A big scare

We went to see a pediatric dermatologist at Phoenix Children's Hospital on Tuesday. In his words, Spencer's eczema is completely out of control. We already knew that, but it was upsetting to hear it from the top authority on eczema in the whole state. He prescribed 4 topical medications (1 for the head, 1 for the face, 1 for the body and 1 for hands/feet) and 1 oral medication. The idea is that we get the eczema under control and then taper off to the bare minimum needed to keep it under control. After just one night we saw a big difference in his skin! Yeah!

So what's the scare? Spencer developed a fever yesterday afternoon and it got to be pretty high by bedtime. He is a very, very healthy child and has only had 2 other fevers in his life- one when he had a little stomach virus and one after getting a vaccination shot. He's never had an ear infection (knock on wood!) and even his colds are pretty mild.

After reading the side effects list on the thing you get with your medicine from Walgreens I was concerned that maybe the new oral medication was causing the fever. It's just too strange a coincidence that he would get a fever the day after taking a new medicine. Especially because he has no other symptoms of being sick.

Long story short, I talked to the pharmacy, the pediatrician, a nurse at Phoenix Children's and poison control last night. Poison control even checked with their toxicologist. The toxicologist said it is highly unlikely the medication is causing the fever, but I'm not so sure. Mother's intuition trumps a degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology.

We'll be taking Spencer in to get checked out today and until further notice- no more oral medicine. The topical stuff seems to be FANTASTIC though, so those will continue.

We are so grateful that we have good health insurance and live in a place where we have easy access to top notch health care.

Phoenix Children's Hospital