Pneumonia - just getting over it, now dd7 has another cold

[shinynewnickname]

Dd7 was diagnosed with pneumonia a few weeks ago. She has had 2 courses of anti biotics as the first course made no difference. She has a follow up appointment at gp next week and a follow up at paediatrics in a fortnight where she Will have another chest xray.

Anyway she hasn't really improved greatly and is still off school. She has very little energy, very pale and gets breathless just walking down the stairs. Dr had suggested keeping her off school till Thursday. The thing is she woke up this morning with another cold and I don't know whether I should be taking her back to Dr before next week in case it gets into her chest and makes her worse again.

Anyone any experience with pneumonia? Also she was poorly for about 3 weeks before being diagnosed. We just thought she had a virus that had zapped her energy

[DeWe]

My dd1 had pneumonia when she was 8yo. She had 3 lots of antibiotics, first lot had some resistance, and then she needed two lots of concurrent for a double course.

That cleared the actual pneumonia, but she was very weak for about 6 months afterwards and picked up anything going, which is totally unlike her-she's missed I think 9 days of school since she started (in year 8 now). 3 of those were pneumonia (was at the start of holidays hence not more) and of the other 6, 5 were in the term after, and it would have been more if it hadn't been the summer holiday she'd had it over. I think she would have missed most of a month if not 6 weeks before she could have returned if it had been school time.

She also ended up having regular weigh checks as she had lost massive amounts of weight-she was lighter when they weighed her to see how much medicine they could give her, than she's been the previous time she was weighted-just over 2 years previously. She also didn't grow in the year after she had it.

Don't feel guilty about having missed it. All dd1 complained about was a sore shoulder. She continued with 2 dance performances and a swimming party that weekend, and was half way walking to school (40 minute walk) when she suddenly turned pale. Even then it was my insistance we got her checked at the doctor, rather than her saying she was ill. ANd of course, we had to walk back home too.
When we got to the doctor he reckoned with her statistics she should have been struggling to stand up.

I would take your dd back to the doctor. We were told with dd1 to take her back and get her checked regularly over a couple of months. When she was sick a month later, they even came out to her because they said her immunity was so low that something could become serious very quickly.

[Madmog]

I've had pneumonia twice, both times felt awful for two weeks even though I could breathe better and was more or less out of action during that time. For a couple of weeks after that I felt really tired and shaky when going for walks/doing housework. So I'd say do give the time off she needs - she probably won't miss much. Maybe try not to plan too much as the weekend, so she can rest, or if you do go out something simple like the cinema where she's still and warm.

Obviously you're keeping a close eye on her at the moment with another cold. Both times I had pneumonia, I had a cold, seemed to recover a little and then started feeling lousy for a few days with a temperate before having problems with breathlessness. If she seems to be suffering more than usual with the cold, then do get her checked out. Also, might be worth taking her temperate every days and then if it goes up and she's not feeling good, then get her checked.

[Jo2508]

Hi my dd also had pneumonia when she was 7 and it definitely weakened her immune system. She's ill again now actually. Don't underestimate how long it really takes to recover from pneumonia, I also had it after dd and it took months. Although children do bounce back quicker, make sure she isn't doing too much too soon. Hope she gets better soon.

[shinynewnickname]

Thank you so much for replies. She's doing much better today and has an appetite (of sorts) again. I spoke to the school and they've suggested letting her go in for a morning next week to see if she can cope with that. A whole day is definitely beyond her at the moment. I really don't want to rush her though and will decide over the weekend. Thankfully dh is off this wknd so she can stay at home while I ferry her sisters about to dancing, swimming etc.

DeWe that sounds like how we discovered dds pneumonia. She had complained of a sore tummy for weeks but had just got over a virus so I assumed it was just from that. Then we were walking to school, long walk too, when she literally went grey and collapsed against her sister's buggy. She had no energy left. We were almost at school so I took her dsis in and called a taxi to Dr who sent her straight to hospital.

[Jo2508]

Glad to hear she's feeling a bit better and good plan about trying mornings only at school for the time being. Did your dd have antibiotics for her pneumonia? I think they can also make you feel wiped out as they are pretty strong.

[shinynewnickname]

Hi Jo yes she did. She actually had 3 x 3 day courses as the 1st 1 didn't work so they gave her a double course. I thought the must be quite strong when the hospital only gave 3 day courses.

She's just eaten a good dinner and actually has some colour in her cheeks for the first time in weeks