I hate stupid doctors

It's just the stupid ones, so Beth, if you're reading this, you're fine. :)  Ava still wasn't feeling well this morning, and she's been on antibiotics (the third round) for over a week, so it seemed like she should be peachy by now. When I called, it turns out that our regular doctor is out until next Thursday, so I got the fill-in doctor. He of course doesn't know her or her history. He asked me why I think she's sick, has she been running a fever? Nope, no fever. She's just irritable and won't sleep. Then I get the resounding, "Oh." "Oh," as in she's not really sick, you just think she's crabby. Well, considering the track record of her ear infections every time she's up all night, I'd say my instincts have been pretty good, and usually I erred on the side of not bringing her in fast enough. So, he looked in her first ear and said, "hmmm." Then the other one, and that one looked fine. Then the first one again, and he said she has a slight ear infection there, but the remainder of her antibiotic should clear it up. You mean, the antibiotic that she's already had 18 doses of and only has two doses left? You mean it'll take care of it, and it won't just flare up again as soon as she's done? I don't believe it.

But then he didn't leave it at that. He had the nerve to look at me and say, "You know, she is at the age where she could be getting teeth. If she's just irritable, I'm confident that that's what it is. You should just give her tylenol." (Yeah, thanks. I have three other kids. That's helpful.) When I questioned how long I should give her tylenol for, since I've been giving her that, or ibuprofen nearly every night for as long as I can remember, he said,"Don't overdose her, but you can give it every four hours." Like what, forever? I just can't bring myself to give it to her that often, even if she's crabby. Between that and the antibiotics, it feels like she's overmedicated already. So, we'll go back to our doctor on the 23rd, where I actually hope she has a bad ear infection, we get in to see the ENT, and the tubes go in and we live happily every after. The end.