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Thursday, April 21, 2011

A Phone Call I Won't Forget

I had just dropped the boys off safely at school (which was only about a mile away from my house at the time) when the phone rang.


It was Dracen's kindergarten teacher's assistant.  I have gone to church with her for years.  


I knew immediately by the tone and tremble of her voice that something was horribly wrong.  


My body began to shake, my knees turned to jello, and I literally felt the color drain from my face as I leaned over on the kitchen counter to brace myself from crashing to the hard tile floor beneath me.  


"Dracen just turned blue and passed out..." she began.  "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!"  I bellowed.  


Charlie was, thankfully, home that day and as he heard my words his eyes grew big with horror and his heart seemed to skip beats as he jumped up from his seat.  


"The school nurse is with him now and we've called 911..." 


I didn't need to hear anymore... "I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!" I shouted. I  slammed the phone down, grabbed my keys and bolted out of the house and down the steps with my still uncombed hair and unmade face.  


My body was shaking and my mind was running wild as I threw the car into reverse with a jerk and stomped the gas pedal to the floor board, squealing tires as I turned out of the driveway at the top of the hill.  


Though the storm door was closed, the front door was left standing wide open and my little dog, Dixie, stared in bewilderment as we disappeared out of sight.  


We ran frantically into the school and the school secretary who saw us coming, met us at the office door and motioned us on (though it would have taken five grown men to make me stop and sign in).  


Charlie ran barefooted down the hall ahead of me.  We left the house in such a rush, he had not even taken time to put on shoes.  


We had beaten the ambulance there and when we made it to the classroom, there was Dracen, conscious and talking with the school nurse.


I rushed to his side and though my heart was still racing, I could feel the color slowly begin to return to my face.  


He was okay.  My baby was okay.  I could breathe again.  


The paramedics showed up shortly after we did, gave him a little once over, found nothing obviously wrong with him and suggested we take him on to his family doctor to be checked out thoroughly.


The doctor gave him a thorough exam, complete with blood tests, and deemed him perfectly healthy.  


He had been sick a few days earlier. Nothing serious.  Just stuffy head, low fever and minor sore throat.  Though he did not test positive for strep the doctor he had seen prescribed him Amoxicillin.  


He was five years old so of course, he was no stranger to the pink stuff. But my mother's intuition was burning like a fire inside of me and practically screaming at me, 


It was the Amoxicillin!  It was the Amoxicillin! 


When I brought this up to the doctor we saw the day of this incident,  he informed me there's no way it was the Amoxicillin and to keep giving it to him.  


I said okay but that feeling wouldn't go away.  He had just taken it before leaving for school that morning and he had only been at school mere minutes when he passed out.  


Nope.  There was no way I was giving him another dose of that stuff.


I read every article and piece of information I could dig up on Amoxicillin and discovered that he had been prescribed a pretty hefty dose for a little guy his size so I called the doctor up who prescribed it and he too assured me there was just no way on God's beautiful green earth this incident was caused by that medicine.  


There aren't many things in life that get me riled up enough to initiate a heated conversation.  Normally, I will go out of my way to avoid confrontation....Mrs. Non-Confrontational at your service!.... 


But waking my mama bear will do it every.single.time.  I snapped like a Poplar branch in a windstorm and lit into that unsuspecting doctor with all the fury, wrath and might I could muster.  


I was right and I knew it...could feel it in my bones...in my gut.  


I believe a mother's intuition is a powerful tool and gift bestowed by God and I was flat pissed off that I was being blown off.  The nerve!


That phone conversation ended in me hanging up the phone on the doctor, taking about five hundred deep breaths and calling to vent my frustrations to Charlie.  


The doctor called later in an attempt to smooth things over though he continued to stand his ground about the Amoxicillin.  


I remained calm but switched to a pediatrician and have never allowed him to take the pink stuff again.  







This post was written for Mama Kat's writer's workshop  and Jenny Matlock's  Alphabe-Thursday, the Letter A.   









34 comments:

  1. Scary! I'm so glad he was okay...and I'd have done the same thing (switch peds, avoid the meds).

    Stopped by from Mama Kat's :)

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  2. How scary! I hope I never get a phone call like that about JDaniel.

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  3. Wow, I think Dr's of today are so quick to prescribe meds. Sometimes they are needed but God forbide you should tell them you don't want them! Glad your son is ok!! Stop in & read A is for Animal

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  4. that is quite a story and so well told...I was on the edge of my seat...for you! Trust your gut. You have to. dr's aren't what they once were....

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  5. wow that's frightning! My kids have taken that stuff a ton in their little lives I believe I will be viewing it a little differently now. And you should always stick with your momma gut! I'd say you did great! Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Oh my LORD - goosebumps. Thank you Lord for protecting him.

