A Feverish Dicussion
The school nurse called me today. My daughter was in her office with a possible ear infection and a temperature of “ one hundred and four”. (Reads 104, right?) Motherly panic sets in as I start to envision my daughter’s ear drum about to burst at any second.
What the nurse should of said was one hundred POINT four. (100 point, decimal, period, dot 4) Now a fever is a fever, and when your child is ill you want to seek out prompt medical attention. Accuracy is key however.
That point, as apposed to and, makes the difference of calling the pediatrician to see if she can squeeze the” ‘lil’ pixie” in , or, making yourself look like a hypochondriac parent at the ER.
I wouldn’t complain if this was the first time the school nurse has made this little error in wording. Two month ago she had called to report that my son had a raging fever of one hundred –and- five. (100.5, thank you, thank you very much.)
You know ,I gave up coffee because of these kinds of rises in my anxiety level. Which was very difficult considering I live in New England and you can pretty much depend on a Dunkin' Donuts being within a one mile radius in any given direction. Here all roads lead to a Dunkin' Donuts. ( I miss Fred)
To add insult to being brow beaten by the triage nurse, my daughter’s temperature upon arrival at the ER was a whopping 98.6, and she has an ear wax problem.
Thank you.
