November 28th

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.
There are tons of illnesses floating around out there.

Many of the parent's I spoke to were so apologetic about calling this morning.
Don't be silly, that's what we are here for.

Mostly we are seeing coughs and colds ( some croup)
We are still seeing roseola and sore throats.
The cases of diarrhea seem to be subsiding, but I had a few vomiting kids this morning.
We are also seeing lots of odd mystery rashes.
I do NOT think that the flu is actually here yet, but do get vaccinated if you haven't yet. We still have the vaccine in stock. We do suggest that all patients over the age of 6 months get the protection.
Class updates:
I do have one space left in my Wednesday evening illness class. Email nursejudynvp@yahoo.com if you are interested
I will be doing my next safety class on December 14th at 7:45 pm
Stay well,
Nurse judy

Monday update/ Natural resources in trouble

We are seeing lots of wheezy coughs. The nebulizer has been humming along from many of the rooms here all morning.
I also am seeing some feverish achy kids. It feels viral and I don't know how many days it is lasting yet. It seems to respond well to the fever reducing meds and aside from the high fever the kids don't look too worrisome.
I am still seeing some remnants of that nasty diarrhea bug that was plaguing us earlier this month, but it is definitely on the wane.

Some of you may have heard that Natural resources ( a terrific neighborhood small business) is having a financial crisis.
They need to raise quite a bit of money in order to stay open.
I have offered to do an extra illness class tomorrow evening ( tuesday the 22nd) at 6:30 here in the office waiting room. 100% of the proceeds will go to the natural resource fundraiser.
If you are interested in joining..please email me at nursejudynvp@yahoo.com and put natural resources in the subject line.
RSVP's are required
We will be closed on Thursday and Friday this week.
The after hours clinic will be open to take care of any acute issues that come up.
Happy Thanksgiviing
Judy

new email/monday update 11/14

we do have a new email address nvpeds@gmail.com
Please remember that this is for NOT urgent issues only.
The nurses generally check it several times a day.

This Monday we are seeing Roseola, coughs/ colds/ and sore throats ( most have been negative for strep so far)
Dr Hurd worked in the weekend clinic and she said there were lots of wheezing patients.
The diarrhea is still going around. Most of the patients from 2 weeks ago are finally clearing up. I am speculating that it was simply a nasty virus. Time does seem to fix it. We just need to do gentle diet/ good hydration and good butt care to avoid rashes until they are better. For the youngest and smallest with persistent diarrhea I would want their weight checked if it goes on longer than 5 days.
For all the coughing kids...Teach your kids to cover those coughs whenever possible and do frequent hand washing/purell to stop the spread.
Stay well!
Nurse Judy

illness class scheduled

I will be doing my next illness class on November 30th at 7:45 pm
You can get full class info at www.nursejudy.net

Tuesday November 8th ( election day)

We are having trouble with our office email account. We are working hard to fix it, but for now we do not have a working email. I will likely be launching a new Gmail account later this week and I will post the address. Please remember that email correspondence is for NON urgent matters, None of the " dear Nurse Judy my child is having trouble breathing" stuff please ( and yes I have gotten that).
Illness wise we have been very very busy.
We are still seeing a diarrhea that has taken at least a week to clear. It does seem to be going away with gentle diet and probiotics, but it has been a tough one. The Similac expert care diarrhea formula has been near impossible to find, The rep is trying to help me find where you might get it, I will let you know if we find a stash.
We are seeing lots of sore throats, More often than not they have been strep, so any sore throat with a fever ( that doesn't have lots of congestion along with it) should be checked.
We have seen some roseola cases ( several days of fever...then fever fades and out comes the rash)
Yesterday we also got a positive office test for RSV, which is a nasty virus that causes lots of congestion in head and lungs. Mucous is clear. This virus is very rough on the youngest babies. There is not much to do for it but observe closely, keep heads elevated, use steam and keep the nose clear. I prefer that any child with labored breathing to be evaluated ( One of the Nurse Judy Rules).
The stack of phone calls has been enormous and twice recently I have made non urgent calls after the phones have been turned off and we are "officially closed" Thanks for your patience for the non urgent matters.
Please do call back if you are very worried and have waited longer than two hours for a call to be returned

Go out and vote!!
Nurse Judy

diarrhea galore

I am adding an extra post this week because I am seeing a large number of patients with diarrhea that has lasted longer than a week. The children seem fairly well otherwise. My typical treatment of BRAT diet, Similac diarrhea formula and probiotics has not worked the magic that it usually does. This has been a stubborn one. We are going to be starting to send some of this poop to the lab to get some answers.
We are also still seeing fevers with a croupy cough.
We are still seeing strep throat.

Good Hand washing please!!!!!
Judy

11/1/11

For any of you who are on our nvpedi email contact list...No Noe Valley pediatrics did not have it's suitcase stolen while traveling in Spain. Our account was hacked. Our password is safely changed. We did lose complete list of contacts ( anyone out there that can clue me in as to how to retrieve it, let me know)
In the meanwhile, We are seeing lots of sore throats. Half of them have been positive for strep throat.
There is a fever and cough going around that has lasted for 2-3 days.
There is a bit of diarrhea/vomiting
I hope everyone had a fun Halloween.
Stay well
Nurse Judy