Mommy call
Last night was my first experience with "mommy call." I had a call that I just have to tell you about:
3:30 "beep beep, beep beep" I groggily search for my pager, bumping it off the window in my half awake clumsiness. I finally manage fish it out from among my covers: 4-6800. Yep, it's the operator must be another Mommy wondering what is the matter with her precious baby. It takes me several attempts before I finally dial the operator number correctly (no, dialing "9" first doesn't get me anywhere nor does just dialing 4-6800...my brain just doesn't work well before 5 am).
"Hello, this is Dr. Nelson, I'm returning a page." "Oh, hello Dr. Nelson! I have a mother on the other line...(this operator sounds way to cheerful)...she's worried about her son's throat.
Oh no! my mind instantly jumps into worse case scenarios that would warrant a 3 am doctor's call: epiglottitis, tonsilar abscess, pharyngeal abscess, tonsilitis. Just thinking about them makes my heart rate quicken while I wait for the operator to connect the call.
Voice on the other end: "Hello, is this the doctor."
Me: "Yes, I'm doctor Nelson, can you tell me why you are calling/"
Wide awake and worried Mommy: "Yes doctor, you see I'm so concerned about my son, he's 18 and he is complaining of a sore throat and he coughed up a little blood AND..."
Me: "Can you give me his medical record number so I can locate him in the computer?" I'm really worried, a sore throat in an 18 MONTH old and blood too. This is bad.
Worried Mommy: "Before I give it to you doctor, let me give you my son's cell phone number in case we get disconnected, my phone has not been working well"
Me: "You're SON'S cell phone number?"
Worried Mommy: "Yes, he has his own cell phone, it's ###-####"
Me: "Uh....he's 18 YEARS....."
Worried Mommy: "Yes, he's 18 years old, AND I'm worried because he's not been drinking very much while playing sports and I keep telling him that he needs to drink lots of water or he'll get dehydrated and I'm hoping that you will talk to him tonight and tell him to drink water when he plays sports."
Me: "Uh-huh..."
Worried Mommy: "Yes, he's here by the phone and would you like to talk to him, I think you should talk to him and tell him he needs to drink more water."
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "Hello" pronounced huhlow
Me: "What's wrong."
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "My throat hurts and I coughed blood tinged mucous up."
Me: "How long has your throat been hurting?"
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "Since yesterday and now I can't swallow."
Me: "Can't swallow!!! Are you sure you can't swallow?"
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "Well, I haven't tried."
Me: "Will you try for me?"
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "Sure."
Me: "Go drink two sips of water right now while I listen."
I hear him fumble around for a glass, some running water sounds, and then two big gulps.
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "I guess I can drink after all."
After obtaining a negative ROS which I won't bore anyone with here, I recommended some Motrin and told him I'd make an urgent care appointment for him in the afternoon.
I was just ready to hang up when the wide awake worried Mommy got back on the phone insisting that I still needed to talk to her sleepy 18 y/o son about his lack of water intake while playing sports!!
I assured her that 3:30 am is NOT the time to talk about how much water to consume while playing sports and that I would be happy to address the issue in urgent care that afternoon.
Wide awake worried mother seemed happy with this plan and we ended the conversation on an amicable note.
As I sank back into my pillow, and tried to rejoin my interrupted dreams my mind couldn't help wondering what this world would be like if we didn't have wide awake mothers to worry about their sleepy 18 y/o son's water intake!
-Rachel Nelson
Last night was my first experience with "mommy call." I had a call that I just have to tell you about:
3:30 "beep beep, beep beep" I groggily search for my pager, bumping it off the window in my half awake clumsiness. I finally manage fish it out from among my covers: 4-6800. Yep, it's the operator must be another Mommy wondering what is the matter with her precious baby. It takes me several attempts before I finally dial the operator number correctly (no, dialing "9" first doesn't get me anywhere nor does just dialing 4-6800...my brain just doesn't work well before 5 am).
"Hello, this is Dr. Nelson, I'm returning a page." "Oh, hello Dr. Nelson! I have a mother on the other line...(this operator sounds way to cheerful)...she's worried about her son's throat.
Oh no! my mind instantly jumps into worse case scenarios that would warrant a 3 am doctor's call: epiglottitis, tonsilar abscess, pharyngeal abscess, tonsilitis. Just thinking about them makes my heart rate quicken while I wait for the operator to connect the call.
Voice on the other end: "Hello, is this the doctor."
Me: "Yes, I'm doctor Nelson, can you tell me why you are calling/"
Wide awake and worried Mommy: "Yes doctor, you see I'm so concerned about my son, he's 18 and he is complaining of a sore throat and he coughed up a little blood AND..."
Me: "Can you give me his medical record number so I can locate him in the computer?" I'm really worried, a sore throat in an 18 MONTH old and blood too. This is bad.
Worried Mommy: "Before I give it to you doctor, let me give you my son's cell phone number in case we get disconnected, my phone has not been working well"
Me: "You're SON'S cell phone number?"
Worried Mommy: "Yes, he has his own cell phone, it's ###-####"
Me: "Uh....he's 18 YEARS....."
Worried Mommy: "Yes, he's 18 years old, AND I'm worried because he's not been drinking very much while playing sports and I keep telling him that he needs to drink lots of water or he'll get dehydrated and I'm hoping that you will talk to him tonight and tell him to drink water when he plays sports."
Me: "Uh-huh..."
Worried Mommy: "Yes, he's here by the phone and would you like to talk to him, I think you should talk to him and tell him he needs to drink more water."
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "Hello" pronounced huhlow
Me: "What's wrong."
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "My throat hurts and I coughed blood tinged mucous up."
Me: "How long has your throat been hurting?"
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "Since yesterday and now I can't swallow."
Me: "Can't swallow!!! Are you sure you can't swallow?"
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "Well, I haven't tried."
Me: "Will you try for me?"
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "Sure."
Me: "Go drink two sips of water right now while I listen."
I hear him fumble around for a glass, some running water sounds, and then two big gulps.
Sleepy 18 y/o son: "I guess I can drink after all."
After obtaining a negative ROS which I won't bore anyone with here, I recommended some Motrin and told him I'd make an urgent care appointment for him in the afternoon.
I was just ready to hang up when the wide awake worried Mommy got back on the phone insisting that I still needed to talk to her sleepy 18 y/o son about his lack of water intake while playing sports!!
I assured her that 3:30 am is NOT the time to talk about how much water to consume while playing sports and that I would be happy to address the issue in urgent care that afternoon.
Wide awake worried mother seemed happy with this plan and we ended the conversation on an amicable note.
As I sank back into my pillow, and tried to rejoin my interrupted dreams my mind couldn't help wondering what this world would be like if we didn't have wide awake mothers to worry about their sleepy 18 y/o son's water intake!
-Rachel Nelson
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