6 year-old with pneumonia....

[Kim&Chris]

My co-worker's son was diagnosed yesterday with pneumonia. He's been sick for a few days now.

What I'm going to say next is what has me puzzled: My co-worker is leaving work, at noon, to take this kid fishing.

I don't have kids, but this just doesn't sound right to me. Shouldn't the kid get plenty of bedrest? Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd think fishing would not be the best treatment plan for pneumonia

I asked this guy if maybe he should wait a bit, and take his son when the pneumonia has passed....he just shrugged his shoulders and said "nah, he'll be OK".

Am I crazy? Or is this guy making a mistake?

 

[msjprincess]

My 8yo niece had pneumonia a couple of months ago. She was feeling fine 24 hours after she began treatment. The doctor just said to not let her get too close to elderly people, babies or anyone else with a suppressed immunity system. There were no other restrictions

 

[Kim&Chris]

Interesting...thanks.

I guess I just worry too much

 

[Shelly888]

I think so, yes! Pneumonia wipes people of all ages out. People forget that not that long ago, it was a killer. I don't think the kid needs 3 weeks of bedrest, but a week of quiet time at home(books, movies, DS, arts+crafts, board games, etc)lots of fluids, and an adult to remind him not to go too crazy with the activity. It takes weeks to recover from it, sometimes more depending.

 

[jennyjinx3]

Our oldest had "walking" pneumonia our first trip at Disney. I had taken her to a walk in clinic and they stated the same, that after being on the meds for at least 24 hours we would see an improvement. We did see that and were off to Magic Kingdom. I guess it is up to the parent to figure out whether their child is up to activities.

 

[htmom]

Personally I think fishing is a very restful kind of sport. Being in the fresh air might be the best thing for him.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Personally I think fishing is a very restful kind of sport. Being in the fresh air might be the best thing for him.

I was thinking along those lines. I thought/think it is a brilliant way to basically get an active 6 year old to sit still and quiet (and get fresh air to boot) without the child feeling like he is being forced to sit and be bored. Smart parenting in my book

 

[DopeyDame]

The fresh air might be a really good thing for him. It's not like he's going to play a game of soccor - he'll be sitting pretty still while fishing. I had pnemonia in college and I actually felt a lot better when I was outside than I did inside - the cool air was great for my lungs.

 

[2prettyprincesses]

My dd had it around 6. The day we found out we were leaving for a cruise. Still went and dd was fine.

 

[Ilivetogo]

I was thinking along those lines. I thought/think it is a brilliant way to basically get an active 6 year old to sit still and quiet (and get fresh air to boot) without the child feeling like he is being forced to sit and be bored. Smart parenting in my book

agreed
.

 

[Tiger926]

Pneumonia affects people differently.

My baby boy who is 4, has had many times since birth. There were times where we didn't know as he has an extremly high pain tolerance, and didn't even cough, and then other times, he was hospitalized, or we were in emerg all night for breating treatments. They knew us as regulars after awhile...as his puffers helped some days, but other days not so much.

My son was at school some of those times, and he was cleared to travel to WDW for his first trip at 10 months, when he had been hospitalized for a bad bout of pneumonia 3 weeks prior.

Kids are very resilient, but hopefully it's a case of the father knowing his son's tolerance levels, and not a case of a father not really paying attention to nor understanding how his son is feeling. In my experience, it can go either way with men...

Hopefully the kid is feeling ok to go, but I know around here, there would be a lot of allergens that would bother my son, so fishing would not be an activity that we would go to during a bout of pneumonia.

Speedy recovery to that boy, Tiger

 

[disneymomjcs]

My daughter had pneumonia at WDW. The first urgent care told us she had pharengitus.(spelling) Called pediatrician and they said if she wasn't better take her back. Two days later different urgent care and I had a very very sick little girl with pneumonia and 104.5 fever. She was down for the count for a few weeks. Between alternating tylenol and motrin and all the antibiotics. We spent quite a few days at the resort WLV watching dvd's and I would run and get food or drinks at the roaring forks. They had given her a shot that she could barely walk so when we got back to the resort they gave us a wheelchair. I did take her down to the food court or for a walk so her sheets could be changed since the raging fevers when she was feeling up to it. The staff was wonderful. Vacation Club was wonderful and chaged the sheets daily and cleaned the room even though we were on points. Also the Roaring forks person (I have her name) I was so grateful. They didn't have cheerios and she sent a package to the room with boxes of cheerios, two refillable mugs, stickers and nut free treats and the biggest hit was a stuffed pluto that almost three years later my daugther still loves and sleeps with each night. Also housekeeping wrote get well with towels and left notes. It was just the two of us so I appreciated all the help.

