Monday, May 23, 2011

May 23rd 2011

We are seeing lots of kids with sore throats. About half of them are positive for strep so far today.
There are plenty of irritatingly long lasting, but mild coughs hanging around.
I did talk to several families today with kids who well may have slap cheek.
There are not nearly as many new cases of diarrhea, but some of my poor patients are still trying to get their tummies back to normal after this nasty bug.

Tis the season and we are starting to see kids with poison oak.
If you suspect an exposure wash off thoroughly with technu or soap and water as soon as you can, and get all the affected clothes into the laundry ( hot water and then wipe the washer with alcohol) Watch out for pets who have been out romping in the poison oak because you can get exposed to the oil after petting them.
If there is a severe case of poison oak rash on the face, hands, or genitals, we will likely want an office visit so that we can help determine on whether a course of steroids is needed or not.

Stay well
Judy

Thursday, May 19, 2011

safety class

I have 2 spots left in next Wednesday's Safety class.
Let me know if you are interested. RSVP is required. More info at www.nursejudy.net
This class will deals with staying calm when accidents happen, We will learn about recognizing a serious head injury after a fall, choking, burns,etc.
Judy

Monday, May 16, 2011

May 16th

The most common call I am getting today is about the tummy bug.
This particular bug has started with a day or two of vomiting, but then has moved to very persistent loose stools that have lasted for more than a week.
The kids seem like they are getting better, but the minute they get too ambitious with the diet, they start vomiting again.
Time will fix this. Probiotics and a very boring, bland starchy diet will get you through.
We also have complaints of a cough that lingers and lingers. We have not seen a lot of fevers or wheezing.
Several kids have complained about sore throats, but today all of the strep tests that we ran were negative.
Of course we saw several ear infections.

Stay well,
Nurse judy

Monday, May 2, 2011

May May May

No one seems terribly sick but this looks like a busy week for some moderate illnesses.
The nebulizers were humming in all of the exam rooms for most of the day, so there are a lot of wheezy coughs going around.

The tummy bug has been much more diarrhea than vomiting this week. If your child has runny stools the most important thing is to keep them hydrated. Replacing all of the fluid that they are losing with just water is NOT the best plan. Breast milk, pediatyte, gatorade or any electrolye solution are better choices. Bland foods, like the BRAT diet ( Banana, Rice, Applesauce toast)pasta, boiled chicken, yogurt ( but avoid other dairy) will be tolerated most easily. Adding probiotics like florajen has been very helpful.
If your child is in diapers, give their little butts as much air as you can manage.

We have a bunch of kids out there with several days of fever. I think there are still a smattering of viral syndromes such as slap cheek, hand foot mouth and roseola making the rounds.

We are still seeing plenty of kids with conjunctivitis..If they are under 2, we will likely want to see them for this.

Summer check ups are booking up quickly...Call for your annual physicals if your child is due.
Remember that all kids going into 7th grade and higher will need a TDaP in order to be admitted to school this fall.