Cooper's Ear

I noticed that the area around Cooper's ear was a little irritated AND there was some exudate draining out of it. YUCK! Sorry, I know I am a mom and I am not supposed to get grossed out by things like that, but I do. Snot, puke and exudate all nauseate me. Anyway, I call the pediatrician's office to tell them his symptoms and they tell me they can see him at 2:45. Today? What? You know it must be serious, because usually they can get you in by....December! My mom comes to the rescue again and volunteers to pick up the little ones at 2:30, so I can take him directly from school to the pediatrician's office. After waiting only 75 minutes in the waiting area, we got to sit in a room for another half hour. :>{

Oh, and from the moment I told Cooper we were going to the doctor he started the mantra:

"I do not want to get a shot.

I don't want to get a shot!

Do we have to get a shot,

I do not want to get a shot!"

It was relentless. I did not want to tell him that he was not going to get a shot because if you get the flu shot during an appointment, then it is filed with insurance. If I am going to go to the trouble of taking him to the pediatrician and paying the copay, we are going to get everything done that we can.

We get in the room, and the nurse comes in.

Cooper: Am I getting a shot?

Nurse: Uh, let me see what is going on Cooper.

Cooper: Am I getting a shot, nurse?

Nurse: Let me see your ear.

Cooper: Am I getting a shot?

Nurse: No, that is an ear infection, you won't be getting a sh----

Me: Ah-hem! (and I hold up the flu vaccination information sheet)

Cooper: Am I getting a shot???

Nurse: Uh, Cooper I don't know. Ask the doctor.

Cooper: Oh, man! She said that I was not going to get a shot, didn't she?

The nurse looks at me with an exasperated look and said, "Is he always that persistent?" Yes, ma'am, always!

Once the doctor comes in, Cooper starts up again with his question chant. Dr. Raine looks at his ear and almost looked a little grossed out too. Probably not grossed out, just a little taken aback by how awful it looked. He asked if Cooper had been complaining at all and I told him no. He said that he must have a tremendously high pain threshold because when an eardrum ruptures, it is very painful! Cooper didn't care what Dr. Raine had to say about his ear, he just wanted to know if he was going to get a shot. So he asks. And before I could address the flu shot issue, Dr. Raine, said, "Oh no, Cooper, you don't need a shot today!" AHHH! I held up the sheet and before Dr. Raine could retract what he said, Cooper hugged him and started thanking him profusely. Over and over. Dr. Raine closed his eyes to figure out how he was going to get around the fact that he was going to have to go back on his word. After a moment of silence, he looks at me with a surprised look and asked if Cooper had or has ever had asthma. No. How about the intranasal flu mist? Sounds good to me! That way we all leave happy! And happy we were...WITH NO SHOTS!