I saw a teenage girl and her mom in the office today. The mom told me her daughter had high fevers and a cough, since about 10 days ago. She was really worried that something serious might be going on. I was a little worried too. Anyone with a cough as bad as the mom described, not to mention high fevers for 10 days, would probably need antibiotics. But when I looked at the girl, she was sitting there as happy as can be. No cough. No fever. She didn’t look sick at all. Could this even be the same girl?

I started asking the girl some questions, and sure enough, she had fevers that started about ten days ago, and over this past weekend her cough had gotten really bad. I examined her, but everything looked and sounded just fine. I thought I might just put her on antibiotics just to cover what must be some sort of infection somewhere (although I really hate doing that), but I decided to ask her just one more question:

“Exactly when was your last fever?”
“Oh, it was last Tuesday.”
“You mean, like seven days ago Tuesday?”
“Yup.”
“So your fever started about ten days ago, like you said before, but it only lasted 3 days?”
“Yup, but it was really high.”
“And how bad was your cough last night and this morning?”
“Oh, it’s much better now. But it WAS really bad before.”
“Is there anything in particular that is still bothering you now?”
“Not really.”

My first thought, as I put my prescription pad away, was “So why are you even here?” My next thought was “I’m so glad I don’t have to write another unnecessary prescription for antibiotics.”

My third thought was, “Wow. Is MY teenager just as difficult to get a clear answer out of?”

My last thought, after not saying any of my first three thoughts out loud, was “I’m not just here to see really sick kids. I’m also here to offer reassurance when parents are worried. And it’s actually a wonderful thing that most “sick” kids that I see really aren’t very sick.”

So I offered my most sincere reassurance to both mom and child, and told them what things to watch out for over the next week that should prompt a call back to us. No need to tell her what was really going through my mind. She never needs to know. Hmmm, I wonder if she ever visits our website. If she does, hopefully she will cherish the thought that my teenager, and almost everyone else’s, is just like hers. You gotta love ‘em.

Dr. Bob