One of the most common questions I receive when parents call me during the evening or on weekends is: “My baby or child has a fever of 103 degrees, should I take them to the emergency room?”  Generally, my first question is that it depends how the child is acting.  Most of the time no ER visit is necessary for the fever but we need to determine whether the child is dehydrated and might need IV fluids.

Dehydration is a serious pediatric medical issue and requires immediate intervention.  If we do not consume enough liquid, then vital bodily systems such as our kidneys will stop working.  It is important to understand that the longer it takes before receiving fluids, the more time and effort it will take to get rehydrated.

Fever and Dehydration Defined

Fever is the body’s response to an infection and actually is beneficial for an otherwise healthy child or baby.

Treating the fever with acetaminophen or ibuprofen will not directly help with the dehydration.  However, most times, by treating the symptoms we make the child feel better and it is easier for them to consume (and digest) fluids and food.

Dehydration is when the body uses more fluids than a person consumes and is generally quite dangerous for children and adults.

Causes of Dehydration

Vomiting

Diarrhea

Unable to consume fluids because of fever or other discomfort.

Excessive sweating (common with athletes or children with high fever)

Symptoms of Dehydration

General symptoms for parents to observe include: How is the child acting?  Is the child eating?  Is the child consuming liquid?

Detailed symptoms for parents to observe include: the child playing normally or are they lethargic?  Is the child interacting with you or are they withdrawn?  If you press on the top of their fingernail does the nail remain white or does the color come back?  Is their mouth moist or dry?  Are they making tears?

Treatments for Dehydration

Mild dehydration can be treated by consuming flavored liquids (plain water tends to upset the stomach) such as popsicles, diluted juice, Pedialyte, or Gatorade.

Advanced dehydration is treated by administering fluids intravenously.

Where to Receive Treatment for Dehydration

All Better Pediatrics during clinic hours for assessment and to receive IV fluids.

Urgent Care Clinic during evenings for assessment.

Hospital Emergency Room during evenings for assessment and to receive IV fluids.

All Better Pediatrics is one of the only pediatric clinics that can administer IV fluids on site.  The benefit of receiving IV fluids in our office is that you do not have to incur the hassle or the expense of being treated in an emergency room.  Who wants to drive all the way from Memphis, East Memphis, Germantown, Cordova, Bartlett, Lakeland, Arlington, or North Mississippi to sit in an ER and wait to be seen!

Case Study of Dehydration

Addressing dehydration early is important to assure a quick and healthy resolution.  When my daughter Sarah was 2 she became quite ill with vomiting and diarrhea one night and we tried in vain to have her consume fluids.  After about 48 hours we decided that she was dehydrated to the point that we needed to bring her to the ER.  Sarah had become so dehydrated that she not only need IV fluids in the ER but was admitted to the hospital and received fluids for the next 2 days until she was ready to be discharged.  The hospital bill was about $3,500 and, like most everyone else, we don’t have very good insurance.

When we were driving home from the hospital our friend, who was caring for Abby while Jim and I were at the hospital, called and said that Abby was starting to have vomiting and diarrhea.  For the next 12 hours we treated Abby with fever control and fluids but she was not improving so we brought her to the office.  An IV was administered at the office and Abby was pretty much her normal self by noon that day.  We even had to run out and buy her McDonalds for lunch.  Total cost about $254.  ($250 for the office visit and fluids + $4 for the happy meal when she felt better.)

It just goes to show, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Healthcare for kids.  Helpcare for parents.

Jamar being a gentleman and helping a mom carry her baby safety seat at All Better Pediatrics.

Dr Tamara Folz Tips on Selecting a Good Baby Car Seat:

When I meet with an expectant mother for a prebirth tour of All Better Pediatrics one of the most common questions is:  “what is the best baby safety seat for my baby”.  This question is important to most expectant moms as they realize the importance of these wonderful baby safety devices.  In addition, the first time your baby leaves the hospital and enters the real world will be in the confines of that baby safety seat.  So here are my thoughts based on experience in my pediatric clinic and working with hundreds of moms and dads over the years.

Purchase the baby safety seat about 6 to 8 weeks before your baby is due just in case your baby is born prematurely.  If you purchase one any sooner you risk not getting the latest and greatest upgrades since improvements occur quite often.

1. Purchase the child safety seat from a large retailer that has many different child safety seat brands and products.  While you are there have an experienced clerk or manager demonstrate how to properly use each one since they all use different mechanisms to secure the baby and tighten the straps.  Select the safety seat that you feel is easiest for you to secure the baby and tighten the straps.  In my experience, different mechanisms work easily for different moms and dads.
2. Purchase a baby safety seat that fits your budget.  Since the baby safety seat must meet government standards, price does not increase safety! Taking the time to properly attach the seat and secure the baby makes you a good parent, not spending the most money.
3. Purchase a child safety seat that is designed for a baby, not one that is designed to be useful from birth to 100 pounds.  The child safety seats that are useful from birth to 100 pounds sound like a good idea but in reality are very expensive and remember, car seats are improved every few months and you will want to update as your child grows.
4. After you purchase your baby safety seat do not pass go, do not collect $200. Go directly to Baptist Women’s Hospital after scheduling an appointment with Cathy or Christy (901) 227-9027 of the hospital’s baby Seat Safety Department Really there is such a thing!  Cathy and Christy will help make sure that you have correctly installed your baby’s safety seat and will teach you how to properly tighten your baby in his or her seat.  I know that there are other organizations in Memphis that provide similar service but so far as I know Kathy and Christy are the only ones whose job is 100% child safety seat training.  You do NOT have to be a patient or plan to deliver your baby at Baptist Women’s to schedule an appointment with Kathy or Christy.
5. I am attaching a link from the American Academy of Pediatrics website that provides more technical guidance.

