Of Medical Emergencies

Ignorance isn’t always bliss.

For the second week in a row, I've been coming in late for work because of medical emergencies. All Boznik-related. Last week it was about
the minor cut which he obtained after attempting another pole dancing stint at
our backyard. He was running towards the pole with his fire truck toy in one
hand when he tripped and bumped his head on something hard, which we can’t
really ascertain what because nobody was around when it happened. Blood was all
over him, caused some alarm from my hubby and the nanny. So I had to go
home and attend to it. I put temporary bandage on the cut and we headed for the
city health office to avail of free consultation. We were prescribed with
antibiotics (Pharex Cloxacillin) and were asked to have the cut dressed by the
nurse on duty.

I had to be late for work a couple of times because Boz just had developed this resistance on taking his
antibiotics. Couldn’t really blame him, I wouldn’t have taken it without
protest if it was given to me. The smell was really ewk! so so medicine scent! I’m glad the antibiotic week is over. I’ve
practically exhausted ran out of ideas as to what to bribe him of if only not to
waste another teaspoonful of precious antibiotics.

For the past three days, I have
been down with the flu and I have been trying hard not to come in close contact
with him because I didn’t want him to get sick. But being the mother that I am,
my love, affection and care is somewhat irreplaceable where my son is
concerned. So the bonding continued and the inevitable had to happen. The ultimate
transmission of the virus caused him to have nightmares last night, his
temperature escalating to 38⁰ ( I
think, hehehehhe, with my hand as temporary thermometer). He was hot but
in deep sleep. I knew if I woke him up, he would have to put up a tantrum.
So I waited for him to stir at around 6am for my first attempt at medication. I checked my stocks and saw that I still have a few bottles of Calpol given by his pedia. I checked the expiration date - 2009. I filled a medicine cup with a teaspoonful and tried my luck at administering it to him. As expected my efforts
was futile. But I congratulate myself for not spilling the medicine as
I always do (hehehe). A little later, the nanny entered the room and learned of
my early morning mission. We came out with a plan, coax him into drinking vitamins and make him drink his meds instead! We did a little prodding and bribing until he finally
agreed to take his vitamins! Aha! The window of opportunity that we’ve been
waiting for. I pretended to be pouring his vitamins into the medicine cup with
was already filled with the paracetamol (Calpol). Then we asked him to open his
mouth wide, which he did without hesitation. And so he drowned his medicine
even before he realized it was not vitamins. Good job there.

Well, all is well that ends well.
But not in this case. A little after he took his medicine, he started
scratching all over. We thought it was just
an insect bite, ants maybe which he might have attracted after drinking
the Calpol. So we changed his shirt and transferred him to the other bed. I
applied some balm on the presumed insect bites and went down to eat
breakfast. Right when I was about to finish my meal, the door bell rang and we
were visited by an unexpected guest – Twa Ko’s godson who came all the way from
Manila came by
to see her. Boobi is the son of Beng Hwa, a relative from Victorias with whom Twa Ko lived and worked
with for 40 years or so. They were having a reunion on the 30^th and
since his ninang can’t go to Victorias
to celebrate with them, they decided to come and visit her. Along with Beng Hwa
and Boobi were Boobi’s three kids (two boys and a girl).

Going back to my medical
emergency. Right during the time that we learned that we were going to
entertain visitors, I went upstairs to brush my teeth. That is when we found
out that Boz had red patches all over him! It was not insect bites after all!
He was having an allergy attack! I was already making mental notes on what to
do and where to go when Miki mentioned that Boobi is a doctor! Thank God! So we
brought him down to the living room for consultation.

Our diagnosis was confirmed, it
was indeed allergy. He told us to buy Loratadine for pedia and that would solve
all our problems! So I texted my supervisor that I will be late for work and
purchased the meds. It’s still early so I didn’t have a problem with traffic
and queues in the drug store. I hurriedly purchased the meds and went home,
administered it to Boz (without much resistance with Tito Doc and the kids
watching, after which we proclaimed him as Superstar for drowning his medicine
without hesitation). And voila! The red patches began to subside.

Hay…….. who gets allergies from
paracetamol? He’s been taking it since he was basically months old! And why
have an allergy now? Turns out that the strange occurrence is brought about by
a prior intake of penicillin. An officemate explained that based on her
experience, she had an allergy when she took penicillin and paracetamol
altogether! And she had the worse allergy attack ever! Wow! How come I didn’t know that? Simple!
Because I didn’t take up medicine! Hahahahahhahaha!

Hay…. This is supposed to be
where I start saying, I should know
better. But I can’t, I really can’t. You can never be too prepared for
medical emergencies as you don’t know everything there is to know about the
human body and its workings. I got lucky today a doctor was around to check on
my son right on site. But what if it was the middle of the night? or we’re on
vacation? Or when we’re mobile? I would have to phone doctor friends but I
stopped doing that after one of them felt that I was just being friends with
her because she was a doctor. Struck a chord there. It pays to invest on a
medical education, really really! But when it is not possible, you can still be
to at least half a step ahead of a disaster. My advice would be:

1. Own the latest MIMS. I don’t know what it stands for
   but it’s this book that lists all generics and brands that are available
   in the market, their recommended dosages, uses and forms.
2. List down all the medications administered whether
   they are prescribed or not.
3. Know your medical history.

As in my case, I can always
self-medicate. But when my son is concerned, I’d rather leave it to the docs!