Petechia

petechia: (pronounced /pɨˈtiːkiə/, plural petechiae /pɨˈtiːkɪ.iː/) is a small (1-2mm) red or purple spot on the body, caused by a minor hemorrhage (broken capillary blood vessels).

I know it hard to see in this picture, but focus on the center of the circle and you can see a red dot.

Last Thursday I noticed these little tiny red spots on Rhett's neck and behind his ears.  I didn't think much about them - dismissing it as a heat rash.  Well, come Sunday evening the spots were still there and he had a fever.  I looked online and researched petechia.  Come to find out, they are usually symptoms of severe crying, coughing, or a virus.  They can also be indicators of potentially serious blood disorders.  I decided it was probably best to go get him checked out.

Before the torture.

 

This morning we went to the doctor.  Our appointment was at 10:40 am and they got us to the back area pretty quickly.  Then came the rough part.  The WAITING!  We waited for 45 minutes before the doctor came in to see him.  She spent about 5 minuted looking at all his "orifices" and found nothing.  But this part of was a walk in the park compared to what was to come.  Dr. E then checked out the petechiae.  She said we need to do a blood test to make sure his platelet levels are normal and it is just a virus.  I said, "Sure."  I mean I'd rather catch something serious earlier than later, ya know?

Well, we waited another 5 minutes for a sweet, well-meaning nurse to walk in.  Little did I realize the trauma that would take place in the next 15 minutes.  First the nurse had to prick Rhett's right, ring finger.  Rhett proceeded to scream.  Then, I had to hold him down as the nurse squeezed droplets of blood into a small vial.  After 5-7 minutes of trying to squeeze blood out of my kicking and screaming 2 year-old, she stopped and went to get help.  You see, they had to FILL the vial in order to get enough blood to test.

We wait for about 2 minutes and in walks in a cold, NON-well-meaning nursing.  She has me and the other nurse hold down Rhett as she proceeds to prick his LEFT, right finger and squeezed blood out of it.  Meanwhile, Rhett is screaming/crying even louder saying, "NO, STOP, PLEASE! STOP PLEASE!" over and over again.  After hearing this and looking into his terrified eyes, I proceed to start crying.  I mean NO ONE should have to hear their baby cry like that. 

Finally they stopped and were able to squeeze enough blood out of my child.  His blood counts were normal and it turns out he has just a virus.  It was miserable, but I'm still glad I did it.  I would hate to it have been something more serious and not get it checked out.  Note to parents, if your child has signs of petechiae, you should get it looked at by your doctor, just in case!

Mommy and Rhett post crying.

After lunch at "Sweet Tomatoes."  He's still holding the "Thomas the Tank Engine" sticker the sweet receptionist gave him.