Today's 15 month check-up appointment for Mason didn't go as planned. We already went to the doctor on Monday and they confirmed Mason had Hand Foot Mouth. At this point Mason's breathing was ok and his lungs sounded good. Tuesday he started getting cold like symptoms (runny nose and coughing) and started having breathing difficulties. I began giving him breathing treatments every 4 hours like we have always been directed to. With all this going on, today's appointment quickly became a sick appointment versus a check up.
We started off with the most obvious illness, the Hand Foot Mouth. The pediatrician said it looked much better but he still had some healing to do. Hopefully by this weekend he will no longer be contagious and his sores will mostly be gone. Until then he stays home from daycare and we give him Tylenol and ibuprofen for any discomfort.
Next we talked about his cold and breathing issues. I nailed it on the head and he agreed it was good to start the breathing treatments yesterday. He said he could hear him wheezing without even using his stethoscope. Since this is becoming a common symptom when he gets sick, the doctor suggested we tried an inhaler to give him steroids vs the liquid like we did previously. The inhaler would work quicker than the liquid and would take less time to administer than through the other option using the nebulizer. So we will do the inhaler twice a day plus the albuterol every 4 hours.
After a quick glance in his ears and mouth, the pediatrician determined he had a double ear infection. We got a prescription for antibiotics to help clear that up. This saved us a trip to get his chest x-rayed. The doctor said he could have a touch of pneumonia but the antibiotic would take care of it so there was no need for an extra dose of radiation.
We talked about his trip to the ER last month, his history with breathing issues, and his possible allergy to chicken. The doctor thought it was best to refer us to an allergist. This way we could test for a chicken allergy to know for sure and take precautions if he did have one. Plus it would also tell us if his breathing issue is asthma triggered by an allergen.
AND to top it all off we had to schedule an appointment in two weeks to come back and get his 15 month vaccinations that he was suppose to get but was too sick for. Yay!
Besides all the sickness, the pediatrician was pleased with Mason. He weighed 23.2 lbs (50th percentile) and is 2 ft 8 inches tall (7th percentile). We didn't get to discuss his last checkup with his developmental doctor in DC so we will have to do that next time. He did answer a few other questions I had but, yall know me, I got tons more! :)
