Why We Have An Emergency Fund
Wednesday afternoon, my daughter developed a rash on the insides of her thighs. I had put a new pair of pants on her that morning, and I thought maybe she’d had an allergic reaction to them. We changed the pants, and the rash didn’t seem to get any worse. Problem solved, I thought.
But the next morning, the rash was all over her lower body. I called her pediatrician, and they suggested hydrocortisone cream. But by Friday morning, the rash had spread even more, and she had a fever as well. The pediatrician then decided it was a reaction to the MMR vaccination she’d had the week before, and said to treat the fever as needed and it would start to get better in the next day or two.
By yesterday morning, her hands, feet, and face started to swell up. I rushed her to urgent care, and after they looked at her and then consulted by phone with our pediatrician’s partner, they sent us to see our pediatrician’s partner in his office, on a Sunday no less, and he diagnosed her with a systemic, whole-body allergic reaction. He gave her steroids, and sent us home with a prescription for steroids for the next two days, plus instructions to dose her with antihistamines every six hours.
At many points Sunday morning and afternoon, I thought we were headed for the hospital. We may still be. She’s not out of the woods yet. Hopefully by the time you read this, the steroids will be doing their work and she will be a lot better. But this is exactly why we have an emergency fund. Whatever happens, whatever copays we have to pay (we’ve paid for the urgent care copay and the steroid prescription, but who knows what a Sunday visit to a doctor costs), and whatever happens in the next few days, I didn’t have to think about money. I could just focus on taking care of my child without the added worry of how we were going to pay for it.
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November 10th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Eek! We once had a similar issue with Catie, and I agree — it was great to be able to focus on getting her better, and not stressing about the finances. I hope she’s doing much better by now, and this is soon a distant memory (including the doctor bills!)
November 10th, 2008 at 7:55 am
I hope she’s getting better now. I’m glad you had that fund in place. It lets you focus on what’s important, which is family.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I hope that she’s okay now! That must have been scary for you as well as her.
I definitely agree with you about the peace of mind an emergency fund gives. I had to take my youngest to urgent care on Thursday evening, and took him to his regular pediatrician on Friday, and sometime this week I will have to take him to the plastic surgeon who stitched him up to get the stitches removed.
I think when all is said and done, we’re looking at $200-300 in medical bills for this tiny cut on his bottom lip. I’m sure if money were an issue, I would have been inclined not to take him to urgent care or at least would have waited and just taken him to see his regular doctor the next day - I almost did that anyway. But since I know we have the money, I didn’t want to regret not taking him in - and now I’m glad I did because it turned out he *did* need stitches. And the money? It’s well worth it, and is almost inconsequential since we have it.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Oh my! That is always one of my greatest fears when we take our daughter in for a vaccination. I’ve read way too many (and now one more) horror story about them. Your daughter is in our prayers!
November 10th, 2008 at 9:15 am
poor kid! i had the exact same thing happen once, and, in my case, they never figured out what caused it. i had one more full anaphlactic reaction after that, used the epipen they’d supplied me with previously, and then it was pretty well done. for another 6 months doctors toyed with me, and i occasionally got hives, but ever since, free and clear. i hope the same goes for your kidlet!
November 10th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I just wanted to post a comment to let you know that your daughter is in my thoughts and prayers. I’m glad to hear that you didn’t have to worry about the cost during this time, but more so happy that your child seems to be improving.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I sure hope she’s on the mend. That must have been soo scary!
November 10th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Very sorry to hear about this. I hope your daughter gets better soon!
November 10th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Glad to hear your daughter seems to be on the mend!
If you or your doctor still think this is a reaction to the vaccine your daughter received, I suggest reporting it to VAERS (the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). Either you or the doctor can report it. It doesn’t provide anything for you, but helps the government track how many and what kinds of reactions people have to vaccines, which can help others in the future.
