Superfreak (or You Can't Be Too Careful but You Can Be Too Crazy)

Yesterday Pretty Girl was sent home from preschool with a fever. She had a fever this morning. Like good, responsible and informed parents we alternated Tylenol and Advil and recorded her temperature. This morning she coughed. It sounded gravely serious to me. Hacking and in her chest.

I worried all the way to work. I also worried Mr. Lipstick a bunch by calling him all day to check on her. I got worried that we might have to take Pretty Girl to the doctor tomorrow. I spoke to my boss to make arrangements for the possible appointment tomorrow in the possible event that Pretty Girl might possibly still have fever and coughing. Then I decided that I should just call the pediatrician.

Yes, I am a pharmacist. You did read that correctly on my profile. Somehow the combination of my child being sick completely voids all of my clinical knowledge. A patient can walk in the pharmacy and I can give thorough advice, help him navigate through medications or drug interactions...you know, all that stuff that pharmacists do. If my child is sick, my anxiety hovers in the stratosphere. I simply can't think.

I made an appointment for tomorrow. I decided that a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics needed to listen to her precious lungs and supervise the taking of her temperature. After all, what if she had (insert obscure and fatal childhood disease)?

I felt better. Mr. Lipstick was grouchy. Downright mad. Whatever....men. I don't know why he wasn't taking this fever and cough as seriously as me. Well, perhaps because I got home from work and the fever had totally disappeared and so had the cough. We have been fever free and cough free for 7 hours now. I hope they don't charge me for canceling that appointment. I'm sure some other hysterical mother will be happy to get it though.