The Thin Line

I often struggle with that thin line between over- and under-reacting to LB's illnesses.  I think most parents of children with metabolic disorders probably do the same thing.  When it's something like vomiting, we know exactly what to do and react decisively, but when it's something more subtle, we tend to waffle, not wanting to overreact and subject our kiddo to unnecessary medical intervention, but also not wanting to under-react and possibly wait too long to bring something to the attention of doctors, thus putting him in danger.

With our older, unaffected child, there would be no question that the runny nose, coughing and fussiness currently being exhibited by LB would be interpreted as your average, run-of-the-mill symptoms of a cold, probably with some teething mixed in.  We would give our unaffected child a cup of juice, a popsicle and some tylenol and chalk it up to those inevitable parts of childhood - colds and teething.  However, when LB starts into any illness, I'm always second guessing myself.  Should we go to the pediatrician just in case?  Is this something that we need to catch early to prevent it from turning into something that would put him in the hospital? 

As he was crying inconsolably for nearly two hours last night, I was ready to call the doctor, head to the ER, anything to relieve his discomfort and make sure that he was OK.  We had given him the appropriate dosage of tylenol and ibuprofen throughout the day yesterday, including right before bedtime.  He had been a picky eater earlier in the day and we thought that the pain relievers would quell the teething discomfort enough to keep him eating.  They did and he ate a great dinner and a respectable bedtime snack before peacefully drifting off to sleep about 7:45 p.m.  It didn't last long, though.  By 8:45, he was in full blown hysteria and we could not seem to help him calm down.  After nearly two hours of rocking and walking the hallways and running a hot shower to get some warm steamy air into his congested nose and more walking and more rocking, it was time for another dose of ibuprofen and my husband also thought to pull out the orajel, too.  It worked like a charm and LB was back to sleep for the rest of the night.  What a relief!

This morning, again though, I was worried.  We followed our normal morning routine right up to the point of almost walking out the door before I put on the brakes.  LB was stuffy and coughing almost to the point of vomiting and I just didn't feel right sending him to the sitter, even though she told us it was fine.  His runny nose was the exact same one that her grandson has (he and LB are only 2 weeks apart in age and have so far seemed to do the teething thing as a team).  My gut told me to take him to the pediatrician just to be sure it was only a cold and teething and not something like an ear infection or strep throat that would require an antibiotic. My husband also tried to convince me that he was fine, but I needed to be sure and a quick trip to the pediatrician this morning would confirm that for me -- HE IS FINE!  He's got a bit of a virus and he's teething.  The pediatrician told us to keep up the regimen of tylenol/ibuprofen as his symptoms dictate, along with some benadryl.  She also said to use nasal saline 10 minutes before meals to loosen the mucus and allow him to eat more easily. He should be feeling better in 5-7 days...hopefully with two new teeth to show for it!

We did end up calling the metabolic clinic tonight, too.  Although he has been sucking down liquids like crazy, LB's food intake was pretty poor all day.  They assured us that as long as he's acting normal and he's drinking, he's getting calories and is probably just fine.  They suggested that we might want to wake him tonight for a feeding to give him a little boost, but that there wasn't any need for polycose or other intervention unless he stopped drinking.

So there it is, another lesson in parenting a child with MCADD - he's probably just having "normal" kid symptoms, but it never hurts to have it checked out...especially, if the same inconsolable crying thing happens again tonight.  This time, I'll have the peace of mind to realize that it IS just a cold and it IS just teething.  As long as he's eating well, this too shall pass.