This was mine. My son is 22 months old and has only been sick one other time since he was born.
He started getting a fever four days before Christmas. It was low, only 100-101F, and I gave him Tylenol or Motrin. He had no other symptoms, and the fever would go away with the medicine, so I thought maybe he was teething or he had a little bug. I had taken him to church and let him play with the other kids his age, which he does very rarely.

Flash forward to ten days later, the 30th of December, and his fever is getting higher and higher after the medication wears off. Instead of it being 100-101F, it’s 102-103.8F or higher. The side of his head that is up against his mattress when he sleeps is 105F. And he has a runny nose, major congestion, a cough, fatigue, lethargy, and NO appetite. I have to work, and the 31st is a semi-holiday so the doctor’s office closes early. I told my husband to take my son in as soon he could call and get an appointment.

The NP who saw my son said that he had a virus, and sometimes they last “a while” but there was no reason for him to have a fever, as he didn’t have the flu or RSV. But she gave also him antibiotics anyways for a COMPLETELY NONEXISTENT EAR INFECTION.

Then my son’s fever gets WORSE after the antibiotics. It’s up to 104.4F every 3am when the Motrin wears off, like clockwork. I took him to the Emergeny Room this morning when his under-arm temp was 103.9F. They examine him, take a chest X-Ray and discover that he in fact, does not have the flu, RSV, or pneumonia, or even the ear infection the NP had given antibiotics for. He does have a very BAD respiratory virus, probably because he doesn’t go to nursery, daycare, or play groups and his immune system has yet to face any real trials, and he was around over 30 relatives he rarely sees over the holiays.

As of the posting of this message, my son’s fever has FINALLY broke after running a temperature for nearly two full weeks. He’s lost 1.5lbs due to his lack of appetite, and has developed horrific diarrhea from the antibiotics. The antibiotics he must now continue to take otherwise he will “develop a resistance to the medication.”

I’d REALLY love to force the nurse who gave him the medicine to come to my house and clean the poop off my carpet after my son has a ‘blow out’ diaper. She can also buy the expensive yogurt and probiotic tablets they told me to get him to try and re-balance his digestive tract. And deal with a 22 month old who id doubled over with bowel pain. I called the pediatrician today and they refused to switch his antibiotic to something else.

This is the pediatrician’s office *I* went to as a child. I REALLY think I’m finding a new one after this. Because this is also the office that told me to “Just stop feeding” my son at night to teach him to sleep for 8-10 hours when he was six months old.