I kind of assumed Persephone had eczema when she was an infant. Occasionally after her bath I would notice little dry patches on the back of her arms or back. I didn't have a lotion routine every day, I pretty much just lathered her up when I felt dry spots. Right or wrong, that's just how I did it.
Over the last several months, I've noticed she has small bumps on her face (forehead, nose, chin and cheeks.) You could really only see it if the lighting was right. But the last two weeks it's definitely become more prominent. At first I thought it might be from playing outside at school and assumed it was acne from sweating. This past weekend though she got a fever and I noticed her cheeks and chin specifically flared up.
She didn't really have any other symptoms, but because of the fever, I was concerned the bumps on her face had developed into a rash? I looked online at Urgent Care and saw they accepted her insurance, but when we got there, turns out they didn't accept her specific plan. WTH?! I asked who did...and I also explained that the website is deceiving and they needed to fix it. The receptionist said the next closest place on a Sunday would be in Suwanee - or the ER. Uhhhhh we were literally 500ft from the new hospital so I just opted to go there.
Beautiful facility...horrible time management. We got checked in quickly, but it all went down hill when they checked her vitals. The nurse attempted to check her temperature orally. I may be stupid on occasion, but I'm smart enough to know a 2yr old will not hold the thermometer still in their mouth long enough for an accurate reading. The nurse of course told us she didn't have a temperature....umm ok.
Being her mom and knowing what she feels like without a fever...that didn't sit right with me. We were sent back out into the waiting area until a room became available. Thirty minutes or so later we were called back, but they left us in the quick exam room claiming all the private rooms were full. I asked this other nurse to please recheck her temperature via ear or forehead. They did and just as I suspected, 101 fever. They brought her a popsicle...and then we waited....and waited...45min after the popsicle a young girl comes in with an EKG monitor?!? I immediately ask why she's doing one, not to be mean of course. She shrugged, smiled and just says "They ordered one, but I don't know why." I laughed nervously and explained we hadn't even seen a doctor yet, how would they know if our toddler needed an EKG?? She was nervous and the test was harmless so I let her do it anyway. I mean even though I had many questions, you assume doctors "know" what they're doing....right?
Another 45min after the EKG was done, still no doctor. I went out to the triage to complain and ask if we could just leave. The nurse was nice and said she'd get me some answers. Probably 20min following that the doctor finally came in and he left within 5min. He felt her lymph nodes, checked her ears and throat and said she had an upper respiratory infection and viral xanthem on her face from the fever. SADLY I was so pissed for having to wait 2 hours and shocked by his eagerness to get in and out of the place I failed to even ask about the EKG and why it was ordered. Neither of us were satisfied with his level of care. Whether he was right or not...you should at least make people
believe you care.
Murphy's law kicked in after we left the hospital because Persephone started complaining about her diaper burning. At first we laughed, I don't know why...but then she continued to say it every time she peed so I knew it was probably a UTI or Yeast infection. I was able to get her an appointment Monday afternoon to see the pediatrician. They did confirm she has an upper respiratory infection, UTI and eczema. The doctor said I need to be lathering her up at least twice a day with lotion. I've already been bathing her in Aveeno and using Aveeno "eczema" lotion, but I guess it wasn't good enough. They recommended Lubriderm, Eucerin, Aquaphor, Cetaphil and something else I can't recall. She was prescribed hydrocortisone cream to help with the areas she's already clawed ::insert sad face::.
They also prescribed her cephelaxin for the UTI. In an odd way, the UTI has been a blessing in disguise. Because it causes incontinence, she's been telling us she has to go potty! We're still in pull-ups, but baby steps..baby steps.
