The joys of pharmacology

Andy's mouth was still bothering him yesterday so I called the doctor's office to ask if there was a good treatment for canker sores. When I explained the situation, they told me Dr. Murphy wanted me to bring him in. We had a 5:15 appointment, but with Dr. Staats out of town and it being a Friday afternoon, we didn't get seen until about 6:15. After using the tongue depressor (which Andy did NOT like), he was diagnosed with three big canker sores on the tip of his tongue. Not a big deal, but indeed quite painful. The good news is that the tongue sloughs off its skin new every two days so this is a short-lived problem, unrelated to the strep and not a reaction to the amoxicillin. He prescribed liquid Tylenol with codeine to give him every four hours in the evening as needed to help him sleep.

I wondered about giving a narcotic to a three year old, but I think we were all ready for a good night's sleep, including Dr. Murphy who has been on call by himself all week and I know that I called him a couple of evenings personally so I can attest to how little sleep he was probably getting.

The good news is the medicine did help him sleep through the night and I think the rest really helped Andy's state of mind (as it did mine, especially since Bjorn got up with the kids and let me sleep until the exceptionally late hour of 8:00 a.m.!)

The last two days, Andy hasn't been talking because it hurt his tongue to talk so we've been playing a game of talking through nods and holding up fingers. I don't think I realized how much he talks until he wasn't doing it. And the worst part is, I kind of enjoyed it.

Today Andy is going out with Bjorn to canvas the neighborhood for the Obama, now Obama/Biden, campaign. I'm glad Bjorn is getting involved and glad that Andy will see his father involved in a civic activity. I think that's pretty cool even if you don't like what his activity is.

P.S. There are grammar vigilantes out there. I love it.

Numbers

Andy is really figuring out his numbers. He recognizes a few on site now and loudly points them out. Like when the news is on, he points to the corner of the screen and shouts "Four!" It's awesome when he's right. He also can count in order (most of the time) up to five and sometimes 10. It's really amazing to watch the learning. Somehow I thought we'd be sitting around a book one day and he would learn his numbers that way rather than just picking them up through life. Same goes with his letters. He's figured a few out and happily points them out, like the O and the A, when he sees them written somewhere. Watching this stage of development is really pretty amazing.

The new antibiotic seems to be working, at least he's less cranky today. I think the stuff tastes terrible, but he doesn't seem to mind. I am irritated though that this one says to give him three CCs when the other was teaspoons and the Tylenol is in mL. Seriously, what's up with that? I'm a fairly bright person and usually read labels. I worry that other parents are accidentally overdosing (or underdosing) their kids, which could be pretty dangerous. Why all the different measurements? My flaw with this dose was not asking for it flavored. Apparently if you ask the pharmacy, they'll throw in a bubble gum flavor (or similar nausea-inducing gunk) to make it more palatable. Good to know for next time.