b3 b0rn.. c0nf0rm, b3 si|3nt .. di3

kya was limping this morning. that put me into quite a scare coz i can’t see what’s causing it.

tried to press at her right ankle – since she was favoring her left – but she was going ‘akittt… akiitttt… ma watttt… (roughly translates to ‘ouchhhhh this hurts.. mama did it’)

further inspection revealed there was some inflammation on the sole of her feet. mama and papa suspects that it’s due to some insect bite. couldn’t get to the clinic until late afternoon. to get her mind of the pain, i took her to the playground – which is what i try to do at least on the weekends – and it worked!

so for 30-40 mins she was contented just climbing up the slide (yes, climbing .. with no complaints whatsoever) , playing on the see-saw and the swings. if you’ve never taken a toddler to a playground, do so. it’s therapy (both physically and emotionally). she has so much to say while she’s playing – she even managed to talk to the birds that were flocking around the slide.

after her late morning nap, took her to a 24-hr clinic (it’s gregorian new year anyways). i rarely head for this clinic and don’t think that the medication prescribed works but until the usual clinic i head to re-opens after the holidays, this was my last resort.

after registration, we took our seats in the waiting area. there were 2 other families and 1 guy there. i have actually started developing this phobia of bringing kya to clinics eventhough sometimes it’s necessary. i recall a few months ago, my heart jumped a bit when after having a chat with the mother to a toddler kya was playing with, i discovered that the toddler was just recovering from malaria. my initial thought was to immediately pick up kya and sit as far as possible from the family.

today was no different. one family had a kid dozing on her dad’s shoulder. she didn’t look that good. and i silently prayed to god that whatever the girl has is not contagious. both families and the guy who were waiting all looked at kya who was babbling non-stop – first she was talking to a poster of a baby and then to a cute boy who was passing infront of us quite a number of times – she definitely didn’t seem like a kid that was sick.

when it was our turn to be in the consultation room, i immediately got down to business. stated kya’s age and that she was limping. showed him the inflammation on her foot. told him about my suspicion that it was due to an insect bite. he denied this from being a possibility as he could not see any bite marks (but i could!! a teeny tiny speck on my daughter’s lil foot!!).

then he said it may be some infection. what infection? i asked. the doctor answered something to the effect of i am not sure and proceeded to prescribe some cream to be applied to the inflamed area, antibiotics and fever syrup.

now.. i have no medic background but my regular GP as a rule would not prescribe antibiotics this easily. her reason is that we should allow the body to react on its own to whatever bacteria that’s attacking . especially with kids, since their body is only just starting to fend for itself – if we start giving too many antibiotics, then the body wouldn’t know how to handle these attacks and it’ll be harder to prescrible stronger antibiotics.

PLUS the glaring fact that he didn’t even know what caused the infection! can doctors do that? just hazard a guess and prescribe any antibiotic off the shelf? or am i the ignorant one? are all antibiotics the same regardless of whether you’ve come down with your run-of-the-mill cold or a full-blown chicken-pox attack (using examples that i’ve experienced, obviously)

admittedly a bit puzzled by his diagnosis, once i reached home i decided to just give kya fever medicine. i want a second opinion. and that second opinion may not be open until monday.

before storing the antibiotic in the fridge, i decided to test out what it tasted like. so i took the medication dispenser and placed a drop on the tip of my tongue.

YUCKS!!!

the antibiotic was bitter! i am relieved that i checked it out first before administering it to kya. not only would she have ended up barfing her lunch, she would also be cautious (read that as phobia) of any medication i try to feed her.

d’uh. she’s a toddler for heaven’s sake. syrup’s supposed to be sweet for them. even adults won’t be able to stomach what that blur doctor prescribed. am gonna bring the antibiotic to show our regular GP on monday and check whether it was the right thing. (not that i am gonna sue or anything, i just don’t want kya unnecessarily have to endure bitter medication until she’s grown up a bit)

ok. gotta go and apply the cream to her foot. here’s a photo of her sleeping soundly (thanks to the fever syrup)