 

[shortbun]

What a great dad! I remember being sick as a little girl. Some of my best memories are when my Dad or my Grandpa(paternal) would pack me up in the back seat in my p.j's and take me on an outing. Dad and I would fish on the bank of the quarry, sitting in the sun-more talking than fishing. He'd tell me that the fish wouldn't bite unless I was quiet but somehow we always ended up laughing. Good therapy for a sick kid...it's not like they're going to the mall or in cold weather. I'd guess it's as beautiful where you are as it is here today. Great day for fishing!!!

 

[badblackpug]

I think so, yes! Pneumonia wipes people of all ages out. People forget that not that long ago, it was a killer. I don't think the kid needs 3 weeks of bedrest, but a week of quiet time at home(books, movies, DS, arts+crafts, board games, etc)lots of fluids, and an adult to remind him not to go too crazy with the activity. It takes weeks to recover from it, sometimes more depending.

Pneumonia was a killer prior to the advent of antibiotics in 1944. (incidentally, so was strep. My mother had scarlet fever in 1940 and was quarantined and my grandmother was preparing for her to die) There are also varying degrees of pneumonia.

My 2 year old had it in January. He had a little fever and a cough. He was totally normal after 2 days of antibiotics. It didn't "wipe" him out for a minute.

 

[Bilberry]

It probably depends on how run down the child feels, but would imagine the fresh air, and sunshine while fishing will help the condition. Seems vitamin D3 obtained from the sun rays helps fight infections well.

 

[minkydog]

Personally I think fishing is a very restful kind of sport. Being in the fresh air might be the best thing for him.

My thoughts exactly. How strenuous is this fishing trip gonna be? If he's just gonna be sitting in a boat or on a river bank I see no problem with it. Pneumonia can be self-limiting--if the child doesn't feel good,they'll prolly just sit or lay down. If the child isn't immunocompromised, i wouldn't have any problem with the fishing trip.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Wow, shows you how much I know

I remember, when I was a kid, my mom having pneumonia & being in bed for a few days. I remember feeling really scared for her, so I guess that's where my "worrywart" feelings came into the picture!

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

DD had it on her 6th birthday last fall, we were shocked since she rarely ever gets sick. With in 24 hours of getting an antibiotic in her, she was back to her old self.

 

[minkydog]

Wow, shows you how much I know

I remember, when I was a kid, my mom having pneumonia & being in bed for a few days. I remember feeling really scared for her, so I guess that's where my "worrywart" feelings came into the picture!

I will say this--I have had pneumonia 4 times and I felt like cat poop every time. I could barely drag my body to the dinner table, let alone go fishing. In every case I was IN THE BED for 7-10 days, sick as a dog.

OTOH, My DD18 has had pneumonia 4 times (at least!) and it never seems to make her as sick as it made me. Usually she's up and at 'em once she's got some antiobiotics on board.

 

[Ilivetogo]

I will say this--I have had pneumonia 4 times and I felt like cat poop every time. I could barely drag my body to the dinner table, let alone go fishing. In every case I was IN THE BED for 7-10 days, sick as a dog. OTOH, My DD18 has had pneumonia 4 times (at least!) and it never seems to make her as sick as it made me. Usually she's up and at 'em once she's got some antiobiotics on board.

I can honestly say I have had pneumonia too many times to count and there are definitely different "levels" of how sick one can be. Sometimes, when caught quite early, I was feeling nothing more than a little tired -- but since I was medicated, got better quickly. Sometimes, however, I would be "sick as a dog", as you put it.

As long as the little guy (6 y/o) wasn't "sick as a dog", he's probably still bouncing around -- kids are quite resilient.
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