Yesterday was the first day I failed to post a blog on Steemit in 6 weeks. Why? My youngest son contracted pneumonia!
We are not a family that often goes to the doctor, for two reasons. We don't have a medical aid as we run our own business, and private medical aids are exorbitantly priced. I also don't like or agree with the antibiotic prescribing culture of our doctors. Though to be fair, I have found a family doctor who shares my views on that subject.
I have 3 children, and know very well how children are prone to coughs and cold. I have been extremely fortunate that they have not been susceptible to chest infections. Especially in our town, as the air pollution is quite bad. They usually suffer from upper respiratory tract viruses or infections. My youngest son is almost nine and has only been to the doctor about 3 times in his life. I discovered yesterday that there is a downside to this, as he was terrified of everything, and was totally out of his comfort zone.
Winter in South Africa has just ended, and I have noticed a spate of nasty bugs over the last few weeks. A couple of my staff members have taken sick leave. My daughter was really ill for a almost a week, and I seriously considered taking her to the doctor, but she kept on telling me "let's wait one more day, mom". She's almost eighteen, and I trust her to know her body. A little while later her boyfriend, who lives with us, also fell ill, and was diagnosed with bronchitis.
On Wednesday evening, I could see Schuylar was unwell, and allowed him to skip school on Thursday. During the day he was not particularly ill and played normally, but had no appetite. On Thursday night he came to my room and told me he was struggling to breathe. I let him crawl in next to me and we both had a restless night. Friday morning I told him that we should go to the doctor, as this was not an ailment I had experience with. He begged me not to take him to the doctor. I went to work in the shop and asked my husband to keep an eye on him. I phoned to check up on him quite a few times as I was really worried, and eventually my husband dropped Schuylar at the shop. My friend had also scared me a little, so I immediately made a doctor's appointment.
With the current prevalence of bugs, we had a long wait before seeing the doctor, and she only examined my son for a few minutes before telling me that he had pneumonia and we should go ahead and book him a bed in the paediatric ward, so he could receive intravenous antibiotics! I couldn't believe my ears. Honestly, my son did not look sick enough to go to hospital! I explained to her that I did not have a medical aid and could I not perhaps treat him at home. (Not only do I not have a medical aid, I don't have any spare money either!) She then sent him for x-rays to check the severity of his infection. We had to drive to the pathologist and wait in line there. Meanwhile my son was growing increasingly panicked. The doctor told me he had to be nebulised, and I don't know how, but my son got it into his head that this meant anaesthetised. He thought they were going to operate, but in his panic never explained that to me! The more I tried to reassure him, the more he shut down. It was only at home much later, that he explained his fears.
X-rays in hand, we were in for another long wait at the doctor's rooms. I think late Friday afternoons are reserved for emergencies as we had to witness ambulances transporting the patients from the premises to hospital. There was also a much more tense atmosphere at the practice. While we were waiting I was trying to decide what to do if my boy had to be admitted. We have both a private and a government hospital in our town. The private hospital would be a lot more comfortable and convenient and I would have access to my own doctor. BUT it would be extremely expensive. I also know that the standard of medical care at that hospital is not in any way superior to that of the government hospital. One of the factors of living in South Africa is that you are constantly exposed to both first world and third world conditions. (By the way, whatever happened to second world?!). The private hospital would be classed as first world, and the government hospital third world. I have had many family members undergo treatment in the government hospital, which is located just of town in the township (which is where black people were forced to live during the Apartheid years). The standard of medical care is the same as the private hospital, but the culture is completely different, and not quite as comfortable, or even comfortable at all. Before I became overly stressed I decided to wait for the doctor's opinion. I also had a "feeling" that my son would not need to be hospitalised.
When the doctor viewed the x-rays, she told me that he had no fluid in his lung, which is what she expected to see, but she could see the infection and showed me, it looked like cloudy white areas on the x-ray. Yippee, no hospital for us!!! Then the time for the infamous nebulisation arrived! I told the doctor that my son was terrified, so she explained it to him in detail, and he soon discovered it wasn't scary at all. When the nebulisation was over. I asked the doctor about pneumonia, as I thought it was something that you contracted after an extended period of being sick. She told me that the same germ could affect the upper respiratory tract (which I am used to), or the bronchial pipes, causing bronchitis, or the lungs, causing pneumonia. If I had waited just one more day, Schuylar probably would have progressed to water on the lungs and hospitalisation.
The next step was waiting at the pharmacy to fill the prescription. The antibiotics he was prescribed were inordinately expensive and a note was made that in this case they may not be substituted for the generic version, which is what I commonly do. And then to the absolute joy of us both, it was home time, after over 3 hours of travelling up and down, waiting and worrying. He was still not hungry so I gave him his medication and he relaxed, playing games on his phone. I had pizza and wine and vegged in front of the TV! I have never been more grateful to experience the comforts of home.
Oh, and I did spare a thought for the poor doctor. During our consultation she received a call. She had forgotten to pay her utilities bill and the power at her house was switched off! The municipality doesn't open on the weekend and she has 2 small children. I hope she somehow managed to make a plan to sort out the problem.
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(the gorgeous boy is Schuylar, all other pictures: pixabay)