21/11/13 - No real answers yet

After hoping that I was over-reacting about the ears, I gave in and took Ellie to Doctor Naiker. I also wanted to ask him about the coughing, which is just not getting better.

In the waiting room we met the most adorable little girl. She was about the same age as Sophie, and clearly fascinated in babies. I watched her watching me and Ellie for a little while, until  she finally worked up the courage to come over and talk to me. She asked, "why is her nose like that?" While pushing her own nose flat with her finger. Her mother looked horrified that she'd asked, but I was fine with it. I expect children to be curious, and to ask frank questions. I explained that Ellie was born with a hole in her lip, and when the doctor fixed it her nose got a little bit flat. What I wasn't expecting was her response to my answer: "will it always look like that? Because I think it's cute!" What a sweetheart! 

After that she was full of questions about the things Ellie could do with a hole in her mouth. She was such a little angel, and I loved being able to spend even just a few minutes teaching her that sometimes people are different than us, but that it's a good thing and doesn't make them scary. Her mum should be very proud to be raising such a sweet little girl.

When doctor Naiker came to get us I was sad to say goodbye to her! But we had business to attend. The business of getting Ellie healthy. 

I explained that she was still having trouble with the cough and that we had already tried ventolin, prednisilone, and flixotide with no improvement. We were out of options and desperate for some relief for her. Doctor Naiker agreed that it was strange for none of them to work, and admitted that he was out of answers too. 

He decided to send an urgent referral through to the paediatricians in Latrobe while we waited for the respiratory specialist to fit her in. In the meantime he recommended we start her on another course of prednisilone and antibiotics, just in case there was something more than just a virus causing the long term cough.

Knowing that your doctor can't work out what's wrong with your baby is a scary thought. How long will she be like this before someone can help her? All we can do for now I guess is cross our fingers and hope the antibiotics work.