Saturday, January 06, 2007

Another great big shout out...


This time, the shout out goes to Telehealth Ontario!!! Residents of Ontario, please be aware of a wonderful service offered by the Ministry of Health. You can dial a toll free number and speak with a registered nurse and she/he can advise you on what to do by listening to your symptoms. Of course, in case of emergency you should always dial 911 or go to the nearest hospital. This is only for general health questions and advice.

One of my students (who shall be called P2) had a rash on his head upon arrival in Canada. I t hought it was acne and that it would go away after a while. It's been over two weeks and the rash has turned into a bubbly, bumpy, crusty, nasty looking thing. It hasn't been getting better...in fact, it's started to spread. He also has rashes on the inside of his arm and in the crease of his neck. Hubby, being on the First Response Team, happened to know the Telehealth number by heart and told me to call it. I spoke with a nurse and she told me she thought it was Impetigo. She also said I should take him to the hospital within 24 hrs because if not treated, it could spread all over his face. Yikes.

So this is Hubby's and my "Parents in training" session, I guess! Hubby and P1 stayed home and washed dishes and cleaned up while I took P2 to the hospital. The telehealth nurse was right. It turned out to be Impetigo and P2 requires 2 types of topical creams, antibiotics, and he needs to use Ivory soap and his clothing and linen are to be washed in Ivory laundry detergent and absolutely no fabric softener.

It started off with Eczema, a condition the student has had for a while, but he has been scratching his skin because it was itchy and thus infected the skin on his face. Fun, fun, fun!

This shout out also goes to the wonderful staff and attending doctor at our hospital! :)

3 comments:

JetBaby said...

I agree, Chris - Telehealth Ontario is an amazing service! I've used it on a few different occasions, for my two boys and for myself. And I've never had to wait to speak with anyone, and it's free!

I'm curious about the Ivory soap - I have eczema and I had really awful psoriasis on my hands after Kai was born - and my derm told me not to use any thing scented, including Ivory. She suggested either Dove unscented/sensitive, or Lever 2000 has an unscented bar for sensitive skin as well. For laundry detergent, she said to use something like Tide Free. I had to use unscented, chemical free shampoo as well since it was on my hands ( it actually made my hair look great! I still use it! )
There is an amazing product in the health food store called Gator Balm. I used the steroid creams for months and months with no effect - until I started using the gator balm. It made a huge difference - I eventually stopped using the steroid cream and only used the gator balm, and my hands cleared up. It also helped clear up my nanny's baby's eczema too. I would be happy to post some to you if his impetigo doesn't go away!

j

Unknown said...

That would be great. Thanks for telling me about the Gator Balm! The attending doctor told us that Dove would be a good choice, because it's mild. She said anything with fragrances would irritate the kid's skin. Her recommendations were Dove or Ivory. She said it has to be the Classic "Pure" Ivory though. The classic, 99 44/100% pure formula
contains no heavy perfumes or lotions. However, I'm going to look into it a bit more, now that you've mentioned your dermatologist's suggestions.

Thanks for sharing! I'd hate to send this student back home to his country looking like a disaster!

Anonymous said...

We've used Telehealth Ontario for our kids as well. It's really useful and like JetBaby we didn't have to wait on the line at all either. The nurses were all very helpful and very nice. I highly reccommend this service to all parents (or anyone who has medical questions about any number of health issues).

Thanks for posting Chrissy. It's good that people are aware of free servies and good services to boot!

You never answered my question though. Are you guys passing through Toronto on your way to Elisha's baby shower in Montreal in two weeks? Or are you going straight to Monteal? Let me know because I'd like to meet up. This once a year visits just don't work for me! Heh Heh!

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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