My 34 Year Old Daughter Who is a Nurse
 

Both of her kids, 5 and 2, have a stomach virus. One has had a fever. She asked me to feel the 5 year old to see if I thought he had a fever. So I felt him and he felt fine. She asked me if I believed in determining a fever by touch and I said yes. She said she hadn't believed in it much. But she's working on her nurse practitioner degree and is doing clinicals with a cardiologist. She said he felt a patient and estimated the patient's fever to be 101.5, and it was. She was just amazed at this. She said back when the doctor went to school they had to rely on not having x-rays to determine pneumonia. What?? This doctor is my age 60, and I know that because I used to be friends with his ex-wife. She herself had pneumonia at 9 months. She asked me how they determined it and I told her x-ray. Do most young people this age think things were so archaic back in the 70s?

Thinking back to when I had my kids in the 70's compared to now. The hospital was archaic! My second born was thought to have a major problem that x rays showed. Bad bad problem. Ultrasound was brand new and only one hospital in the state had the machine. I had to travel there to get the ultrasound. It showed the baby was okay! But the old Drs. said they didn't believe in ultrasound and prepared me for the worst. Two wanted me to not have the child!! My DD was born healthy and I went through mental agony for four months and fighting the Drs and being told I was foolish, selfish, and ignorant, for believing in ultrasound when the x rays showed the problem.

Things have really changed!!!! I also felt the head for fever on my children.

He, he. my Doctor told me years ago that his new Echo cardiogram machine said I never had a prolapsed mitral valve in my heart. never! had it all my life, my mother and sister and my son and her son do to. I just said OK to him. How do you tell a Doctor anything? oh well. at least it wasn't a child he was diagnosing.

OMG. I remember the doctor coming to the house when my sister and I had a fever, and he gave us shots. House calls have gone the way of the dinosaur. (Now I feel like the dinosaur!)

When I was a child, I don't even think we had a thermometer! I'm old as dirt. ha. We didn't go to the Dr. He drove 10 miles to us. when the river had us so we couldn't get out to get to a Dr. I was taken out on a railroad car. Loved it!

I wonder what the doctors would rely on now if all the electric was off and no way to get it back on?

My husband still does this to me. Especially when I am not feeling well :)

I check the back of the neck.

Anyone that thinks the good old days were so great doesn't remember how they really were. I would never want to go back to the days of my childhood or want my grands to live that way either.

Nothing beats the intuition of a mother, nothing. And the best doctors, the most efficient and well trained ones, know this and rely on it. If, when I was a younger mom, I had a doc who didn't 'get this', we weren't their patient very long! And now my daughter is one of those "great" doctors; a pediatrician who is absolutely adored by her patients and their parents. And she's 33 and uses alternative medicine when it's available and useful.

Jan in VA

A mix of both is good. My son has muscular dystrophy and I know exactly which exons on the X chromosome are deleted. He was diagnosed 3-4 years earlier than most boys because I noticed a mildly awkward gait (mothers intuition). They are working on cures at the genetic level. That would not have been possible 10 years ago. To all those who have ever donated to muscular dystrophy association or any other related charity...THANK YOU and treatment is improving by leaps and bounds!

I always check with my hand before even thinking of getting out the thermometer. I had to get a pharmacy to order in good old fashioned under the tongue thermometers for me, all they had were battery powered ones. I am lucky that we get so few fevers in my house that the batteries were always dead when I needed it.

I am happy with modern medicine. My mum recently had cataract surgery on both her eyes, that has not been around for all that long.

I also work for 2 alternative health practitioners and see a place for them in keeping ourselves as healthy was we can be.

I too subscribe to a mix of old and new. Some doctors are extremely good diagnosticians. My husband and son both see a doctor who never gets it wrong (and the further testing proves him right). The majority of mothers and quite a number of dads also know their kids so well....when they say somethings not right...they are to be believed. It still baffles me when I read of cases where a person/child has been presented at an emergency room, patted on the head, sent home and ends up deceased because someone either couldn't be bothered or is not well-trained enough to spot a serious problem. We have one regional hospital here with that problem....3 deaths occurred which should not have happened. That being said...without modern medicine I would not be alive today...Placenta praevia with my first son and later Systemic Lupus and a dicky ticker. My thanks and admiration to all medical practicioners, scientists and researchers.

These days you just need a smart phone to keep track of your heart and other medical probs - saw it on YouTube.

This makes my blood boil!! Who do those doctor's think they are....GOD???? And how many weak women caved??? What did they have to say when she was born without the problem???

