Spring Into Bronchitis?

Well, we got an extra hour of daylight today and an antibiotic to go along with it.

Teddy started with what appeared to be a cold Thursday with a runny nose, which quickly was accompanied by a cough. By 3 a.m. Friday morning he was up to 102­­°F. However, after 20 minutes for the Tylenol to kick in, he was ready to play for the day. I mean, otherwise, why else would Mom and Dad both be in his bedroom at 3:30 a.m.?

That's how he spent Friday: mostly his happy self with snot constantly dripping out of his nose, until I forced him to try to nap.

One of the biggest challenges with Teddy is to know whether to bring him to the doctor or ride it out at home. What appears to be a cold can quickly escalate to a fever, but how are we to know if it's a simple virus that will run it's course in a day or something more? We have no idea if he has a sore throat aside from his eating habits possibly changing. We have no idea if he has a headache. We have no idea if his chest feels weird or tight.

All we know are what we can see:

• Fever that is mostly contained by Tylenol and Ibuprofin
• Snotty nose
• Dry, irritated cough

Last night his fever didn't spike through the night, but he was slightly warm this morning. But as I watched him sit at the table staring at AJ organizing his art drawer, I determined that we needed to take him to the doctor. You see, AJ pulling out every art supply known to man and stacking it all over the counters is an open invitation for Teddy to run over there, knock down half the stuff, grab what he wants and run away laughing. Yet all he did was watch and wander over twice, not touching a thing and not pushing past AJ to get to all the fun stuff.

A docile, sick Teddy is worth a trip to the doctor. The verdict is likely bronchitis with an antibiotic because with Teddy, we always err on the side of caution. (Trust us, with AJ, we heed all the knowledge regarding antibiotic resistance.)

He's pretty darn happy for a sick kiddo. 

Yet I walked away from the doctor's office and called Dave to tell him I won: simply because Teddy had a treatable diagnosis. I consider that a minor victory as opposed to the times we walk away hearing it's just a cold. 

On a related note, as I'm home with him tomorrow, I wish he would sit, snuggle and watch a movie at least when he is sick. This child does not know how to rest in the least.