kiddos getting sick is not fun

[FrogMan]

As most of you probably know, the wife and I have two sons. The youngest of the two, Matthew, turned a year old last January 15. This Fall and Winter season have been tough on him. Poor kid has been getting colds after colds, twice in October, seeing them turn into ear infections. I hate seeing the poor baby being sick.

The last three weeks, he's been battling with loose/soft stools, and even diarrhea at times, him that had some constipation problems before the Holidays. We thought it was getting better last week, as he was having only loose stools, not liquid diarrhea, but still very loose, compared to what we were used from him. We consulted his pediatrician last week, after the daycare told us he would have to stay at home if he were to have more liquid diarrheas. Doctor said that loose stools indicated that he was on his way to getting back to normal, to keep the constipating diet (white bread, carrots, applesauce, rice cereals...) and it should get back to normal. Thing with young kiddos like that is you don't want them to get dehydrated. Matthew, he's eating real well, drinking a lot, has tears flowing when he cries (which isn't a lot) and he drools like a machine. Doctor told us to keep an eye on him, but that he looked like a perfectly healthy baby.

Got a phone call at work on Monday. Daycare center was calling me to go pick him up, as he was fussy and had just had a very liquid, runny, watery stools... We sort of were at a loss. Then something hit me. Just before the Holidays, we had an appointment with his pedatrician to check on his latest ear infection, make sure everything was fine. He was cough a dry cough at the time. Doc prescribed an inhalator thing called Flovent. Prescription was to keep on giving him one shot twice a day until he'd been one week without cough. But he's seen been in and out of colds, not big ones, but he's always coughing a little. So we're still giving him shots of Flovent twice a day. I got thinking, well could this be the cause of his diarrhea?

We came up to the conclusion that we would stop Flovent, at least for now. We didn't give him a dose on Monday night and have not since then. That and he's staying at home with my mother in law in the morning, my parents in the afternoon. He's very playful now, and maybe this will be the solution, but for now, we're simply waiting. He had a watery bowel movement yesterday, but today's was thicker, still soft, but not watery. We'll keep him at home tomorrow, most probably.

Anyway, I don't need much from anybody, just needed to talk to somebody about how not fun it is when a kiddo gets sick. Not so much for the possible burden it can be on the parents, I can change as many diapers as will be needed, but more because you can't do anything about it sometimes. I would so want to be able to do like Michael Clarke Duncan's character in The Green Mile and swallow what's bothering him, but that's not possible... I'm sure, in fact I know other children are way worse than our little Matthew, and it breaks my heart everytime I read a story like that.

Anyway, if you've read up until now, thank you. If not, I don't blame you...

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

I hope he gets better soon. It would be very odd for the Flovent to be causing this, but not impossible. Flovent is an inhaled steroid which can weaken his immune system, so if anything it might be a secondary mechanism for him catching an infection (likely viral) which is causing this.

In any case, I hope he (and therefore you and your wife) feel better very soon.

[CamEdwards]

FG,

I've been pretty lucky with the health of my kids (knock on wood), but I know that when Andrew would get sick (hasn't really been sick for two years) it was rough. Rough on you as a parent because you hate to see your kids hurting, and rough as an individual dealing with a child who doesn't understand why he doesn't feel well.

Hope your kiddo feels better soon.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Having a sick kid can be about as nerve-wracking as anything on earth. Even if it doesn't appear to be scary-serious stuff, it's just damned hard to see something you love so incredibly feel purely awful.

Props to you FM, just for being more concerned about him than you are about any inconvienience that goes with this sort of thing. Considering how often I see that sort of reaction instead of your kind of reaction, I think that deserves "Mad Props".

[Eaglesfan27]

Props to you FM, just for being more concerned about him than you are about any inconvienience that goes with this sort of thing. Considering how often I see that sort of reaction instead of your kind of reaction, I think that deserves "Mad Props".
I couldn't agree more.

[oliegirl]

I hope he feels better soon!

Watching your child when they are sick and not feeling well is the hardest part of being a parent. Good for you for keeping your wits about you and being proactive in his care instead of just sitting there waiting for the dr. to think of something.