I also use the "touch method" for testing temperature. Then, if the person feels warm, the thermometer comes out to verify. I used this for my kids, husband, students, and now, my mom.
Medical help is only as good as the person diagnosing/treating. All the fancy machines in the world can't make up for a lousy diagnostician. IMHO (And I should know...my FIL was a GP)

I had a friend who said there is a reason it is called a medical practice. "Practice" being the operative word.

I feel with my cheek to the forehead......can tell everytime if they have a high temp.
D in TX

All the intuition in the world and the best medicine in the world won't help many of us if the rules governing medical care change and the price goes beyond our ability to pay. We have already had many of our doctors stop their practices this year in the two cities closest to us and many more are no longer taking new medicare patients. I just read an article where there is a growing shortage of medical students applying at the medical schools. Medical insurance for a family of four is estimated to cost over $20,000 per year in another 7 years. Our GP office visits have gone up $100 per visit in the last 15 months and they are in line with other doctors costs.

yep, me too. Sometimes by just looking at them.

Now,folks...let's not say too many bad things about doctors:). I happen to be one...and I am also a nut- case quilter. Being a physician is a very scary responsibility( can't just frog a seam,if work doesn't go we'll,you know). In my experience,most docs try to do their thing as well as they are able,but you do recall what they call the folks that graduate last in the med school class?( Doctor). Docs are very human; we aren't perfect,we do the best we can with hard problems to fix,too little sleep,much time away from our families etc etc. being a quilter helps me at work...I am known for my fine stitching on facial boo boos! Francie

Yep, when my Mom, brother and me has strep throat, came right out!!

We have already reached this point in NY. High deductable ($1000 deductable with pt. paying 20% of the remainder.) was $18,000 in 2012 for TWO people!!!! $1550 a MONTH.

For example; In 2011 we paid $1381 every month. I had surgery on my thumb and MY share , $1000 deductable, plus 20% of the remainder was $3000 (YES, on top of the $1381 we paid every month).

We can not afford these rates now, so we have the highest deductable, $11,000 for $703 a month. Unless we have a serious accident or cancer, heart attack, etc we get nothing for our $703. Doctor visits are $90, we pay for everything else too. My drugs are about $300 a month.

My husband's firm employs 7 people, and I certainly understand that his boss cannot pay for our health care coverage. Some of this is tax deductable, but THIS year our share has gone UP to the first 10%, where is has been 7% for years. Talk about our government putting the screws to us!!!!!

Adding to our angst is the fact that so so many get their care paid for by the taxpayers, US, either because of the burgeoning size of our government, or through Medicaid and Child Health Plus, Healthy Families, etc. WE pay yet we go without. If we don't pay we will be thrown in jail and/or have our house taken away from us. Welcome to the American middle class!!!

Let me add that NEITHER party has the right answers at this time, and MOST people don't know how bad the problem really is because they don't pay for their insurance.

I used to kiss my children's forehead and I kiss my husband's forehead. Our family has a history of pyloric stenosis. It usually occurs in first and last-born children (male or female). Also can happen in middle child. First symptoms are right after feeding (breast or bottle (mother's milk or formula, soy,doesn't matter) and the child is usually newborn- 6 weeks old. Right after feeding when you get ready to burp and the child literally spits up liken to vomiting like a projectile force. If this happens get the infant to the physician or ER immediately. The valve between the stomach and intestine (how I can only describe) tends to swell shut. The formula/milk has no where else to go but back the way it came out. This can lead to starvation. My nephew had this when he was born and his newborn son had it. My nephew was made aware of this situation as soon as he and his wife found out their son was his way. Some parents will let this go on almost till the next dr. visit. By that time the baby can be in the starvation mode stage 4 (nearly dead) and sadly CPS is called in. My nephew took his son to the ER in the middle of the night 3 days after they were home from the hospital. He was told it was just a little bit of spit up. He told them where to go, went out the door and to the next hospital where low and behold the ER dr. happened to be the dr. who delivered him and new what he was talking about. That same dr. was also my dr. many years ago and diagnosed my youngest son. My nephew little one had surgery the next day and he is thriving. He is a beautiful little 5 month old. So go with your gut instincts.

Also be aware of your family history. It can save your life.

The Drs. said I was just lucky. :mad: I remember ordering one out of my room but then was given a sedative to calm the crazy woman. I was breast feeding and got even more irate about the meds they were saying I had to have. DH was in the military and not home until after the birth. No family was with me. I despised those Drs. to their dying day. And they are all dead now.

I used to kiss the kids on their forehead, and if it felt too warm, I would check with a thermometer. We have come a long way, haven't we?

