

There is nothing worse than being sick. At the depths of it you feel like you’ll never be well again. You lie in bed surrounded by scrunched up tissues wishing someone would bring you an orange juice and ordering all your meals on Menulog.
Except maybe the one thing that is worse is when your child is sick. Not only are they miserable, but most of the time there’s nothing you can do but ride it out while plying them with fluids and making sure there’s plenty of tissues on hand.
And when you drag them to the doctor in an attempt to get something stronger, you’re likely to be told there’s nothing they can do.
If your doctor is anything like mine, they will listen to your child’s breathing, check out your child’s throat and temperature, and then tell you to go home, make sure they keep up their fluids and get some rest. Because more often than not, that gross, mucky puddle they’ve become is the result of a virus, not a bacterial infection. And there are no antibiotics that can fix it.

"There is nothing worse than being sick." Image via iStock.
Which really sucks. There’s nothing you want more than to help sickness go away more quickly. Whether it’s trying to speed your child’s recovery or your own, most of us get to the point where we lose all perspective and are willing to try anything to feel better.
I’m not going to lie. Sometimes when I’m feeling really awful I beg my doctor to take mercy on me. Give me something. Anything to fix it. “Please,” I say, “Can I please have some antibiotics – just a small amount, to help chase it off.”