The other day at dinner my eight year old son, who reads constantly and retains nearly every bit of it (lucky dog), says out of the blue, "Did you know that the average kid gets eight colds a year?" No, I didn't know that...
Anna is getting over a cold. You wouldn't know that because I didn't tell you. But here's the thing, every time she gets a cold I have to decide whether or not to call the CF doctor and get her on an antibiotic. Of course, I can call the nurse (if she happens to be in that day) and tell her about Anna's condition, but more than likely she is going to tell me to start the antibiotic. They told me once that if she coughs in her sleep or more than say, four or five times in an hour, then we need to get her an antibiotic. They admit that much of the time the cause for the cold is a virus (not affected by antibiotics), but the antibiotic is a safety net so that if the cold turned bacterial she would be covered. I have also been made aware that she is on a cycle of three antibiotics- changing the medicine each time she has a health need (ie cold) so that her body doesn't become accustomed (or is the bacteria that doesn't become accustomed?) to the antibiotic so that eventually the antibiotic won't be effective. So what I am hearing is, the more times she has an antibiotic the less likely it will work in the future.
So, here I am imagining my precious daughter at age twenty, in the hospital with a severe respiratory condition and the antibiotics they are giving her aren't working because when she was a little child I called the doctor every time she coughed and put her on medicine "just in case." And I worry all day long as the cold progresses, "Is this the time I should call for the antibiotic? How many times did she cough in the last hour? Is it getting worse or better? Was that a cough or a snore? What if I don't call and she gets really sick? How will I live with that?" And round and round I go for days.... but happily this time, she is getting over it on her own.
But, what about the seven other times she is going to get sick this year?
