to worry or to not?

cheerfull

New member
Ok so like I have a QA how do you know when your child has the type of cough you really need to be concerend about or just know, it's a bad cold or sinus or something if that nature. Will there a certin sound in the cough or what? Breanna is coughing really bad tonight but I guess it's from the croup esp. after I gave her percussions! But the doc said her xray looked good?<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0">
Will I guess once I 've been doing this awile I get the hang of things and what to expect, untill then bear with me and all the dumb QA's.

Thanks and good night!
 

cheerfull

New member
Ok so like I have a QA how do you know when your child has the type of cough you really need to be concerend about or just know, it's a bad cold or sinus or something if that nature. Will there a certin sound in the cough or what? Breanna is coughing really bad tonight but I guess it's from the croup esp. after I gave her percussions! But the doc said her xray looked good?<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0">
Will I guess once I 've been doing this awile I get the hang of things and what to expect, untill then bear with me and all the dumb QA's.

Thanks and good night!
 

cheerfull

New member
Ok so like I have a QA how do you know when your child has the type of cough you really need to be concerend about or just know, it's a bad cold or sinus or something if that nature. Will there a certin sound in the cough or what? Breanna is coughing really bad tonight but I guess it's from the croup esp. after I gave her percussions! But the doc said her xray looked good?<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0">
Will I guess once I 've been doing this awile I get the hang of things and what to expect, untill then bear with me and all the dumb QA's.

Thanks and good night!
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
I don't think its a dumb question, Amanda. I don't think there is a clear way to know at this point. Our CF docs want to know if she starts a cough, and they put my daughter on antibiotics right away. I don't know if your daughter is chronically colonized with anything, but my daughter always cultures staph, and our docs felt that if she is coughing, even from a cold, they want to make sure the staph doesn't flare up. My daughter is pretty much the same age as yours, so if you ever want to chat, feel free to PM!!! And if you get the hang of it and know what to expect, can you send some of that my way?? Because I have no friggin clue what to expect!!!!

Hugs!
Heather
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
I don't think its a dumb question, Amanda. I don't think there is a clear way to know at this point. Our CF docs want to know if she starts a cough, and they put my daughter on antibiotics right away. I don't know if your daughter is chronically colonized with anything, but my daughter always cultures staph, and our docs felt that if she is coughing, even from a cold, they want to make sure the staph doesn't flare up. My daughter is pretty much the same age as yours, so if you ever want to chat, feel free to PM!!! And if you get the hang of it and know what to expect, can you send some of that my way?? Because I have no friggin clue what to expect!!!!

Hugs!
Heather
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
I don't think its a dumb question, Amanda. I don't think there is a clear way to know at this point. Our CF docs want to know if she starts a cough, and they put my daughter on antibiotics right away. I don't know if your daughter is chronically colonized with anything, but my daughter always cultures staph, and our docs felt that if she is coughing, even from a cold, they want to make sure the staph doesn't flare up. My daughter is pretty much the same age as yours, so if you ever want to chat, feel free to PM!!! And if you get the hang of it and know what to expect, can you send some of that my way?? Because I have no friggin clue what to expect!!!!

Hugs!
Heather
 

kybert

New member
just something to remember. dont count on x rays to tell you how your daughter is doing. with almost every major infection i have had my x rays look the same as when i am well.
 

kybert

New member
just something to remember. dont count on x rays to tell you how your daughter is doing. with almost every major infection i have had my x rays look the same as when i am well.
 

kybert

New member
just something to remember. dont count on x rays to tell you how your daughter is doing. with almost every major infection i have had my x rays look the same as when i am well.
 

dasjsmum

New member
I think that if the cough lasts for a few days, is getting more productive , and is coloured, than it's probably an infection flare up...my son has pa though, so that's based around knowing him and how he is. I guess that every child is different, but the above is the signal for me to get to the clinic as soon as I can get an appointment (which usually takes a couple of weeks, by which time Sam is coughing heaps all day long, so frustrating).
Although, I just re read your post and noticed your daughter is quite young (so is a bit hard to tell if sputum is coloured or not). I usually book them into the clinic if they start coughing. If the cough clears up, you can always cancel the appointment
 

dasjsmum

New member
I think that if the cough lasts for a few days, is getting more productive , and is coloured, than it's probably an infection flare up...my son has pa though, so that's based around knowing him and how he is. I guess that every child is different, but the above is the signal for me to get to the clinic as soon as I can get an appointment (which usually takes a couple of weeks, by which time Sam is coughing heaps all day long, so frustrating).
Although, I just re read your post and noticed your daughter is quite young (so is a bit hard to tell if sputum is coloured or not). I usually book them into the clinic if they start coughing. If the cough clears up, you can always cancel the appointment
 

dasjsmum

New member
I think that if the cough lasts for a few days, is getting more productive , and is coloured, than it's probably an infection flare up...my son has pa though, so that's based around knowing him and how he is. I guess that every child is different, but the above is the signal for me to get to the clinic as soon as I can get an appointment (which usually takes a couple of weeks, by which time Sam is coughing heaps all day long, so frustrating).
Although, I just re read your post and noticed your daughter is quite young (so is a bit hard to tell if sputum is coloured or not). I usually book them into the clinic if they start coughing. If the cough clears up, you can always cancel the appointment
 

