Our First Trip to the ER

Right after my post last night, Miles got a lot worse. He had Motrin at 4pm and Tylenol at 7pm, but his fever went up instead of down. It was 103 the last time I checked it. I know that's not crazy high but he's never had a fever above 103. I put him in a lukewarm bath to try to get it down. He was pitiful. He couldn't even sit up on his own. As I was running a washcloth over him to try to get the water all over his body, he said his knees hurt. When I looked down, they were so swollen that I couldn't see his knee caps. That was my breaking point....I called the after hours nurse line.

My pediatrician has a set up with Vanderbilt Hospital where you can call and speak to their nurses at night or on the weekends. They help you determine what to do. I've used them once before and they are excellent. So nice...and calming. Long story short, I called and she thought that I needed to speak to Dr. Bates, our pediatrician. So they actually call and conference you in with him. I think he felt pretty confident that it was viral but said that a trip to the ER was probably for the best. The joint swelling in his knees could be from a virus, the flu, or could be a sign of something more serious. So off we went to the Union City ER.


I'd never been to the UC ER, but it was a great experience. Maybe it's b/c Miles is so young, or b/c he looked awful, but they were really great. The ER doctor also felt like it was viral but he ran tests for flu, strep, RSV, and also checks various blood counts. Everything came back fine. One test showed signs of what could be the onset of a bacterial infection, but he said that a virus can cause the same reading.


Thankfully we were discharged quickly. His fever was down to 101 and he was much more responsive. When we go to the doctor and it turns out that nothing is wrong, I usually feel bad for overreacting, but I didn't in this case at all. Our ER copay is $80 and that was cheap for the peace of mind that it gave. I don't usually get freaked out, but I did last night. It was scary to see Miles so unlike himself.

He woke up this morning feeling so much better. His friend, Thomas, dropped off a treat bag on the front porch to help him recover. What a cute idea....I told his mom that I'm definitely stealing that one.

We watched movies tonight, including Toy Story....hence the set up below that he arranged...

His fever got back up to 101 but never over that....and he seemed to feel fine most of the day. Hopefully he'll get another good night sleep tonight and be back on the mend tomorrow.