    I am so thankful for that God-given Mommy Instinct!

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  7. Whether it was or wasn't the antibiotic, the Dr. should have respected the fact that you didn't want to give it to him. WTG on standing up to him!

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  8. Mom's intuition is very powerful. I would have switched doctor's too.

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  9. Scariest thing ever! And I would have trusted my gut, too. When it comes to my children, it has rarely been wrong.

    =)

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  10. how harrowing.. and good for you for trusting your gut. it is rarely wrong.

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  11. Scary...

    Mother's intuition is an amazing thing!

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  12. Amoxicillin can also be linked to learning disabilities. We need to say no to doctors who are overmedicating our kids. I was one who followed their orders faithfully. Researching on the internet is the best practice when dealing with our precious children and meds.

    I thank God your Dracon is okay. What a scare!

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  13. Visiting from Mama Kats.

    I cannot imagine getting a phone call like that...I thnk I would fall under pressure. Glad to hear your son is okay.

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  14. AMEN! You tell em Mama Bear! I would have done the same in this situation. Although I've never heard of Amoxicillin but it sounds like penicillin and I know I'm Allergic to that but the medicine these days is killing us ///ugh sheer poison ain't it?

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  15. Glad to hear it turned out okay! Did the doc give you a cause for it? I'd have a hard time believing a doctor who said, "I don't know what happened but it wasn't this."

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  16. Wow! My grandson has to take it and thank God no problems, but we found out he can't take Nasonex or Flonaz. Stopping by from Alphbe-Thursday.

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  17. We really have to go with our gut feelings sometimes when it comes to our children. I know exactly how you felt. I, too, changed pediatricians because of something similar.

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  18. glad he was ok my daughter is allergic to a different type of antiboitic

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  19. Every mother reading this can totally understand your hurry to get to the school. How relieved you must have been to find your son okay
    And there's a lot to be said for a mother's intuition.
    Great post!

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  20. How scary!

    I think I would have switched doctors after that, too.

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  21. Good for you, Diane! I don't care how much training physicians have, they don't know everything and they don't always get everything right. We have to follow our guts, as well as get a second and a third opinion if need be. Good for you!

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  22. I hate when doctors don't listen. We know our kids better than anyone else. Glad it was more scary than serious. Great write!

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  23. I almost turned blue & passed out while reading this! You wrote this so well I felt like I was living the moment with you. I'm so glad he was ok, and I agree with you 100% about mother's intuition! It has served me well many times.

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  24. It just goes to show (once again) we have to LISTEN to ourselves! THANK goodness you did!
    Thanks for sharing this unforgettable experience!
    Have a great ALPHABET week!
    Coralie

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  25. Momma's intuition is EVERYTHING! I too have had my share with conflict of a pediatrician and had to fire him. I hate that they don't trust our guts, we know our babies. Besides my daughter's cancer would have never been discovered had it not been for my gut!

    I am glad you got to the bottom of it and that he was okay. So scary!!

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  26. Wow, that's so scary. I'm glad you thought of the medecine. Intuition is a powerful resource.

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  27. Wow! That's quite a story! Praise God that everything turned out OK :-)

    God bless and have a great Easter :-)

    ~Ron
    *******

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  28. Scary story. Listen to that still small voice.

    Your writing is incredible:)

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  29. Mother Knows Best. Great writing. Held my short attention span right to the end.
    Happy Easter.
    Rosemary

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  30. Wow! So interesting, my oldest was on Amoxicillin once as a toddler and I was certain it caused her to wheeze, like her throat was closing up. Dr. said no way and talked me out of it, though I didn't give it to her anymore at that time. Last year at 5 she was given one dose and the same thing happened, her throat started closing up. She was fine but NEVER again, wish I had listened to my little voice!!

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  31. This hurts my stomach!!!! There is no way i would give it to him again. Never. I bet you were about to come through the phone and strangle that doc. I agree with mother's intuition. It doesn't just speak to us, it screams! So glad you listened! :)

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  32. I think Mother's often 'feel' when something is wrong.

    I'm glad you stood your ground.

    I can't even imagine how scary that phone call must have been for you all!

    Thanks for sharing this thoughtful and thought (and emotion) provoking link with us.

    A+

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  33. Diane, this is the EXACT same thing that happen to my oldest, Pearson, when he was 2. He was turning blue, every joint swelling up and his throat was closing. I was so scared and it was taking the paramedics forever so I gave him an adult benadryl - it was the only thing I had on hand. They said it was the only thing that kept him alive until he got to the hospital :( He had to stay 4 days in the children's hosp. He looked like someone tied ropes around every part of his body ...he was that bruised from the swelling. I write in RED 'deathly allergic'. It is something you will never forget.

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