Falling Sick - ON & OFF

I have been postponing writing this particular post for a very long time – because these wouldn’t give me any bit of enjoyment. But how long can I procrastinate? So here we go

Chittu had her Measles vaccination by August end 2011, the day before we shifted. That was Chittu’s last consultation with Dr. S. Once we shifted to the new house, I had to change her pediatrician, as Dr.S’s clinic was too far off and it was impossible to take her during emergency. The main reason behind choosing Dr.C was that

• From what I heard from people he is one of the best pediatricians in the area
• He runs a 24hr child care hospital
• He gives appointments both in morning & evening. His last appointment is around 10 PM – very useful for people like me who come late from office
• He gives appointments on Sunday mornings too – a rare phenomenon

Once we were back from P & PK’s wedding on September 3^rd 2011 evening – Chittu was all OK. Suddenly around 7 PM she started crying profusely, completely uncontrollable, not calming down even when I fed her and was churning out of my hands. I did not know what to do and tried to soothe her by all possible means. She was in that peak stage for 10 full minutes after which she was OK all by herself and slowly temperature started increasing. I took her to SD akka’s pediatrician Dr. KA, whose clinic was very close to our house. Chittu was all normal when we took her to the doctor but for the temperature. The doc said the crying was probably because of stomach pain and gave her Neopeptine drops. Dr. KA also said that she wouldn’t be available the next day (Sunday) and gave Dr. C’s reference if there is something urgent. I gave her Crocin and the new drops and she was fine.

The next morning temperature had shot up and we decided not to wait and booked an appointment with Dr. C. That was our first consultation and there was a long queue, but he was handling the kids very patiently and listening to whatever we said. He prescribed Ziprax for fever, T Minic for cold, Grilinctus BM (Paediatric) for wet cough. He also asked us to continue with Crocin and Nasoclear. J paati was concerned with Chittu’s underweight and asked him for some vitamin drops. But he said, as long as she is active and playing, we should not bother about her weight. He also said, she is extremely active and whatever she takes in gets burnt up very soon. And one more reason could be the genes as I am of thin stature. Still he prescribed Astymin-C & Zincovit. Also these days Chittu was crying uncontrollably for 10-15 minutes in the night at around 11.30 PM. The first time I was so scared – K paati was also not there as she had gone for her brother's mourning - that I called J paati in the midnight to come home and check what was going on. By the time Paati arrived, Chittu calmed down and was all normal. She did so for atleast 3-4 days so we took her to a mosque and got her mandhirichufied by the Muslim priest there.

U mami said it could be because of an evil spirit as the house was located near the track & many mishaps could have happened and the spirits could be roaming around. She even went to the extent of trying to prove her theory by saying, the house was locked for 6 months, why didn’t people come and occupy a house that was so close to the railway station for such a long time. To top it all, she said spirits are scared to come near her (sarcastically..Even spirits?? :P) and because they are unable to attach to your baby they are making her cry. I didn’t believe an iota because I don’t have faith in spirits, I knew the house was locked down by the owner as he as shifting slowly and got the house whitewashed and all. After a few days, she was OK and all normal.

I had given clear cut instructions to U mami as to what medicine and how much quantity had to be given to Chittu and I should say she followed it pretty religiously (dhideernu dhaan paithiyam pidichuduthu) Thatha had bought a digital thermometer and I taught her how to measure the temperature too. I thought Chittu’s fever was kind of OK when on 8^th September all of a sudden U maami called me at 2 PM when I was in office and said Chittu is having 102 degrees temperature, she had been giving wet towel bath continuously but the fever wasn’t subsiding. I was clueless, had a very important deliverable for the day and few meetings. I advised her to continue giving wet towel bath, cancelled the meetings, completed my deliverable by 4 & started from office. I also called her many times in between to check the status and she said it was getting better but not OK. When I reached home, Chittu was playing and there was no sign of temperature. I didn't want to take chance and so anyways booked an appointment. Dr. C advised not to let the temperature cross 101 at any cost as some babies are prone to get fits. He asked to continue the course and asked me to monitor the temperature and if it crosses 101 had given a series of tests to be taken. Fortunately that time, we didn’t have to take tests.

