My children are my everything. I’m sure you feel the same way about your kids, right? One of the hardest things for Moms to deal with is a sick child. No, I’m not talking about a child who won’t take his or her medicine. I’m not even talking about cleaning up vomit off the sofa. The hardest part is seeing your child suffer, and not being able to do anything to make them feel better.
So far, this flu season, our little guy has had Strep Throat not once, but twice! Problem is, we were only notified about one of his positive lab results. Why just one? Because the Urgent Care office never called to inform us the first time he contracted it.
Our son starting complaining of throat pain, one morning after I woke him up for school. He tends to be a mouth-breather, so I told him that was probably the reason for his pain and that he’d (most likely) feel better soon.
When I picked him up from school, I asked him about his throat and he said it felt a little better. That night, he was complaining about it again. I told him I’d take him to (the new) urgent care the following day.
The next day, we went to Urgent Care. We were called into the exam room soon after we arrived. Our MA was friendly and attentive. This particular urgent care has “virtual” doctors, a first for us. The MA examines the patient for the doctor. They use medical instruments that project onto the tv screen, so the doctor can see inside the patient’s ears, nose, and throat.
The doctor requested a strep test be performed and sent to the lab. Our son was prescribed an oral medication (lidocaine) for throat pain. We were told we’d receive a call IF the results were positive for strep.
We filled his prescription and went home. The oral medication did not help with his throat pain. I gave him children’s Tylenol instead.
After a few days, and no call from urgent care, we thought all was well. Our son was feeling better and the pain had subsided.
Fast forward about one month. Our son had a hangnail and kept picking at it, eventually pulling it off. The nail bed of his index finger had become red and inflamed. I suspected an infection, so I took him back to urgent care.
The same MA was on duty and she remembered us. I told her we’d been there the month prior for his sore throat. I told her we’d never received a call, so I was guessing his strep labs had been negative. She said, “Yeah, let me look that up for you.”
She started typing away on her laptop. She then started reading his lab results out loud. “ … positive for streptococcus…” WHAT?! “We never received a call to inform us!” I said. “Oh, but he was already on antibiotics, right?!” she asked. “No! All he had was pain meds that didn’t even work” I replied. “We’ll ask the doctor as soon as I get her on the line” she responded.
So, as luck would have it, the same doctor was on duty that day. The MA told her about the positive lab report and how we’d never been notified. Her response was weak, to say the least.
“The human body is capable of healing itself of strep.” Ummm, okay. I was so taken aback by her statement that I lost all train of thought. I was literally unable to say anything. She went on to examine my son’s finger and prescribed a course of treatment.
My son’s finger did eventually heal. We were afraid he’d lose the fingernail, but it remained intact.
That visit has haunted me ever since. I wish I’d given that doctor a piece of my mind. When we went back about a month or so later (for our son’s second bout of strep throat), I requested the same doctor. I was ready to tell her how upset I’d been after our last visit. I wanted her to know I’m not illiterate when it comes to medical office protocol (having worked in both Peds and GI), and her answer to me was not acceptable. Turned out, she left the urgent care business and is now doing something totally unrelated to the medical profession. That made me feel somewhat better, at least no other patients will have to suffer without an appropriate diagnosis.
When a positive lab result is faxed to the doctor’s office (from the lab), it is supposed to be reviewed and signed off by a doctor. The patient is then called and informed of the positive result and a course of medical treatment is prescribed. Period.
That did not occur in my son’s case. The doctor then made matters worse, by trying to play it off and saying the human body can heal strep without antibiotics. That may very well be true, but why even bother testing for strep in the first place? Doesn’t make sense, does it?!
Facts
Here’s what can happen if a strep infection is left untreated and complications arise:
*ear infection
sinusitis
rheumatic fever, which is an inflammatory disease that affects the joints, the heart, and the skin.
poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, which is an inflammation of the kidneys.
mastoiditis, which is an infection of the mastoid bone in the skull.
scarlet fever, which occurs when toxins created by the strep infection cause a scarlet-colored rash to develop on different parts of the body.
guttate psoriasis, which is a condition that causes small, red teardrop-shaped spots to appear on the body.
peritonsillar abscess, which is a pus-filled infection that develops in the back of the tonsils.
So, just because someone signs “MD” at the end of their name, doesn’t make them faultless. A mistake was made and instead of owning up to it, she chose to feed me a weak excuse. Not cool.
The health and well-being of my son matters. I will continue to be his strongest advocate. Don’t be afraid to question your doctors. They’re human and whether they like to admit it or not, they make mistakes just like everyone else.
*according to healthline.com
