My daughter has bacterial pneumonia at the moment.
Monday night, she was a little lethargic. Felt like a possible low fever. Didn't think much of it.
Tuesday, she woke up with a fever of 103 with a cough. I didn't think much of it, figured it was probably viral. But, she looked sick, so I took her to the dr that afternoon. Mostly bc I work on Wednesdays and it would be harder to take her in. (Grandma watches them.) Dr did a flu test, which was negative, said her white blood count was a little elevated, that it might be a virus, but she wasn't sure and with a slightly elevated white count, she'd feel better giving her an antibiotic. So, I filled the prescription, but she fell asleep on the way home, and I didn't give it to her until the following morning. Figured it might be viral anyway. I gave her one dose of ibuprofrin during the day when it was an ear temp of over 103, but mostly I figured the fever could help it run it's course.
But Wednesday morning, I woke up and her temperature was 105, in the ear. I gave her ibuprofrin and the antibiotic and called the dr's office. They said to alternate ibu and tylenol every three hours. That she didn't need to come in again, bc they didn't want to expose her to more germs. Did say if she looked bad when her fever was down, that I could if I wanted to, but they didn't think it was necessary. My instinct was screaming, "This is not good," but I listened to the doctor. And Grandma and my husband were saying, "Stop worrying. She's fine. Kids get sick; they run fevers. Yeah, she's a little lethargic, but she's just sick. You're overreacting. You're being silly." So I tried to listen and believe them.
By night time, her fever was 105 AFTER a full dose of motrin and a full dose of tylenol. Again, in the ear. Friend online was urging me to take her to the emergency room, but I really did not want to. I hate the emergency room. But, I called the call a nurse line, who said to call the on call pediatrician. He said if it was that high, to head for the ER, but it got down to 102, so I decided just to take her in in the morning. But all night long she was very restless, and seemed to be having a hard tme breathing, but she wasn't cyanotic.
Got up Thursday morning and took her to dr's office. By then my instincts were just SCREAMING that something was very wrong. I was terrified. She was obviously VERY sick. I really thought we were going to wind up in the hospital, and the dr said that he could certainly justify sending her there, that she did indeed have pneumonia. But gave her a shot of antibiotics. Her pulse ox was 95, a bit low, but not disasterous. Dr sent us home, had us check back by phone later the afternoon, and called in an oral antibiotic.
She's still quite sick, but much better.
So, to answer the question, no, I probably would not have gone to the ER. However, in the future, in that situation, I would listen to my instincts. If they said go, I would have gone. But I still would probably stay away from the ER if possible. But, I might in those circumstances. Depends on what my gut said. What did they wind up saying?
