Last night I had my first visit to an Urgent Care with our youngest son. When we arrived home after doing chores, I noticed that he had a large bump under his jaw line below his ear (where a gland would be). Luckily, my brother’s girlfriend (who is studying to be a nurse) was here. She took a look at the bump and then called one of her Registered Nurse friends. I also gave a call to Tim’s uncle who is a doctor. Both said, it is a probably an infection and needs to be looked at.
Since our insurance deductible is $4000.00 there is no way I was going to the emergency room if I could help it. Urgent Care was open for another 40 minutes (and we live 20 minutes away); I raced there as fast as I could. The nurse took our son’s temp and also took a sample for Strep throat. The Strep test came back negative. The Doctor said that they weren’t sure what was causing the swollen gland, but something for the pain and antibiotics should clear it up.
BACK THE HORSE UP! We don’t know what it is, so we will just treat it with antibiotics and SEE if it clears up? In this age of antibiotic resistance, shouldn’t we be more cautious? Shouldn’t we find out the root of the problem? That is what we have to do with our cows. We spend hours and days trying to figure out what is wrong with an animal and treat her with natural remedies first (which usually work). Antibiotics are our last resort.
I was stuck. My son was in pain, and I don’t know enough about human health to take the matters into my own hands. This doctor probably didn’t have anyother options this late at night either. Sadly, Minnesota doesn’t licence homeopathic doctors, so finding one would not be an option. I filled the antibiotic prescription and took him home.
Of course, I spent all night replaying the event and wondering if there was anything I could have done. I am not against antibiotics, if they the only method for recovery. I would have been a lot more comfortable with the whole situation if we knew what was causing the swollen gland. How can a society demand that farmers no longer use antibiotics, yet are so willy nilly about giving them to ourselves and our children? Frankly, where we live, there are no options for holistic health care for humans. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
Sorry about the ranting post, but it is an issue we need to be concerned about. There cannot be a double standard for treating animals vs treating humans. Our society needs to start valuing natural remedies for both humans and animals and putting research and funding dollars toward it. The problem with finding funding is that you cannot patent garlic or herbs or other healing plants, so research funding needs to come from big donors or publicly. I am sure more medical doctors would be willing to use natural remedies if the research and information was more available. We are seeing a huge shift in natural animal care because the research is being done and products and information are easily accessible.
Anywho, I hope our son starts feeling better today. You can bet I am going to be feeding the rest of my family meals that include fresh crushed garlic, honey and other powerful, natural antibiotics. I don’t want to make another Urgent Care visit.
Emily
Zweber Farms is a 4th generation family operated organic dairy. We are proud Organic Valley farmer members and sell our milk under that label. We also specialize in sustainably raised beef, pork and chicken and sell it directly to customers in Minnesota.Visit our website to learn more, www.zweberfarms.com
Great post Emily. I too was recently given antibiotics when I injured my finger. I was shocked to realize I was getting the same dosage that we give cow’s 10 times my size. I was also told to take that dose for 10 days and on the dairy the cows dose ends after 4. So adding it all up I ended up with nearly 2.5 times the antibiotics a cow would have been given.
Great job Emily! I can see how this could be troubling! I often struggle with the moms & kids that go in for an obvious virus and come home with antibiotics to treat something what will naturally run its course! Yet….when it comes to our cows, we work hard to diagnose the problem FIRST (looking for symptoms) so the we can pick the appropriate treatment, select the correct antibiotic if needed, and always use supplimental therapy to speed up recovery and help us use a lower does of antibiotics. Looks to me that farmers are responsible for their use of antibiotics, maybe the human medical world should join the fight.
Update: The doctors still don’t know what is wrong with our son and now he is on a new antibiotic. Grrr, I wish I knew as much about human health as animals. I don’t even know which questions to ask. Good news though: our son is feeling better, he just still has a large swollen gland.