Antibiotics - The Double Edged Sword

Antibiotics. Antibiotics or antibacterials are a type of antimicrobial used in the treatment and prevention of bacterial infection. (thank you Wikipedia).

I love antibiotics.

I hate antibiotics.

Especially when it comes to Stella. 

She was doing so well this winter! She was cold free for 3 months.

January to March. 

Those three months she usually is sick almost every month. But not this year!!! 

So what did I do? 

I jinxed it.  

Yup. Instead of keeping my yap shut, I spoke OUT LOUD to my hubby about how Stella has been “sick free” all winter!! I swear the minute I said those words, I heard Stella sneeze….and it’s gone downhill since then.

A cold. A cold I can handle. But lately with Stella her colds seem to turn into a sinus infection, and this cold was no different.  After a week her cold seemed to be getting worse instead of better. Green sometimes brown nasty snot, a nose so stuffy and yet when she blew her nose it seemed painful to do.

Crap.

A sinus infection, for SURE a sinus infection. 

I couldn't let the poor child suffer through a sinus infection! Those things suck! I took her to the doctor and he gave her antibiotics.

The next day she was remarkably better! Yay Antibiotics!  But as wonderful as it was that she was getting better, I knew that all her “good” gut bacteria was being killed off too. Which meant Stella’s immune system would be even weaker.  

A few days after she was done her antibiotics….. BAM! She seemed sick AGAIN!!!! The last time ( in December) it seemed that her sinus infection was back or perhaps never really went away). But this time, she seemed even worse! She had a fever, her tonsils sounded swollen, her nose was stuffy and she seemed to also have a cough.

SIGH… SOB…. more sighing.

She is pumped full of supplements. She is given vitamins she is lacking, minerals she needs more of, probiotics to keep the healthy bacteria in her gut, and thyroid meds that she needs. Slowly all of these things seem to be working. She is getting sick less often. BUT when she does get sick, boy does she ever get sick!!

I can’t f*&#ing win.

Sigh.

Off to the doctor’s office we went on Monday. She got her throat swabbed and then we had to go to the hospital. 

Yeah, Stella was not cooperating and would not pee on the toilet for me. So we had to go the hospital so they could put a catheter in so a pee sample could be obtained. The doctor wanted to rule out a bladder infection.  Needless to say that event was traumatic, for her and for me. But she was a courageous little girl, and the hubby was there to help as well which was definitely what i needed. He is my rock. (love you babe!)

Ahem… anyway..

Yesterday she was clearly no better, even worse to be exact. To be honest I was terrified. You see at the doctors office on Monday, the doctor ordered up a blood requisition. He wanted to get a complete blood count (CBC) of her blood. He had noticed a slight rash on her stomach and after seeing that he told me he wanted to get her platelets looked at.  Why would he want to look at her platelets? He’s checking, just to be safe, for signs of leukaemia. He never said that to me, but I knew that was what he was doing.

So when Stella woke up yesterday and was clearly no better, I was internally freaking out. As much as I did not want to have to take my child to get her blood taken (she had just had her blood taken for her thyroid a mere 2 months earlier), I knew I HAD to. Off we went to the lab. I told Stella where we were going and why and let me tell you she was not happy about it. She kept saying “no!” and crying. When we got there, she kept saying she had to poop. She’d fuss, look at me and say “poop”. So off we’d go to the bathroom, i’d sit her on the toilet, and she’d say “all done”. We did that about 4 times.  

My poor sick baby!

Poor kid. 

You know what though? She is a brave little girl. When it came time to get her blood drawn, she sat still, put her arm out, and fussed a little bit. She kept her arm still and they found a vein the first time. What a trooper she was!  As we left she kept pointing to her arm and saying “needle”. An elderly gentleman stopped me and asked if he could give Stella some money as he thought she was so brave. I thought that was so sweet, so of course I said yes!

Stella took the money and said “gank you” (Thank you).

Fast forward to today and Stella is FINALLY on the mend. Seems she has strep throat, as does her 6 year old sister!! 

Yup, you guessed it, BACK on antibiotics! SOB!

However, Stella is noticeably better today which is wonderful to see. Now to keep her healthy once she is done the antibiotics.

Oh and her blood test results came back and she is low in iron. Her platelets are good.

I am relieved.

Cancer hits just way too close to home.  I am painfully aware of it.

Stella has Trisomy 21. This puts her at a higher risk of getting leukaemia.  

Sigh.

Being a mom is tough. There is so much to worry about isn’t there?

Thankfully today is a good day. We are turning the corner and Stella is on the mend.

This was taken yesterday. Today she was 100 times better.