Severe tonsillitis in teenager - guilty mother

[mears]

My poor 16 years old ds has a horrendous bout of tonsillitis. He has had a sore throat for a week which he has had paracteamol/brufen for. Yesterday DH took him to the doctor and he has been started on antibiotics. Today he sounds muffled when he talks and his neck is more swollen than yesterday. I have another appointment booked for this morning because it is the worst throat I have seen. I feel so bad because he is meant to be going abroad with the school on Thursday and I wish I had had him seen earlier. Parenting doesn't get any easier as they get older

[Janstar]

Mears, a very good friend of mine (who is a fantastic mother) once told me that motherhood and guilt go hand in hand. How true!

You are not to blame for this. You have to do the best you can in any given circumstances and this was probably indistinguishable from any trivial sore throat at first.

It sounds to me as if your son is now going to be spoilt rotten while he recovers. I am sure he will not blame you.

[janh]

Oh, mears, how rotten for both of you, agree utterly with Janstar's friend! Sore throats are so run of the mill I don't think anybody rushes off to the doctor with them.

It might not even be a bacterial infection anyway - DH had a very bad sore throat plus just one swollen tonsil a couple of weeks ago, and went to the GP (a very rare occurrence) and the GP did the classic "probably viral, might be bacterial, here's a prescription, you can use it if you want"!!! (He didn't in the end, drank a lot of orange juice and took vitamin C and it started to ease next day.)

But if yours is bacterial then the antibiotics should work to make him well enough for Thursday? Hope so. Poor lad.

[mears]

Just back from GP. He took a swab just to make sure it is a bacterial infection ( would have been better taken yesterday). If it is antibiotic should cause an improvement tomorrow and he should be able to go on school trip.
If no improvement or no growth on swab it is more likely that he has glandular fever ( classic at this age) and will therefore not go on trip. Will need a blood test in that case too. I have got one miserable boy on my hands. Feel really sorry for him.

[janh]

Hope it is a bacterial infection then, mears, and not glandular fever

[SoupDragon]

It took 48 hours for the ABs to kick in when I had tonsillitis and then the pain disappeared within the next 24 hours.

[Bogwoppit]

don't feel guilty about not going sooner. most gps say to wait till you've had it a few days B4 they'll do anything because of it poss being a viral infection.

one day of antibiotics prob wont't have an affect on the growth too much if he has a really bad infection.
Just one colony would be enough for the lab to say yes it's bacterial esp in light of him having strted antibiotics.

fingers crossed for you that is is a nice Group A Strep & not glandular fever.

[suedonim]

Poor you and poor ds, Mears! Don't beat yourself up about this - if he'd gone to the dr last week they'd probably just have sent him away with paracetamol and hot drinks, anyway. I hope it is something the a/bs will cure and not glandular fever - that is miserable.

And in case you still feel guilty, I think a friend of my takes the biscuit for negligent mothers. She took her ds to A&E with a suspected broken toe and they informed her that it was indeed broken and did she know he also had a fractured ankle?? He'd been complaining for three weeks about it, after a rugby injury, and she'd been doling out paracetamol!

[mears]

Well the poor soul is no better today - infact his left tonsil is bigger as is the swelling in his neck - the right one is already huge. They are both covered with grey gunge. I think it is probably more likely to be glandular fever as the antibiotics have not made the slightest diffrence yet. Have phoned the school and cancelled his trip. It is such a shame for him

[suedonim]

I'm sorry to hear that, Mears. You'll be doling out the TLC for a few weeks if it's G Fever. Has he had a blood test yet?

[jasper]

Really sorry to hear about your boy.
Hope he gets better soon.
xx

[mears]

Going for blood test this afternoon. His throat is absolutely disgusting with no response to antibiotic. I am pretty sure it is glandular fever. Have done a search on google. Will just have to sit it out till it gets better. Hopefully he won't be left exhausted for weeks on end

[Twinkie]

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[Gem13]

mears - so sorry to hear about your son. I suffered with tonsillitis practically every month when I was younger until a very reluctant surgeon finally gave in to my mother's badgering and took them out when I was 9. I had GF too when I was 15 and it was pretty miserable although the time off school was good and I could lounge around all day!

