All's Well That Ends Well

I have been horribly remiss about posting this year. Only the fourth entry in two months, tut tut. The latest reason is that Little A and I have been down, then up and about, with a nasty cough and cold bug for a month now.

It started with a sore throat and phlegm that had me coughing and then took my voice away for nearly a week. Little A caught the cough first, then came down one morning with a fever that wasn't particularly high but persisted for nearly five days. Our pediatrician, who is also a pediatric pulmonologist, said it was nothing to worry about and would go away in its own time. The day after we visited her though, Little A felt so unwell that he just lay bed all day and slept on and off. He would drag himself to the table and try to eat (by the second day of the fever his appetite had gone from very good to practically nonexistent) and then go back to bed and just lie there.

Alarmed, we consulted, by phone, another pediatrician, who said more or less the same thing ours did. After two days of this lethargic lying about though, my mum decided to go the old school route and take Little A to our old pediatrician, who should be retired but is still practicing. This doctor thinks prescription drugs cure all, and promptly diagnosed bronchitis for us both and prescribed Little A two types of cough syrup, a course of antibiotics and a solution for the nebuliser that we had to administer five nights in a row. As my pediatrician three decades ago, he sent me off with a prescription for the same course of antibiotics and the grown-up version of the cough medicines.

Big A, who had this entire time been banished from the sickroom and was spending nights on the couch, insisted that I take my meds immediately. I did, and the antibiotic killed all the germs, good and evil, in my body so effectively that I came down with a cold and sinusitis the day after I finished the course, and only finished coughing a full week later and sniffling a few days ago.

We only gave Little A the nebuliser treatments, and his cough went away in another week or so, but then he came down with a cold a few days later. He still has a runny nose but thankfully has gained his appetite back.

Apparently, we weren't the only ones who suffered through this. My sister was coughing for weeks as well, though she never lost her voice. I am still recovering mine, weeks later. Still, I am thankful that neither Big A nor the au pair had to suffer through it. Let's hope it's another half year at least before the next bug hits.