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Fevers, Pills, and other Stuff

Posted by Dutchman Monday, October 19, 2009

My son Tyler came home from school on Thursday complaining of a sore throat. It was bad enough, that he didn't want to eat, as it hurt to swallow. Later in the evening, he developed a fever of 102 degrees. I recommended a couple of Tylenol, but that is where the trouble starts.

He would almost rather be sick for a week, than take a pill. Ever since he was a baby, he has had trouble with medicine. He has a natural "gag" reflex to any medication, no matter the type or flavor. When he was very young, there were a number of times we had to "force" the medicine down. Many times we watched expensive regurgitated medicine go down the drain. Often we weren't sure how much of a dosage actually stayed in his stomach. Even now, at the age of 13, taking a pill is an ordeal. You must keep an eye on him, to be sure he doesn't toss the pill, tablet, or capsule down the drain. Yet, if he thinks you are watching, he gets very nervous. He will stand at the sink, with a glass of juice or Gatorade, and look at the pill for minutes on end. He has to prepare himself mentally, which can take several minutes. When he finally makes an attempt, the pill returns to his hand or the sink, about half the time.

On Friday, I took him into the doctor, and he was diagnosed with Strep. Amoxicillen was prescribed in the form of a capsule. Great! Pills are hard enough. Capsules are oblong. My first thought was to empty the capsule into Gatorade. I mixed it up and tasted it myself. I couldn't tell a difference. He tried to drink it. It was like watching somebody being tortured. It took him more than five minutes to get it all down. Each tiny sip was followed by that gag reflex. It was worse than watching those people on Survivor Samoa, trying to swallow a Sea Slug Gut Milkshake.

For his next dose, he tried the capsule with a glass of Gatorade. It took 2 attempts, but he got it down.

What is amazing about all this, is his capacity to heal or recover. Even before he took his first dosage of antibiotic, he seemed to have fought off the Strep. His fever on Thursday night was around 101 or 102, but by Friday afternoon, when he saw the doctor, it was down to 99. He was up and about on Friday evening, wondering if he'd be able to go to baseball practice on Sunday.

Other times, when he has had the flu or some other bug, that lasts for several days in most kids, he seems to get over it in 24 hours. He has had cuts and scrapes that seemingly disappear in a day or two. This last summer, in a baseball game at the Ripken Tournament in Myrtle Beach, SC, he hung a cleat trying to change direction between third base and second. He had to be carried off the field, have his knee wrapped in ice, and left on crutches. That night, he couldn't put weight on that leg. Two days later, he begged to play in the last game, went 2 for 3, hitting two doubles and scored two runs.

A couple of years ago, his older brother slammed the bedroom door on his pinky during an argument. The door performed a 75% amputation of the tip of his finger. At the ER, the doctor re-attached it, told us he'd probably not lose that tip, but would lose the nail on that finger. Never happened. He kept asking, when will that nail fall off. It healed good as new in about two weeks.

All that makes it even harder to convince him that he needs to take his medicine. He thinks, "why do I need that, when I probably won't be sick tomorrow anyway?"

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1 Responses to Fevers, Pills, and other Stuff

  1. Anonymous Says:
  2. Hope he's felling better. Try hiding the pill in a Cold Stone chocolate sundae with M&M's...

     

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I'm a middle aged divorced father living with my two sons. We like to canoe, bicycle, fish, camp, play baseball, and spend money when we want and where we want, without permission from anybody. HA!

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