Today I went gambling. Not the typical Vegas-style kind, but rather the “common cold” kind. After a week of non-stop coughing and a runny nose, my yearning for the return of my normally happy two-year-old convinced me that perhaps there was something the doctor can do to help. With a degree in Microbiology, I am quite aware that antibiotics are useless against the common cold, but I was willing to take the gamble. Several phone calls, hundreds of tissues and one nasty cough attack later we arrived at the doctors office and headed towards the reception desk. While practicing my best “thank you for letting me pay your $20 for nothing smile” for the doctor, I ”cheerfully” handed over our co-pay to the receptionist and then took our seat in the waiting room. Thirty minutes of “Little Mermaid” later our names were called. As we past through the swinging doors I couldn’t help but feel as if we were unwilling contestants on a game show. With our money in hand, the doctor examined both ears and listened to her lungs and I felt as if I had just pulled the slot machine of medicine. “Come on ear infection! Come on allergies! Come on anything doesn’t make me look like a hypochondriac or requires me to listen to the ‘antibiotics don’t work on virus’ speech for the 500th time!” And the winner is…pneumonia?
“Excuse me? She has what?”
Pneumonia wasn’t supposed to be one of my options! All a sudden, “it’s just a cold” were the words I was dying to hear! Luckily it was a mild case and a week of antibiotics should do the trick, but my “whammy” at the slot machine of medicine got me thinking. I had it all wrong. A cold is just a cold and for that I should be thankful. As parents, we all aspire to be the perfect parent who is so in tune to every aspect for our child’s health that we know exactly when they need to go to the doctor or when they just need a good nap. But the truth is, that sometimes even doctors are not 100% sure what is best for our kids, so why do we expect 100% out of ourselves? Yes, a cold is just a cold, but pneumonia will always be pneumonia. So as parents, if means putting our pride on the line and admitting to the doctor that you are not sure if it’s only “just a cold,” then so be it. After all, what’s more important, a happy healthy kid or straights A’s on your parent report card?