[FrogMan]

I hope he gets better soon. It would be very odd for the Flovent to be causing this, but not impossible. Flovent is an inhaled steroid which can weaken his immune system, so if anything it might be a secondary mechanism for him catching an infection (likely viral) which is causing this.

In any case, I hope he (and therefore you and your wife) feel better very soon.
Thanks doc. I didn't know about the weakening of the imune system that comes with steroid use. Well it makes sense when I type the word "steroid" just now, but I never made the connection. This makes me question the good sense of giving this kind of drug to an 11 months old, if it weakens your immune system...

The idea that the diarrhea and Flovent could be connected came from the fact that we didn't try anything new as far as food goes. Yeah, it could be a virus, but 2-3 weeks is dang long.

After thinking it could be related (Flovent & diarrhea) I went online to try and find side effects to Flovent. I found this site: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a601056.html

It lists the following possible side effects:
What side effects can this medication cause?

Fluticasone may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:


headache
stuffy or runny nose
difficulty speaking
diarrhea
back or joint pain
Then I found a couple other sites that had info on clinical studies and were listing diarrhea as a possible side effects in 1 to 3% of patients. I felt it was worth a shot to stop using it for a little...

FM

[FrogMan]

FG,

I've been pretty lucky with the health of my kids (knock on wood), but I know that when Andrew would get sick (hasn't really been sick for two years) it was rough. Rough on you as a parent because you hate to see your kids hurting, and rough as an individual dealing with a child who doesn't understand why he doesn't feel well.

Hope your kiddo feels better soon.
Thanks Cam. Our Andrew, who's just about 8 now, had quite a few ear infection in his younger times. Then it stopped, exactly when the doc said something like "well, this is the last time I prescribe him antibiotics, next up we'll have to think about tubes"... And since then, he's been solid as a rock, until last Summer, when he suddenly had trouble putting weight on his right leg. Him who had played soccer just two nights before that, was limping badly, had trouble pulling his right leg toward him. Doc diagnosed a transient synovitis of the hip, something they say is kind of common in kids, and has no real known causes... I'm not telling here to freak people, or say "oh my kids are always hurting" just so people would know if it ever happen to their kid...

More info can be found here:
http://familydoctor.org/181.xml

FM

[FrogMan]

Having a sick kid can be about as nerve-wracking as anything on earth. Even if it doesn't appear to be scary-serious stuff, it's just damned hard to see something you love so incredibly feel purely awful.

Props to you FM, just for being more concerned about him than you are about any inconvienience that goes with this sort of thing. Considering how often I see that sort of reaction instead of your kind of reaction, I think that deserves "Mad Props".
Thanks Jon (and EF) for the kind words. I can tell you, seeing my kids suffer, or not feeling well, is about the toughest thing I've ever had to go through. That and seeing my wife give birth. You stand there, and nothing you can do about it... I'm usually somebody pretty proactive and when something isn't working I'll usually take action, but sometimes, only time will heal (as was the cas with Andrew and his synovitis)...

FM

[FrogMan]

I hope he feels better soon!

Watching your child when they are sick and not feeling well is the hardest part of being a parent. Good for you for keeping your wits about you and being proactive in his care instead of just sitting there waiting for the dr. to think of something.
Thanks oliegirl. appreciate the good words... He already looked better yesterday, and even better today, although he had two more loose bowel movements, but not watery. It's a day by day thing... He'll stay home tomorrow again...

FM

[sovereignstar]

Kodos getting dick by hot nun.

I so funny!!

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks doc. I didn't know about the weakening of the imune system that comes with steroid use. Well it makes sense when I type the word "steroid" just now, but I never made the connection. This makes me question the good sense of giving this kind of drug to an 11 months old, if it weakens your immune system...

The idea that the diarrhea and Flovent could be connected came from the fact that we didn't try anything new as far as food goes. Yeah, it could be a virus, but 2-3 weeks is dang long.

After thinking it could be related (Flovent & diarrhea) I went online to try and find side effects to Flovent. I found this site: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a601056.html

It lists the following possible side effects:
What side effects can this medication cause?

