Right remedies
In my part of the world the winter is slowly creeping up on us. We’ve moved in the last few days from double digit autumn warmth, to low single digits with many millimetres of rain falling. Our northern neighbours are getting freezing rain, snow and high winds. Clearly it’s time to bunker-down for the true trials of winter: common illnesses.
Is there anything that make a new mother more stressed than her babe suffering from some undiagnosed plague? I remember Kate getting her first unidentifiable virus: she was hot with a fever, lethargic, pink cheeked and only wanted to be held. Like a limp doll, she was not her normal cheery self.
On the eve of Christmas (that’s when the best plagues come: when doctors are as scarce as pouting children) this was unnerving for me. My mother was visiting and my husband and I had planned an hour or two out to celebrate our anniversary. Having not shared her care with hardly anyone but my husband, I left her with a heavy heart. After all, I knew her non-verbal self the best.
When I returned, anxious to see and feel my patient for myself, I gently peppered my mother with questions about how she was when we were gone. I think she perceived my questions as an affront to her grandmothering skills and provided me with scant details. I pressed because I wanted to see if there was a pattern emerging. But in truth, nothing my mother had to report could have been more vital than what I knew when I touched her. She hadn’t changed, but she was happy to be back in my arms. I was happy too because that little time away reminded me of how much I used my whole body to assess her mood, physical state and emotional needs. It’s that Mommy thing.
Beyond my keen connection to my kids, I have in my arsenal a few skilled helpers. The first is the book, Smart Medicine For a Healthier Child. It is a jam, packed resource of every childhood ailment you can imagine, with detailed descriptions of symptoms allowing a parent to do some initial diagnostic work at home. But the authors follow up with treatment options from conventional medicine, homeopathies, nutrition and acupuncture. One can only feel informed and therefore more confident about managing common illnesses with this book on the shelf. I recommend it for every parent who wants to be in charge of her family’s health.
In Ontario we are also able to use a government service called Telehealth which allows people to talk with a Registered Nurse about the symptoms they are observing and possible courses of treatment or consultation. Their process is thorough (sometimes laboriously so) and you can feel assured you are getting knowledgeable advice. Some criticize the service because it will often recommend a trip to an outpatient clinic or the emergency room (which most try to avoid at all costs), but perhaps that’s because we are more likely to call with high fevers or contagious illnesses. I recommend anyone in our geography have the number on hand. 1 866.797.0000
Lastly, there is no better remedy than prevention itself. At this time of year most doctors and naturopaths recommend for children 500 mg vitamin C, a multi-vitamin, and a teaspoon of flavoured Arctic cod liver oil to support optimum health. Proper hand washing — the sort with lots of soap, and hand rubbing while belting out Twinkle, Twinkle or Jingle Bells — will go a long way to preventing the spread of seasonal viruses. And it’s cheaper and more effective than hand sanitizer (which I find handy after the kids have cruised the grocery store and hung on the carts).
I always layer my kids first with an undershirt (amidst the typical protests I used on my mother) then removable layers for warmth and comfort. I can also be heard harping on them to wear hats and warm, dry boots. If they do nothing else, those will quell complaints about the Canadian cold!
Knowing your child — the strength of her constitution, her weak points (like a child easily susceptible to ear/nose/throat problems) and health habits — will always help you make confident, wise choices for managing the inevitable parade of childhood illnesses. For you, there’s always a glass of wine and a good night’s sleep! Be well!