As a first-time mom, I remember the very first cold the little man got. I was convinced it was much more than a cold and rushed him off to the doctor."It's just a cold," the pediatrician assured me. "Put a humidifier in his room."
And so the same set of actions also went into motion for at least the next 20 colds. Now, as the little man is approaching the age of 5, I thought I felt a bit more confidence in myself as a mother to know the difference between just a cold and something much more.
At least I thought so.
Halloween is undoubtedly a favorite holiday for the little man. As the summer slowly ended, the little man welcomed fall in by asking on nearly a daily basis if it was Halloween yet. The days drifted by at an agonizing slow pace for the little man, who could not wait for Halloween to arrive.
As we woke up Sunday morning, we were greeted with a somewhat cranky little man. I wasn't too surprised, for we had spent Friday and Saturday at Papa and Grammy Jo's house and figured the little man was just tired from his big fun weekend and mad to be going home ... even if it was Halloween.
As the day ticked by the little man continued his crankiness and he complained that he didn't feel well.
"It's just a cold," I told myself. After all, he didn't have a fever and looked perfectly fine. You would never tell by looking at him that he was sick.
As night came and the little man was finally able to dawn his costume (a police officer) we set out to fill his bag with candy. We had barely made it around the block when the little man asked if we could just go home - he wanted to sit on the couch and watch some TV.
"Wow, that's strange," I said to my husband. "He must really not be feeling well."
That night the little man woke up, coughing. I assured myself once again it was just a cold.
That morning the little man looked and sounded even worse. We decided I would stay home with him that day since he hadn't slept well the night before. I asked my husband what he thought about the doctor.
"It's probably just a cold," I said to him. "Probably just a waste of time and money to take him in."
However, later that morning I felt the same little urge I had felt so many times before. The questioning whether or not it really was just a cold. The urge to take him to the doctor. I knew that for the little man to forgo trick-or-treating it must be much more.
And so we went.
As I was explaining to the doctor his symptoms I awaited the usual "It's just a cold" speech. I began to feel bad for wasting her time. I told her that he didn't even want to go trick-or-treating the night before, which piqued her interest.
"We've been seeing a lot of strep lately," the doctor said to my surprise. "And it isn't presenting itself with the usual symptoms, I would like to take a swab and test him for it. Especially since he wasn't interested in Halloween, that tells me he really isn't feeling too well."
A short wait later and the test was confirmed. The little man had strep throat.
"Mommy?" the little man asked as we waited for the pharmacist to fill his prescription. "Is my medicine going to make my thwoat all better?"
"Yes, it is buddy," I replied. "It will make the owies go away." I felt bad that the little man had waited the whole year for Halloween to arrive, just to have the fun ripped from him by sickness.
"Good," he mumbled. "I want to eat my candy."
And so he did ... that is, after the antibiotics took hold and he could swallow without pain once again.
And mommy vowed to stick to writing ... and leave the diagnosing to the doctors from now on.
Even if it is just a cold.
The Ghosts of Halloween Past ...
{Halloween 2009}
{Halloween 2008}
{Halloween 2007}
{Halloween 2006}
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