Fluticasone may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

headache
stuffy or runny nose
difficulty speaking
diarrhea
back or joint pain
Then I found a couple other sites that had info on clinical studies and were listing diarrhea as a possible side effects in 1 to 3% of patients. I felt it was worth a shot to stop using it for a little...

FM
Cool. Well not cool if this is causing the problem, but thanks for teaching me something. Like I said before, I hope your kiddo feels better real soon.

[WSUCougar]

FM, I can totally relate to your situation. My son Drew is three years old now, and though he is generally a healthy and happy kid he has struggled with asthma and the resultant "automatic cough" with every little cold he gets from daycare. We are just getting over another round with a sinus infection. Constant night coughing, where I just want to scream because there's nothing else I can do to help him.

When he was younger, he had a scary bout with RSV and pneumonia. He went to the hospital overnight, and it was about as torturous a thing as I can imagine for my wife and I.

Anyway, all that is to say I feel for you.

[FrogMan]

Thanks Coug. Rough times you're having there too. Question: what is RSV? pneumonia really is scaring the crap out of me too...

Kiddo's at home again today, so far so good. Was very playful this morning and was sleeping last time I checked with my mother in law. We're very luck both my mother in law and my parents can take care of him when we keep him home. This little stay at home period could hopefully help him rebuild some sort of immune system, away from daycare and all the bacterias out there...

FM

[PilotMan]

This has been one of the worst on record for this family. My wife started the in the middle of December, that carried through into January. My almost 3 yr old spent the night throwing up (5 times at least), my wife got sick with the same thing, and so did my 9 year old. After they got better I got sick with all of it. I was on the toilet with a bucket, and now last night the 16mo old.

Starting at midnight last night he has thrown up 7 times, had his diaper leak twice with the nasty stuff, I think that I slept an hour and a half. My wife was up with him too. I was sleeping in the recliner in the nursery to try and catch him with the bucket, and there was not a pleasant smell in there I can tell you. His sheets and clothes had to be changed every time and he ended up with one bath. To top it off I went on call at midnight, thank God I did not get called. Now my wife is not feeling well again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!

[FrogMan]

Ouch PM, that's harsh... :(

It's also one of the tougher thing when something gets in the house, to break the chain. Sometimes I hate myself if I'm the first one to be sick, meaning I brought it in the house, it's almost a certainty that one of the kids will catch it and it will go around... *sigh*

Good luck in your dealings with it!

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks Coug. Rough times you're having there too. Question: what is RSV? pneumonia really is scaring the crap out of me too...

Kiddo's at home again today, so far so good. Was very playful this morning and was sleeping last time I checked with my mother in law. We're very luck both my mother in law and my parents can take care of him when we keep him home. This little stay at home period could hopefully help him rebuild some sort of immune system, away from daycare and all the bacterias out there...

FMRSV is Respiratory Synctial Virus if my memory from my pediatrics rotations is serving me correctly. A very scary viral infection that can be lethal in severe cases. It mostly hits hard in the first few months of life. However, it can be rough on young kids too. As adults (and older kids) we tend to just experience it as cold symptoms.

[PilotMan]

Alright, I needed to rant some more. Ean (16mo) after his vomiting and other stuff developed a 104 temp that lasted about 2 days, yesterday he seemed like himself again, only really wobbly on his feet. He was playful and pretty much back to normal.

FFWD to last night at 730p Zachary, the almost 3 yr old, is watching a movie and I notice that his cheeks are a bright, rosy red. This is the way that Ean had started a few days ago, he didn't feel warm, but he didn't feel well either. About 530am this morning the vomiting started all over. He must have gone 6 times by now, and the other stuff just kicked in too. On top of that Ean gave us "one for the road," as he got sick in his bed one more time, after I had given him something to drink!

Mrs. PilotMan and I are both fighting a cough that sounds like bronchitis. The 9 year old is the only one who seems well. And he is bored to tears, because noone is able to do anything with him. All this just won't end. It sucks. Wife and I are beat down, I don't think we can handle another month of everyone being sick.

Sorry if I disgusted anyone. I just needed to get it out there. I am burning through sick time like there is no tomarrow, and its only February! Just tired and frustrated.