By mid October, fever shot up again to the same level. Couple of my friend’s kids were down with dengue and I didn’t want to take any chances. We took the same prescription and got all the tests done except the urine routine as it was very difficult to do it with such a small baby. Chittu cried like anything and I felt someone hit my heart with an axe and twisted it. But sorry kiddo, I had to do it for your good health only. The test results came out normal. Dr.C asked me why I had to rush like that when he didn’t even prescribe, but when I told him my fear of dengue, he gave me a look of understanding and said not to worry. This time he gave Cefoprox and asked me to take precaution by covering Chittu completely and making sure there are not rashes / severe mosquito bites. The moment I saw a rash, I was supposed to take her the hospital immediately. Thank God, nothing of that sort happened.

End of October, she had a bad cold and was crying whenever NSK mama tried to kiss her. We thought mama’s beard was irritating her. We were going for 7-aum arivu movie that night when J paati gave her dinner. While wiping the mouth again she started crying profusely. Then we thought may be she was teething. The next morning I was casually checking her ears when I saw a small amount of pus swelling out. That day was S’s chithi’s house sumangali prarthanai. I said, I will come late and let S & K paati go there early. I took her to Dr.C and he said it is because of severe cold and gave her Advent. She was also nebulised once so that she is able to breathe comfortably and Nasoclear had to be given regularly. And all was well in a couple of days. Because she was falling sick frequently, J paati & thatha took her to a homeopathy doctor to increase her resistance power and to increase her apetite. That kind of stabilized her health. Though cold was there ON and OFF. We manage with Cetzine, T-minic, Nasoclear. Throughout Hyderabad trip, she had a bad cold and we took all immediate necessary actions to make sure she didn’t suffer much and thankfully she was all OK. December beginning again, she had a bad cold and Asthalin & Omnacortil was prescribed additionally to have immediate relief

Somehow or the other, we had to visit the doctor atleast once a month. January 1^st 2012 – New year was Thatha’s star birthday. He was starting 60 and we had a small homam at J paati’s home to celebrate it – Ugra ratha shanthi. I stayed with Chittu at J paati’s house on 31^st night. The cot was occupied by Appu athimber as he cant lie down. It was raining heavily couple of days before and the ground water level was very high. We had to sleep on the floor, so I had made a superb bed for Chittu to make sure she is not feeling chill a bit. The next day morning dawned beautifully. Chittu woke up, took bath, dressed up in the beautiful pattu pavadai that S perimma had gifted. Things were good until I gave her morning breakfast – idly. She puked the idly bits along with the milk she had in the morning. I rushed to the nearby pharmacy and bought Domstal and gave her the dose. She puked that too. A little later, we gave her water, even that came out instantly. Needless to say, I was scared. So another visit to the hospital was on the New Year day. Dr. C is a Christian and so was on vacation. The duty doctor there said an injection was necessary and administered Vomiset. She asked us to give her Pedialyte to keep her away from dehydration and Domstal dose everytime before food (kanji / semi solid food). Chittu gave us a tough time by not having pedialyte / water. But somehow we tricked and made sure atleast she was having water. It took 4-5 days for her to be back to normal, but definitely it was a wise decision to take her to the hospital on 1^st Jan. Otherwise, things would have been worse and we may have been forced to admit her in the hospital. I initially thought of taking off on 2^nd Jan, but because it was the first working day of the year worked from home. 3^rd onwards she was kind of stable and SM was able to handle.

Later, J paati took her again to Homeopathy doctor near our house and definitely the medicines that she had prescribed helped in building Chittu’s resistance and we went to the hospital only once in the next 5 months – that too because Chittu had a minor sprain for reasons unknown. This was in mid February when she wasn’t walking properly, no signs of pain though and we are guessing it should be because she put the lock on her leg as she was frequently playing with it at that time. Doctor gave Ibugesic  and within 2 days she was running around as usual. A generic observation on Dr. C is that majority of the times he prescribes suspensions - ie the medicine would be in powder form in a small bottle and it would have distilled water that we'll have to mix and shake.

So sum it all, Sep 2011 – Jan 2012 was a rough phase as far as Chittu’s health is concerned. She didn’t gain much weight because of this and even till now, she hasn’t reached thrice her birth weight L I am also to be blamed as I didn’t give her Astymin C or Zincovit properly because of my absent mindedness :@ But better late than never, now we are giving her Longifene for inducing hunger to make her eat more and Visenerol Z which is a Vitamin drops. In my opinion, kids should never fall sick. It is difficult for them to put up with the pain and they can’t express it much too. And worse for helpless parents, being unable to do anything about the kids’ hardships other than to sit and monitor and giving medicines.