Almost two weeks ago, Lydia complained that her toe hurt. When I looked at it, the toe was swollen to the point that I wondered if she could have broken it without us noticing the injury.
Then I noticed a small puncture in the center of the swollen area and decided we were probably dealing with some sort of insect bite. After a quick call to my sister, the nurse, I had a list of symptoms to watch for overnight.
By morning the toe was still swollen and there was a faint area of redness spreading up her foot. Everything was sore and she was walking funny to avoid pressure on the toe. Add in that she complained of a stomach ache and we were headed to the pediatrician.
Within a week, we had been to the pediatrician 3 times (Tuesday, Friday, and Monday) and then made an unplanned visit to Children's Hospital ER on Sunday.
She has had her toe drained (an excruciating ordeal), she has had to lie still and soak it, she has missed school, and she has been on a lot of different antibiotics. We think that we finally have the right one, but it tastes AWEFUL!
Her first dose took a lot of coaxing to get down and then on the last sip, she gagged on the vile stuff and it came back up again.... And then we had to get her to take a new dose all over again! I asked my Facebook friends for ideas and, in Mary Poppins fashion, the best suggestion was a spoonful of.... Peanut butter!
The peanut butter coats the mouth prior to taking the medicine. Lydia then uses a syringe style medicine measure device to shoot the antibiotic as far to the back of her mouth as possible. She usually has a glass if water nearby in case there is a bad taste that needs to be washed away. Even without the syringe, she has managed to take her medicine without any problems. I wouldn't say the medicine goes down in the most delightful way, but it does go down without a fight. Hopefully, as a result, the swelling and infection in Lydia's toe will also go down. That would be delightful!
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