I used to gargle with soluble aspirin before meals to make eating more bearable but it was still bloomin' painful.

Hope he gets better soon. Shame about him missing the trip.

[robinw]

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[mears]

Thanks for the tips. Saw the doctor. He is also pretty sure it is glandular fever. Even he said 'yeuch' when he saw his tonsils. Blood results will take a couple of days so it will be Monday before we have confirmation.
Anyway, nothing we can give except painkillers, fluids and rest.

[mears]

Got the blood test results today - DS definately has glandular fever. He is actually a lot better but obviously he may well suffer the effects of post viral illness soon. Any experiences of GF (not Gina 0 out there? Can you have it without being debilitated for months?

[yoko]

i had gf 18 mnths ago,it was pretty debilitating for 2-3 months to be honest,as small children just have to be looked afterdont they!?now i just work on keeping my immune system really strong as having gf can weaken it for up to 5 yrs.i have to keep ontop of sleep too,im in bed as soon as can be if not i start to get enlarged glands,sore throat etc(it goes with rest tho)not wanting to sound really pathetic,i do feel weakened by having had gf,also shocked at how terribly awful it makes you feel(depressed as well as tired and ill)sorry to sound so gloomy,i have been told its different for different people,so really,really hope your son makes a swift recovery.

[janh]

mears, I do hope you have stopped feeling guilty now!

IIRC, 2 of DD1's year had GF in Y11. Don't remember which months they both started with it, Jan/Feb possibly - they were both poorly and off school for a bit but did very well in their exams in the summer. DD1 will be home tomorrow for a flying visit from uni, I'll ask her then if she remembers any details.

As your DS has started with it now he should be well recovered by exam time. Do you know how long he'll have to be off school now? Will the school be able to provide him with some work to help him keep up once he's feeling stronger? I don't know how energetic he is normally but do your best to stop him doing too much too soon and give him lots of vitamin C!

[suedonim]

At least you know what's going on with your ds now, Mears. My ds, (aged 26!) came home for his Mummy to nurse him when he had GF. He was exhausted/bad throat/depressed for about 2-3 weeks and then started to improve. But it was really easy to overdo things at that stage. He'd feel okay to, say, come into town, but would then be laid out for the next two days.

He had already had an ME-type illness a couple of years previously so perhaps that complicated things a bit, I dunno. He went back to work after four weeks but he wasn't up to it and they sent him home for another fortnight, so I guess he was ill for about 6-7 weeks in total. A bad cold/throat now can still bring him down lower than I feel it should but otherwise he's fine.

At least you won't have a tearful fiancee phoning from Los Angeles every five minutes, weeping and wailing that it was all her fault because she's had 'Mono' the previous year and must have infected him!!!! Young love, eh??

[mears]

I have been giving him vitamin C and thought that if he became really lethargic I would take him to a well known homeopathic doctor in the area. Perhaps I should make an appointment for him anyway. I don't suppose giving him boosters for his immune system would be detrimental - other than to my purse! Do you think that would be a good idea or wait and see. I am in a quandry about what to do because I really don't want him being ill studying for his highers.

[Jimjams]

Go and see the homeopath. It could stop it getting any worse and will aid recovery and won't do any harm.

[suedonim]

I'm sure homeopathy will be fine but when you mentioned immune boosters, Mears, that reminded me that we were told by a health food expert and a pharmacist that echinacea shouldn't be taken when you have gf. I'm not sure why, though - does anyone know the reason?

[jasper]

mears I suggest you take your full purse to the locally famous homoeopath, but drive on past just a few hundred yards to the equally famous local country house hotel and spend the money on a fabulous lunch for you and your dh


If you have any change get the boy a bottle of lucozade.