And on the outside chance that this turns out to be a bigger thing than it seems now, there is also the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program which is designed to compensate people who have severe life altering reactions to vaccines. Eligibility is strict (based on the severity of the injury) and you aren’t there yet. The details are pretty grim, so I won’t get into it here. You can google “VICP” or “Vaccine Injury Compensation Program” if you want to look into it further.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Oh my goodness! I hope she gets better soon. That’s really frightening!
November 10th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I hope she is feeling better now! Having the peace of mind that an emergency fund brings is good for another reason, in that worrying about the co-pay cost can cause people to delay medical care, to a bad end. I am so hoping she is feeling better now, and thanks for sharing your experience.
November 10th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Fingers crossed……
November 10th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Hope your daughter’s on the mend! Sounds scary…
November 10th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
How scary, hopefully she is doing better today.
November 10th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I’m glad to hear your daughter is getting better. I think you hit it right on the head though: the emergency fund being there for just that. You didn’t have to worry about co-pays and what the hit would be. Pretty motivational story and it shows the growth you’ve made in your financial life.
Made me realize how badly I need to establish mine!
November 10th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Oh no! I hope the steroids are working by now! Kyan had the same thing when he was 2. They called it Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura (HSP). It was preety much his immune system going wacky due to a systemic infection/toxin. He went on prednisone for a few weeks and he got better everyday. We haven’t had a problem since. I hope she feels better soon! :hugs:
November 10th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I would not automatically assume she’s having a reaction to the immunization. Unless your doc drew blood and does a detailed history, there is no way s/he could do more than subjectively say the MMR was at fault. There are tons of causes, including autoimmune events. Definitely should have a long talk with your Peds person ASAP.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
It’s good that you got her to the hospital when you did. Anaphylactic reactions are not to be fooled with.
My tho’ts and prayers are with you and your family. Keep us posted.
November 10th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Dear God. I hope the treatment is working and that by the time you read this the child will be mending. How terrifying. My former husband almost died from a smallpox inoculation when he was a little boy — no one expected him to survive, but mercifully, he did.
Be well.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I hope everything works out, it’s great that you are financial prepared so that you don’t have to worry about that aspect and can focus fully on the issue at hand. I’d also rethink the pediatrician…
November 10th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
@Jay - no one knows for sure what her reaction is to. The pedi doesn;t even think it has to do with the immunization at this point, they think it is from amoxicillin. I’m the one who suspects the immunization.
But we really don’t know what caused her allergic reaction. Just that she’s having one.
She is slowly getting better and everyone, thank you for all the thoughts and prayers. My post tomorrow will probably be late, I’ve not been online much the past few days.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
and as for rethinking the pedi… heh. Kids are tough. pedis are tough. We’re actually on pedi #3. I’m picky. lol.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Very scary to see something like that happening to your kid and not know what’s causing it.
I hope the steroids work wonders and that she has a complete and speedy recovery.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Best of luck in finding out what exactly caused it!
And yes, that’s exactly what an emergency fund is for, emergencies! Way to go!
November 10th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
AHHHHH! Amoxicillin!! That is a likely culprit! Penicillin derivative, so lots of folks are allergic to it. Your doc will probably suggest staying away from it in the future! Glad she’s getting better. Just a warning: steroids can really make someone moody, so along with everything else your babe may be a bit cranky from the treatment
(FWIW, in a former life I was an Peds nurse)
November 11th, 2008 at 9:40 am
I hope your daughter gets better!
November 11th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I hope by today she is feeling much, much better. Having the emergency fund is something that will certainly allow you to focus 100% on what matters most. Take care.
November 16th, 2008 at 11:26 am
i think it’s pretty unlikely (though not impossible) that it’s due to immunization (risk is incredibly low). Amoxicillin is possible - but it could be completely idiopathic. I occaisonally get an allergic reaction to absolutely nothing. Some days it is hives, some days a rash, some days my lips swell up like a duck. Who knows.
But hopefully your daughter is recovering nicely! One thing about steroids is they do a number on the immune system, so please make sure your baby is bundled up and eating healthy!