Friday, November 6, 2009

To Treat or Not to Treat?

When do you give a child a fever-reducer?

I always struggle with this dilemma. Often, we go without medicine. If Rowan can sleep well, I figure it's unnecessary. Fevers help the body fight infections, after all, so why mess with nature?

But fevers often accompany bothersome aches and pains. Unfortunately, that’s what Rowan is experiencing today. He’s afflicted with…something. I’d say it’s the flu, but this is the second time we’ve suspected the flu this season. He has a fever, aches, a cough, a runny nose and a sore throat. His eyes are watery and the skin around his eyes is red and splotchy.

Basically, he’s sick. And it breaks my heart.

So when he told me he couldn’t sleep because he "hurt everywhere," I decided to give him ibuprofen.

It worked!

Or did it?

Sure, his aches and pains are better, but now I have a new problem: he no longer acts like he’s sick!

Instead of watching cartoons and drifting in and out of sleep, he’s bopping around and begging me for Halloween candy. And instead of keeping his germs confined to one area of the couch, he’s wiping his nose and eyes all over the house.

I mean, I’m glad he feels a little better. But the truth is that he’s not better. He’s just perky.

Is that a good thing?

1 comment:

MollyinMinn said...

Oh my, do I ever hear you. My two days home with Mr. C were filled with "Want to play a game?" "Can we go outside?" ...for 2/3 of it. And for the other 1/3, his tylenol would be wearing off an he would be a blob on the couch.

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