DEES4

New member
My son was VERY sick at 11 months old. I don't wont to scare you but I just wanted you to know that he was much sicker than what the x-rays showed. Yes, it is wonderful to have the x-ray not show any real problems but I would take serious any cough that gets worse regardless of what the x-rays show. The doctors could not get over the fact that his x-rays did not look much worse. My son got very sick very quick and I just don't wont that to happen to anyone else's child. It was too scary. Just be on the outlook for any changes and use your best judgement. If you think she is getting worse take her back to the docs! Best Wishes,
Carrie
 

DEES4

New member
My son was VERY sick at 11 months old. I don't wont to scare you but I just wanted you to know that he was much sicker than what the x-rays showed. Yes, it is wonderful to have the x-ray not show any real problems but I would take serious any cough that gets worse regardless of what the x-rays show. The doctors could not get over the fact that his x-rays did not look much worse. My son got very sick very quick and I just don't wont that to happen to anyone else's child. It was too scary. Just be on the outlook for any changes and use your best judgement. If you think she is getting worse take her back to the docs! Best Wishes,
Carrie
 

DEES4

New member
My son was VERY sick at 11 months old. I don't wont to scare you but I just wanted you to know that he was much sicker than what the x-rays showed. Yes, it is wonderful to have the x-ray not show any real problems but I would take serious any cough that gets worse regardless of what the x-rays show. The doctors could not get over the fact that his x-rays did not look much worse. My son got very sick very quick and I just don't wont that to happen to anyone else's child. It was too scary. Just be on the outlook for any changes and use your best judgement. If you think she is getting worse take her back to the docs! Best Wishes,
Carrie
 

amber682

New member
HI! My son is almost 2, and was diagnosed around 3 months old. I still don't exactly know how to tell a "CF cough" from a cold or allergy cough. Basically, whenever he gets a cough I call the clinic and talk to the nurse. I usually tell her I don't know if its a cold or what, see what they think. If its accompanied by wheezing or getting winded easily or anything like that, they make an appt. If it's a really junky cough, they usually call in an Rx and have me call back in a few days (in most cases it was his stenotrophomonas acting up, and the antibiotic gets it under control). If its just those short, dry coughs I'll give it a couple days, and if it doesn't get better or he's coughing in the night, I'll call the clinic. I can't tell if its a "bad" cough or not so I just call the clinic to ease my mind.
 

amber682

New member
HI! My son is almost 2, and was diagnosed around 3 months old. I still don't exactly know how to tell a "CF cough" from a cold or allergy cough. Basically, whenever he gets a cough I call the clinic and talk to the nurse. I usually tell her I don't know if its a cold or what, see what they think. If its accompanied by wheezing or getting winded easily or anything like that, they make an appt. If it's a really junky cough, they usually call in an Rx and have me call back in a few days (in most cases it was his stenotrophomonas acting up, and the antibiotic gets it under control). If its just those short, dry coughs I'll give it a couple days, and if it doesn't get better or he's coughing in the night, I'll call the clinic. I can't tell if its a "bad" cough or not so I just call the clinic to ease my mind.
 

amber682

New member
HI! My son is almost 2, and was diagnosed around 3 months old. I still don't exactly know how to tell a "CF cough" from a cold or allergy cough. Basically, whenever he gets a cough I call the clinic and talk to the nurse. I usually tell her I don't know if its a cold or what, see what they think. If its accompanied by wheezing or getting winded easily or anything like that, they make an appt. If it's a really junky cough, they usually call in an Rx and have me call back in a few days (in most cases it was his stenotrophomonas acting up, and the antibiotic gets it under control). If its just those short, dry coughs I'll give it a couple days, and if it doesn't get better or he's coughing in the night, I'll call the clinic. I can't tell if its a "bad" cough or not so I just call the clinic to ease my mind.
 

JRPandTJP

New member
We just went through this with Ben this week. He had a cough with his cold. It was "normal" than he started a fever. Cough stopped. It cleared but he had us concerned with the fever appearing in the middle of the cold. He sounded clear and it passed. We were told if after 10-14 days they are still coughing, or it went away and then came back, or if all other symptoms go away and the cough lingers it may be the CF factor. Other than that, it's viral and no antibiotic will help that part of it. Also, if they just start coughing out of the blue and perhaps weight or stool changes, then it could be CF and not a cold.

Hope this makes sense. I should be in bed right now.
 

JRPandTJP

New member
We just went through this with Ben this week. He had a cough with his cold. It was "normal" than he started a fever. Cough stopped. It cleared but he had us concerned with the fever appearing in the middle of the cold. He sounded clear and it passed. We were told if after 10-14 days they are still coughing, or it went away and then came back, or if all other symptoms go away and the cough lingers it may be the CF factor. Other than that, it's viral and no antibiotic will help that part of it. Also, if they just start coughing out of the blue and perhaps weight or stool changes, then it could be CF and not a cold.

Hope this makes sense. I should be in bed right now.
 
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