For the past couple of days Kiki has been sleeping 12-14 hours per day. She’ll get up, drag around for awhile, then head back to bed. This wouldn’t be too alarming except that she has been complaining of fatigue for more than a week. Factor in the fact that a close friend has been diagnosed with Mono, and we were off to the doctor for a blood test. (It was negative.)
The appointment was at 3 pm, which apparently is the busiest hour of the day for the doctor. I usually schedule for first thing in the morning because the wait times are shorter and I have to take fewer children along. Today I had all four kids and a significant wait. Fortunately they were pretty good. Patches only circled the waiting room table 23 times before he climbed all over the chairs and jumped off. Gleek bounced around a little bit, then settled to draw a picture and read a book. Kiki and Link both read quietly. Then we crammed all of us into one little exam room. After the finger poke and negative test for Mono, the doctor suggested we draw blood to do some other tests. He made very clear that what she has is probably a viral thing that she’ll get over, but if it was something more serious, knowing sooner is much better than later. So we drew blood which will be tested for white blood count, anemia, thyroid disorder, diabetes, and strep. If all that is negative and she still doesn’t get better, we’ll be off to see a specialist of some kind.
My money is on Kiki just getting better without any medical intervention. That is usually the result when I spend money for medical tests.
EDIT March 6, 2007: Kiki got better within two days. She was enjoying her first day back at school when the doctor’s office finally called me to tell me all the blood work was normal. Too bad I didn’t actually lay down any money. I would have won.
I’m so glad she doesn’t have Mono. I would have felt SO guilty. Hopefully she’ll feel better soon and not need any more tests. Medical tests are no fun, on the patient or the pocketbook.
I’m so glad she doesn’t have Mono. I would have felt SO guilty. Hopefully she’ll feel better soon and not need any more tests. Medical tests are no fun, on the patient or the pocketbook.
I knew that, which is why I made the results clear as soon as I introduced the possibility.
I knew that, which is why I made the results clear as soon as I introduced the possibility.
Back in the early 80’s when hubby & I got mono, neither of us had the “right” blood test results for three weeks. He was hospitalized for three weeks* and having blood drawn daily — and didn’t give a definitive “mono” result until day 15 or thereabouts. That’d be about three weeks after he first started showing symptoms. Mine didn’t give a mono-result until after I started feeling a bit better.
Nowadays, tho, I’d hope that medical science can figure out what to look for without having to wait that long 🙂
*One day’s phone conversation:
Him: “Guess what! I rang the buzzer today!!”
Me: “Oh? A cute nurse you wanted to pick up your books off the floor?”
Him: “No! Rang the buzzer! They’ve got me hooked up to this thing that goes off whenever my temperature hits 105!”
Me: “Errr …”
Him: “Too bad I don’t remember much of it.”
Me: “….”
For about a week he was ringing the buzzer at least once a day, and perkily telling me about it in that evening’s phone call. I *really* didn’t need to know …
Poor Kiki, and poor Mom.
Back in the early 80’s when hubby & I got mono, neither of us had the “right” blood test results for three weeks. He was hospitalized for three weeks* and having blood drawn daily — and didn’t give a definitive “mono” result until day 15 or thereabouts. That’d be about three weeks after he first started showing symptoms. Mine didn’t give a mono-result until after I started feeling a bit better.
Nowadays, tho, I’d hope that medical science can figure out what to look for without having to wait that long 🙂
*One day’s phone conversation:
Him: “Guess what! I rang the buzzer today!!”
Me: “Oh? A cute nurse you wanted to pick up your books off the floor?”
Him: “No! Rang the buzzer! They’ve got me hooked up to this thing that goes off whenever my temperature hits 105!”
Me: “Errr …”
Him: “Too bad I don’t remember much of it.”
Me: “….”
For about a week he was ringing the buzzer at least once a day, and perkily telling me about it in that evening’s phone call. I *really* didn’t need to know …
Poor Kiki, and poor Mom.
Even if it HAD been Mono, I would not have blamed you. The incubation time would mean that transmission occured before you even knew that you had it.
Even if it HAD been Mono, I would not have blamed you. The incubation time would mean that transmission occured before you even knew that you had it.
Yes. It’s hard to “blame” someone for transmission of this type of thing anyway, because no one *intends* to give someone else a virus. This still would not have made me feel less guilty.
Yes. It’s hard to “blame” someone for transmission of this type of thing anyway, because no one *intends* to give someone else a virus. This still would not have made me feel less guilty.
Whenever I’m accused of giving someone my cold, I usually reply with “Haha! It worked, my plan WORKED!!! Sooooooon!! Mwuahahaha!” And then they walk away feeling silly…
Hey Sandra, it could be worse… You could spend money on tests and it could be, you know, serious… 🙂
I think the small bribes to the Gods of Medical Testing are worth it… 🙂
Whenever I’m accused of giving someone my cold, I usually reply with “Haha! It worked, my plan WORKED!!! Sooooooon!! Mwuahahaha!” And then they walk away feeling silly…
Hey Sandra, it could be worse… You could spend money on tests and it could be, you know, serious… 🙂
I think the small bribes to the Gods of Medical Testing are worth it… 🙂
“My money is on Kiki just getting better without any medical intervention. That is usually the result when I spend money for medical tests.”
Which is better than the alternatives of having to spend lots more money on treatment or not having the tests and not knowing that treatment is required until it’s too late. Of course, not being sick would be best, but that’s usually rather more difficult to arrange than some tests. 😉
“My money is on Kiki just getting better without any medical intervention. That is usually the result when I spend money for medical tests.”
Which is better than the alternatives of having to spend lots more money on treatment or not having the tests and not knowing that treatment is required until it’s too late. Of course, not being sick would be best, but that’s usually rather more difficult to arrange than some tests. 😉