt a wee bit to swallow. My boss strongly encouraged me to go home from work and I finally did. I got a call from the nurse in the pediatrician's office. She said that there is no substitute for this medicine, and that he has to have it. She said to mix it with applesauce. I told her it couldn't be mixed with anything, it was too thick. She said they prescribe this to children much younger than mine and they have no issues. I said there was no way he could take this, described it as being thicker than paste, any thicker and it would be DOUGH... she kept saying I needed to try to administer it. I kept complaining until she put me on hold and went to speak to the doctor again.

I wait and wait.... then she comes back on the phone. She said the doctor does NOT think that sounds right and he wants me to go back to the pharmacy and have them remix the medicine. I call the pharmacy and a pharmacist that actually looked at the meds 2 days before was the one that answered. He offered to remix the medicine for me without me even getting that far. 

I took the bottles and went. 

BOTH pharmacists that were there the other day (and evaluated his meds) were there. They got out a new bottle of the meds (powder), administered the 24ml it calls for to be mixed in, and started shaking the bottle. They shook, and shook, and shook. After a few minutes one talks to the other. They seem to do some bottle-looking (new and old, maybe? I couldn't see from where I was), and more conversing. After a few minutes, they grab another bottle and add water like they did a few minutes earlier. 

Shake shake shake.

I wander down an aisle, up another, and back. Killing time and all. Finally, the pharmacist comes up to the counter. I head over and he is leaning over it to be very close to me to talk. My experience with that is usually a secret..... or simply anything they don't want others hearing.

He shows me the bottle of newly mixed medicine. It's full to the top, and very much a liquid. The previous bottle was not even 1/4 full, and very much a sludge.

He apologizes profusely for the mixup, and says he will look into who mixed it the first time. Even more so, he is sorry that they didn't investigate it further when I brought the medicine in the first time. He said it seemed odd to them it was such a thick medicine, but when they looked at the unmixed bottle, it was nearly full to the top with powder, so they assumed it was just a dense medicine. He went on to say they never really saw it mixed before, yada yada yada. He said that he doesn't know how it happened, but maybe they only mixed it with 14ml of water. Actually, considering how much was in that bottle, it was likely only mixed with 10ml. Yes, that 4 ml makes a difference... that's an entire dose for him after day 1.

Alright... Back up.

YOUR JOB is to make sure the medicine is made properly. Yes, I understand a pharmacy technician is probably who mixed it up, but YOU SHOULD HAVE REALIZED that what I brought back in to you was NOT 24ml of fluid at all... and if YOU thought that it seemed odd, MAYBE IT WAS!

First off, I'm thankful that it was not a super dangerous medicine. My son received (and held down) 6.5ml of a SUPER CONCENTRATED dose of that stuff.... over 2x what he should have had. 

MY SON COULD HAVE DIED if it were more dangerous, and even now he could have suffered damage from that strong of a dose. 

I was surprisingly polite, thanked him for the new medicine, and left. I called my doctor's office to let them know what happened, and didn't get a call back until I was napping.... but my phone should have woken me up (it was next to me). What I didn't know was hubby moved it so I wouldn't get woken up from my nap, so I noticed I missed a call after the office closed. Had I gotten the call, I would have heard they didn't want me to administer his medicine last night, but wait until tonight to do so. They didn't leave a detailed message, just who they were and to call them... so I had no clue. I gave him the meds last night. He started to fight, but eventually took a bit. After he realized it was not paste, he happily took the rest. No fight.

I spoke with them today and learned of the whole medicine hold-off thing. They said to just skip tonight's dose and then resume the low doses tomorrow (just to make sure it's all spaced out enough to make up for that one big dose). The nurse I spoke with happened to be the same nurse I chatted with the day before. She was in disbelief at the pharmacists. 

 

I am too. That's ALL their job is. Seriously. They couldn't get that right. Even with it brought to their attention, the dismissed it. What if that HAD been a more dangerous drug? Even though it was administered to my child, I went STRAIGHT THERE after that with the meds, and they could have said "oh, this is wrong.... do this for your child" or "take your child to ER" or "give him this to help break down the medicine" or something. The way this played out, had it been more dangerous, they would have had a second chance to prevent disaster, and still would have failed.

Moral of the story? TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. I knew something was not right with that. Also, don't trust the pharmacists at (MY) Discount Drug Mart. Sure, they have a drive-through. Sure, they are open until 10pm. Sure, they are not even a mile from my house. All that convenience wouldn't have brought my son back if something had happened to him.

I am 100% not impressed.