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Nov 18, 2008

Busy Day

Patrick, Colin, and I are heading north for a visit to some old friends. We're leaving this afternoon, which means that I've spent all morning frantically trying to find the 1000 blankets, outfits, socks, towels, etc. that Colin requires to leave the house. Because that is so time consuming, of course Colin had to get sick today. Well, not sick, exactly - we woke up this morning to find his right eye red, swollen, and sealed shut by green goop. I cleaned off the goop with a warm rag and could then see that his actual eye looks fine. Not red or irritated at all. I decided to call the doctor just in case, since I'm new at this and all. And the peds people proceeded to FLIP OUT.

What is it with that department? We had the same issue when we were in the hospital - they are so, SO, like crazily overcautious. A quick Wiki-consult told me this: probably will turn out to be bacterial conjunctivitis. This would require either antibiotic eye drops or ointment. It's contagious, so we'll be inconvenienced by having to wash our hands a bunch. That is definitely cause for a panic attack on the part of the nurse, don't you think? Get a grip, lady! He might just be having an allergic flare-up. We do have some dust and pet dander around here.

(Side note: my diagnostic skills may be lacking, though, since his actual conjunctiva is clear. Maybe it is actually blepharitis, but that's still treated the same way. Hell, I don't know. Probably best to go to someone who sees patients for a living.)

Anyway, so we're off to the doctor. Woo.

UPDATE FROM THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE: Guess who has his first case of pink eye?! Woo hoo, eye drops three times a day for seven days! Loony bin, here I come!

3 Readers rock!:

~Ashley said...

shew, you'd think that triage nurses could remain calm when speaking to parents.
what were they all freaking out about when he was born?
anywhooo sounds like you all are doing great, and he's super cute!

Katie said...

Actually, it's really common that babies don't have "pink" eyes when they get conjunctivitis - I learned something last month! Yea! (PS-apparently, you can also squirt some breastmilk in his eyes, but that's not my own advice...I think it's a little weird myself)

Anonymous said...

Pink eye? How did he get that?