This week's guest columnist is Dr. Ashanti Smith, a Family Practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. Every parent dreads: "Mommy..Daddy...my tummy hurts..." Sometimes they whisper this in the…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Chris Fontenot, a Family Practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. Dreaded words at 7 pm on Friday night: "Mommy, Daddy, my throat hurts." Doctor's closed,…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Rati Venkatesh, a Family Practice resident at University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. This winter we've seen nearby outbreaks of Mumps in Arkansas and Texas. Last week a mother…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Chad Mathews, a Family Practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. Flu season is here. If you've never had the flu, you're fortunate. Dr. Hamilton tells the…
It was 1990, my second year of residency. I was in Emergency seeing a boy with swollen left eyelids. I explained to his mom that he could have an infection that sometimes spreads into the eye socket, and the boy "might need a CT…
It was a case of Physician Heal Thyself, or in this pediatrician's case, Heal Thine Own. One midnight in Baltimore, I was on duty in the Pediatric ED when my wife called: our son awoke struggling to breathe, such that he couldn't…
This 16 year-old boy was slipping away. He had come to the Emergency Department sleepy and feverish. Mom noticed that he was covered with red freckles, and new freckles were coming out while we spoke. As the nurses and I worked…
I walk into the room, introduce myself, and ask my usual lead-in question: "When did things first start going wrong?" The mom answers "She started with this rash last night, and this morning it has spread all over. Just look at…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Yamuna Jaladanki, a Family Practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. The other day in the ER I saw two kids from the same family, one 11 months old and the…
In the past weeks the news has reported on stomach virus epidemics in several states. More than the usual amount of kids and adults have had vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. Though Louisiana wasn't listed, we in the pediatrics…
Its happening a lot this time of year. Parents rush their kids into the Emergency Department- for fever. When I get to the bedside, mom is sick with worry. The child, however, is walking about the room, opening cabinets,…
The room was suffused with pale light. There was no noise, no breeze. Two children lay on hospital beds, sedated. The only sign of distress would come every few minutes when one of them would tense his whole body, breathing…
