Strep? No Strep? Strep? Pneumonia? Rheumatic Fever?

Katie's daughter, Tiffany, has been sick for a couple of weeks.

I just don't understand why many trips to the doctor failed to yield much of anything. One has to wonder sometimes about the medical profession.

Way back on February 14 or 15 (a couple of weeks ago) Tif ended up with a fever. She wasn't feeling terribly bad or anything, just had fever. Her mom gave her some acetaminophen but it didn't help. Her temperature kept rising, way up to 103.5°! So, off to the ER one night she went.

Here's a brief summary of the events/diagnoses in the days/weeks following:

• Visit 1 to ER: no strep, no flu - treat the fever
  
• Visit 2 to family doctor: no strep, no flu - treat fever with meds
  
• Visit 3 to ER: strep and pneumonia - prescribed amoxicillin
  
• Visit 4 to family doctor: amoxicillin NOT proper treatment, went to penicillin for strep and pneumonia
• Visit 5 to ER: no strep, pneumonia gone - prescribed strong cough syrup/pain med because Tif now complained of aches and pains, especially in feet.
• Visit 6 to family doctor: rheumatic fever - prescribed steroids to treat

Two weeks later, today, Tif returns to school, but I wonder if she will make it through the day.

One thing though, her suffering this week has seemed to make her more compassionate for others who suffer chronic pain. I pointed out to her that some people she knows suffer from pain due to illnesses with no cure and she was surprised by what I told her and by whom was afflicted. She said "I would kill myself" and asked how they do it. I don't know but for the grace of God.

Then she saw me limping about and asked "your feet hurt?" and I said "uh, yeah, that's why I've been seeing a podiatrist, he treats my Achilles tendonitis." She had no clue -- mind you, I've been limping around now for months! LOL

She also sincerely thanked her mom for taking care of her (which was NOT easy! Not easy for mom to take care of her, and NOT easy for Tif to recognize the efforts of a caretaker! LOL).

From better days, here's a repost of a humorous YouTube video by Tif and her friend Emilie discussing whether Brunettes or Redheads are better? This is Tif at her comedic best! LOL It's garners close to 150 comments so far, so join the fun!