A Weekend In The Hospital

This past weekend I had a patient admitted to the hospital with a cellulitis of his knee.  He needed IV antibiotics for this infection of skin and soft tissue.  A perfectly healthy 2 year old, he had presumably sustained a bug bite a few days prior, and the area around the bite got swollen, hot and tender.  Cellulitis is a run-of-the-mill diagnosis on the general pediatrics ward; it usually takes just a few days of IV antibiotics before the child is able to go home again.  But meeting with the mother at her son's bedside on Saturday and Sunday morning reminded me of how difficult it is for a parent to see her child, small and vulnerable in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV pole.  I understood exactly what this mother was going through as Max was hospitalized with cellulitis of his arm over New Year's 2008.  That experience of being the parent rather than the physician was an eye-opening one.  I learned first-hand what patience and fortitude it takes to pass long hours in the hospital, praying for antibiotics to work their magic.  And most of all, I gained a true appreciation of the anxiety a parent suffers when her child is sick enough to be admitted to the hospital.  I hope my experience with Max has made me a more empathetic physician.