Doctors don't know everything. I had a leading gyn tell me, before examining me, that I had cancer because I was in my late 50's and bleeding nonstop. I knew I didn't (had it previously and knew how it felt). I asked him to do the tests and he did, and it was improperly cycling hormones, not cancer. He never apologized or acknowledged his error, and I lost a lot of respect for him. Can you imagine if I had not known my own body well, how worried I would have been? What would that do to someone else hearing that, before even being examined?

I think we tend to lift physicians up to God-like status when they are only humans with a lot of education under their belt. All that schooling does not automatically mean they are an expert or even good at their job. I prefer a physician who is an O.D. and looks at my body as a whole. Most O.D.s I have had are very accepting of alternative medicine in combination with traditional medicine and they listen to MY intuition with regard to my body. Let's face it, we are with our bodies 24/7 and are really the only ones who can feel when something is off. Absolutely hate when a Doctor tries to tell me that I am fine and just "imagining" things. I ended up getting anxiety attacks after a thyroidectomy...only to have a Dr. tell me that I could not possibly have anxieties because I had no more thyroid...and I needed to be on Anti-Depressants. First and last time I ever listened to a physician against my own instincts.

My doctor has me check my cheek to the back of my hand. They are about the same when you are well. So it is a pretty good indicator if you feel your face is much hotter that you have a temp.

I always kissed my son's forehead to check for a fever. If it was hot, he had a fever. I did same with husband. Lips are very sensitive to heat. I am not a doctor or a nurse, but I always knew when either one had a fever. I gave them a couple of aspirin to bring the fever down. And if the fever was gone for 48 hours, the son went back to school and the husband went to work. But I made them stay home for the 48 hours. A little common sense works a long way. They got better and most important, they didn't pass the darn germ around. And a little babying never hurt anyone. A malted milk works wonders!!! Me? I wasn't allowed to get sick, much less have a fever!!!! We are the Omnipotent ones!!!! Edie

In 1963, my doctor told me I needed a hysterectomy because of fibroids. I thought he needed a new BMW. I still haven't had the surgery, so I guess it wasn't really necessary. I have, however, had two more children - and they have provided me with 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

We all would be in so much trouble!!

For the most part I have found my doctors to be supportive and understanding. I have hypothyroidism and have found male endocrinologists to be condescending, like I brought this on myself. They don't believe me when I talk about symptoms.

I remember house calls too...oh how mom would go into a cleaning fit before that dr. arrived.
I to this day use my hands to determine fever. but not on the forehead, always feel the chest and back. Some tools never get old : )

At a Dr. visit a few years ago I was telling him about how my joints
hurt so bad some days that going up and down 3 flights of stairs
(we live on the 3rd floor no elevator).

So he ran blood work than proceeded to tell me the blood work
did not show any indication of arthritis.

I told the blood work may not say there is arthritis, but it can't tell
where I am hurting.

Just made me so made, guess the Dr thought because I was only
in my 40's that I can't have pain in my joints.


I started taking glucosamine tablets everyday it has helped some
but still have really bad days where the thought of navigating those
stairs makes me think twice if I really need to go anywhere.

When my daughter was young (she is 31 now) we lived in the country
our family Dr was an old time country Dr who kept up to date on all the
newest medical practices he could. To walk into his office which was in
the basement of his house you would think you stepping back in time
to the 1940's but his two "back" rooms was filled up with some of the
newest technology of the 80's.

He treated my daughter for croup via telephone so that we did not
have to take her out, told us exactly what to do to help her.

Sure miss old man Cutchin's

As a nurse (RN) myself, I fully appreciate the new technology but as a mom my best thermometer was putting my hands on my kids faces to know when they had a fever. Even with patients in the hosp. I could see the flushed face or just felt their skin to know when their temps. were up.

The eyes are a great tool, too. You can see a difference in their eyes to know something is wrong.

Yes, I worked with doctors occas. whose opinion I had no faith in at all. Thankfully they were rare. With nost doctors, I really appreciated their extensive education.

Pat G

My DH had hip surgery and was not feeling prime to begin with, but then he started to look pale, weaken, and cough. He had low grade 99.0 - 100.0 fever, coughing up "stuff" that was an off color. I listened to his lungs and they sounded raspy and wet. I took my DH to the doctor immediately! He had pneumonia. I am glad that I was able to assess him and know something was wrong. My daughter with no training, came to the house as we were leaving and said "Mom, Dad sounds and looks bad" do you think he might have pneumonia? LOL.

My other thing to say is that many times we think that since we are not "doctors" we don't know what is happening to our family. Use your common sense and you will be surprised at how often you know in your heart and in your gut what is happening.