Author Archive
Jul 2, 10 | Posted by: David Melbye, M.D.
Is that a Tick?
A couple of weeks ago we were in the Dells on vacation. The day after we got home we were getting ready to go outside and play when I heard my wife yell from the bathroom,”Dave, can you come here quick?!” When I got to the bathroom mywife was standing next to my daughter Kate with a comb in her hand and pointing to the top of her head with a horrified look on her face. I looked at her head expecting to see a gaping wound, but what I did find was a tick attached to her scalp. Three things immediately popped into my head. Is that a tick? How do I get it off? Does she need antibiotics? More »
May 21, 10 | Posted by: David Melbye, M.D.
Hand, Foot and Mouth
We are seeing a lot of kids with “Hand, Foot and Mouth” disease right now. This is a viral illness caused by the Coxsackie virus. The symptoms are fever, painful red mouth blisters on the tongue and back of the throat and blisters on the hands and feet. Kids can get any combination of these symptoms. Some will only get the mouth sores, some will only get the blisters on the hands and feet and some will get both. The lucky ones only get the feet and hand blisters because those are typically only a temporary cosmetic issue and not painful. The mouth sores can be very painful and often times kids will not want to eat or drink. This illness is contagious and often spreads quickly through daycare and school. More »
Apr 20, 10 | Posted by: David Melbye, M.D.
Getting ready for summer
When we bought our house there was an old play set in the backyard that was not in the best condition. My wife wanted to get a new one last summer, but we held off and used some extra wood to brace it. It took a pretty good beating last winter, and there was no way it was going to make it through this summer. We were thinking about getting a rainbow system but I got “sticker shock” and decided I could build one myself. We went to Menard’s and bought a build-it-yourself set that was “easiest and fastest to build”. I should have known by the picture of the circular saw on the box that it really wasn’t going to be that easy. More »
Mar 10, 10 | Posted by: David Melbye, M.D.
What’s the deal with fevers?
Let me start by saying that babies under the age of 2 months are different than older kids. Any baby under the age of 2 months with a rectal temperature greater than 100.4 degrees should be evaluated urgently in a pediatric emergency department.
Having said that, kids over the age of 2 months are a different story. More »
Mar 5, 10 | Posted by: David Melbye, M.D.
Winter Blahs
Winter is starting to wear on me, and my family. I’m sure a lot of you are feeling the same way. The weather is starting to warm up a little so there is some hope that spring will eventually come. To break some of our cabin fever we went to the auto show last weekend. I know my kids are tired of our house because they kept making me get into cars and “drive” them to Florida, Georgia, Mexico or Africa. I have no idea who their travel agent is. When we were leaving one of them even tried to escape with another family who didn’t have their winter coats on. More »
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