If you're a parent than you've had to deal with a sick child. At least once.
For us, that time was last week. Max was vomiting, lethargic and had a temperature of 38.9 degrees*. He'd come down with a serious case of the 12-hour flu.
Translated into English that means food poisoning.
Ed and I knew exactly what to do... go to the hospital. However, there were several things that we hadn't considered and weren't prepared for.
Would you know what to do?
Here's what we wish we'd known beforehand.
What is your childs usual body temperature?
I had no idea! I knew that 39 degrees was not a normal temperature for him or anyone, however, maybe he runs a higher temperature than average. We've since found out that his normal temperature is around 36 so he was definitely hot!What is your childs usual heart and respiration rate?
It seemed like Max was breathing normally (and it turns out he was) but I'd never thought about it before. I've since taken his pulse so that I have a benchmark.If you have other children, what will you do with them?
If your plan is to have them come to the hospital, pack a bag beforehand with snacks, drink, toy, change of clothes. If someone else will be looking after them, make sure pick-up/delivery and any special notes are coordinated beforehand. In our case, we chose to have Artemis sleep overnight at our neighbours house.
Do they have the necessary resources to handle your situation? A real consideration here in Mexico. We have since stopped by the hospital that we would have gone to and asked a bunch of questions.
What hospital will you go to?How will you get there?
Taxi, Ambulance, Friend, Drive your Car? We decided that given the time (midnight) and the absence of taxis (we could have called for one but we don't have a phone and their arrival isn't reliable) that we would take our own car.Do you have the necessary paperwork and do you have to pay?
Since this isn't an issue for Canadians, we hadn't even thought of it. However, it is an issue in Mexico. Apparently, the hospital we chose has free care.
In the end, we decided to stay up and wait it out. By 5am, his fever had broken and when he woke up he was at 75%. It took him a few more days to get back to normal as is the case with food poisoning.
Fortunately, our story had a happy ending.
Are you Prepared?
*Celsius equal to 102 degrees Fahrenheit.
Note that Max was not actually sick in this picture, however, he sure looks it...
Besos, The Zoo
Glad to hear you staged the photo and that you were not in his face with a camera, thinking out a blog post! ;) Good news that he is recovered and I think you raise some excellent points - especially what your kid's normal temperature is!
ReplyDeleteHe is a great actor! Hopefully he doesn't learn how to play it up come school time, lol. Great post and good pointers for people who travel.
ReplyDeleteGlad he is okay, but boy, what an actor you have blossoming!!
ReplyDelete39 degrees -- that's so frightening! Thanks for the post, tips, and for getting my brain working on how to prepare in my household.
ReplyDeleteChild illness is so scary. Mom's that are prepared like you are awesome.
ReplyDeleteMax is a fabulous model! :D Glad he wasn't really sick! I stay prepared by having an emergency kit that pretty much has the stuff for it that we would need for about any illness!
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