Proteus Mirabilis revisits

The picture on the left is my work

Last week, C. treated us to some more spikey fevers so it was off to the pediatrician again for a thorough checkup. 

While in the waiting room, I snapped a shot of a painting I did and which I gave our doctor many years ago in gratitude for his unflagging devotion to C. As you see over on the right, he has it hanging right next to a Mary Cassat. His generosity knows no bounds.

But we could have avoided that trek to his clinic since he suspected it was a rerun of C.'s Proteus Mirabilis (a version of UTI - urinary tract infection) as soon as he heard she had fever without any apparent symptoms. 

But when I called her in advance of bringing C., the nurse at our local health insurance clinic was extremely reluctant to take a second catheter-urine-sample.  

The explicit referral we had from C.'s doctor was to do just that. But the nurse felt it could introduce infection and that C.'s fevers could have been caused by aspirational pneumonia (even though I assured her she had no related symptoms). She urged that a full clinical exam should be done first. 

I wasn't a match for her. But our perenially sweet doctor was truly pissed off when I related all of that: "I hate to pull rank, but..." was his response. Anyway, long story short, as I said, we did the exam the following day. The nurse obliged us with her catheter and now C. is half-way through her course of Zinnat. 

The new challenge is preventing another recurrence. A few of the doctor's tips: Don't let her become constipated (who knew that could trigger a UTI?). Keep her well hydrated. Give her cranberry juice.

We have a neurologist's appointment lined up for this week which the Hubby arranged. We'll probably go without C. just to discuss the meds she's on. 

Since they aren't delivering any more control than we had prior to her hospitalization back in December 2017 for status epilepticus, I am keen to lower the Keppra and remove the Vimpat. That was her pre-hospitalization regimen.

I am dreading this encounter with the neurologist because she was one of the doctors in the hospital back in December who opted to barrage C. with meds rendering her near-comatose. The hitch is, though, that we can only access the wise neurologist who saved her from all those meds via this neurologist. The wise one doesn't treat patients outside the hospital ward.

And who would have imagined that the ubuquitous but unnoticed straw would one day become a contentious item? And central to the fight for disability rights too? Well, that day has arrived. The issues are explained here: "I need plastic straws. Banning them puts a serious burden on people with disabilities".