[damnMikeBrown]

Are either of your parents around? Might consider shipping the healthy kid to them for the duration, then adding in the sick ones as they get well. . .collect them all back again when you and your wife can both walk & talk again.

[PilotMan]

As a matter of fact, my mom is nearby, but she is recovering from surgery that she had 2 weeks ago, so she isn't much help. My wife's family is not an option. It has always been like this though. We have pretty much been on our own since we got married. It just gets hard sometimes. If you don't have kids it's pretty much impossible to understand the pressure that you can be under in the house. As soon as you have kids though, bam, it's like a whole new world opens that you didn't even know was there.

[FrogMan]

PMan, I absolutely know what you mean. When Andrew was born, we were in Pittsfield, MA, some way away from home and anybody to really help us. We only had one back then. We moved back closer to home, and now we are so lucky to have my parents and my wife's mom who can help us in times of trouble, I can't say how big of an help they are...

As an update for Matty, he's been getting better and better as the week went. We kept him home the whole week, with my mother in law taking the morning shift,at about 7:15 even though she works the evening shift at her job (4pm to midnight with some overtime until 1:30 cause they have too much to do) and my parents coming for the afternoon shift, from about noon until my wife or I would come home from work.

He still had watery, darrhea-ish stools in twice Tuesday, loose but better on Wednesday, then again on Thursday, but as the week went on, it was later in the day. We had decided to consult his pediatrician on Firday, which we did, and that was the day where it went until after dinner until he had a loose, yet not watery bowel movement. The pedatrician said he may have had some gastro virus of some sort, and told us it could be a good idea to give him some probiotic supplements in order to help his intestinal flora get better. She gave us a sample which we gave him in his cereals on Friday at dinner and at breakfast on Saturday. Saturday, he didn't even have on bowel movement. It was the first day since January 13 that he had not had either a watery or very loose bowel movement in the day. He finally had two bowel movement this morning, but both more normal looking than anything he's had since the whole episode has started. I think we may be over it. Thank God...

Thanks everyone who's sent us good thought, good word, and have tried to help. Very much appreciated. I love this community :)

FM

[Chief Rum]

I would so want to be able to do like Michael Clarke Duncan's character in The Green Mile and swallow what's bothering him, but that's not possible...

First, let me just say I am sorry to hear you are going through this, and I hope your decision on the Flovent is bearing fruit (or that Matthew is simply just getting better).

That said, I couldn't keep away certain images after reading this line in the context of what bodily function you had just spent most of the previous post talking about. :D

CR

[FrogMan]

First, let me just say I am sorry to hear you are going through this, and I hope your decision on the Flovent is bearing fruit (or that Matthew is simply just getting better).

That said, I couldn't keep away certain images after reading this line in the context of what bodily function you had just spent most of the previous post talking about. :D

CR
okay, I see what you mean now. Let's say I wasn't looking forward to eating the result of the illness, more what is the source. I'll end it at that :)

FM

[daedalus]

That sucks, Frogger. :(

Sorry I haven't been around on IM to yap lately as well. Hopefully, with my new schedule, I'll be around more often.

[FrogMan]

That sucks, Frogger. :(

Sorry I haven't been around on IM to yap lately as well. Hopefully, with my new schedule, I'll be around more often.
don't feel bad about it, I've not been online much either. Too much FM2005 for what free time I have :)

Keeping on with the daily updates, Matty was at the daycare all day, ate very well (double portion) and was playful all day long. He had one soft but not too loose stool. They kept it for us to check. How would you like to go pick your kid and come back with a kid a shit in a bag? Well, we're keeping a good eye on him, let's say...

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

don't feel bad about it, I've not been online much either. Too much FM2005 for what free time I have :)

Keeping on with the daily updates, Matty was at the daycare all day, ate very well (double portion) and was playful all day long. He had one soft but not too loose stool. They kept it for us to check. How would you like to go pick your kid and come back with a kid a shit in a bag? Well, we're keeping a good eye on him, let's say...

FM
Glad to hear that it seems like he is doing better :) Hopefully, the trend continues.