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;109/3/550

I am attaching a link to the Mayo Clinic’s website that provides 10 important car safety seat mistakes to avoid.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/car-seat-safety/MY00824

At All Better Pediatrics, we try to provide Healthcare for kids, and Helpcare for parents.  I really hope this information helps you select the baby safety seat that works the best for you.  I like to know that my patients are safe whether they are on the way to Cordova, Bartlett, East Memphis, Germantown, or my Memphis pediatric clinic.

Healthcare for kids.  Helpcare for parents.

Press Release

An important new breastfeeding service in the Memphis pediatric market

Tamara Folz, MD, a Board Certified Pediatrician in Memphis, has completed the requirements that qualify her as a Certified Breastfeeding Specialist.  In the process of becoming a Certified Breastfeeding Specialist, Dr. Folz has completed a 45 hour course, passed a comprehensive exam, and spent over 2,500 hours helping her patients be successful breastfeeding moms.  The only other pediatrician in the Memphis metropolitan area qualified to assist breastfeeding moms is Julie Ware, MD who has practiced part-time at All Better Pediatrics for the past 5 years. 

Dr. Folz said “the majority of my moms plan to breastfeed their babies, however, many of them encounter difficulties and are inclined to then formula feed.  The past 5 years Dr. Ware has taught me how to help these moms overcome many challenges that are common to many breastfeeding moms.  Now I have the credential to assure my patient moms that I can help them provide nutrition to their babies in addition to my normal responsibilities as a pediatrician.” 

Tamara Folz, MD is a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics and a graduate of the UT School of Medicine.  She has been in practice for over 10 years and is the owner of All Better Pediatrics. 

All Better Pediatrics is located in the Poplar and I240 corridor at 1102 Brookfield Road. 

All Better Pediatrics

Press Release

Contact: Jim Folz (901) 761-1880

For Immediate Distribution

3.1.11

All Better Pediatrics

Healthcare for kids. Helpcare for parents.

2011 Valentine’s Day Contest Submissions

My husband Nicholas is so special because he truly takes his role as husband and father deeply to heart! Every night he comes home from work and asks me what he can do to make my life better!!! As a mother, you know that often means he can do something to make my children’s lives better/happier and fulfills my needs just the same.  I grew up under very rough circumstances, but my husband has taken it on himself to walk with me and help me see that life can be so sweet!

(Kathy B.)

I have always know how good I had it, but over Christmas I was remindedWe had some good friends come spend the holidays with us and share in the birth of our fourth daughter.  As I was very pregnant and having a lot of false labor, Tal was spending a lot of time helping with our other three children (2, 4, 6).  He was so sweet, making sure I got to sleep enough every night by getting up with a sick toddler for three nights in a row.  He kept up with all our laundry: not only cleaning it but helping to fold and put away.  He made sure we had groceries aplenty, and helped cook when he could.  He played with the kids.  He did baths (who am I kidding, he always gives the baths because it is my least favorite chore!).  He helped with cleaning the house everyday.  On Christmas Day, I was having a lot of contractions and was just really tired after getting Christmas ready for the kids and helping get lunch ready.  He told me to sit in my rocking chair and relax for the rest of the afternoon.  Our friends were sitting there with us and w were all watching football having a blast.  It got quiet and my friend’s husband realized all the kids has disappeared.  He went searching for them, only to find Tal there with his little girl and our three older children, on the floor in the middle of the playroom, playing with all the new Christmas toys together.  Steve came back downstairs and said, “You know, I have never met a man that was so dedicated to his family. I am put to shame at the amount of love and dedication he shows.”  I guess I have always really appreciated what a great guy I have, but it sure meant a lot for someone else to point it out too.  I went into labor the next morning and had our little Lotte Beth.  Tal continues to juggle teaching, coaching tennis, tutoring, and being a huge part of the everyday workings of our household.  I sure could not do life without him ~ even if he did not give the baths.

(Mary E.)

I met my husband in July of 2005.  I volunteered with Bartlett Community Theatre for their production of “Bye Bye Birdie” as the Stage Manager.  As my first gig of the sort, I was already a nervous wreck and was finding it hard to do my job (which included “bossing” adults around! I was only 17! How could *I* tell them what to do ) so I was always compensating to make up where I was lacking.  I had already met DC Nash (he was the lead in the play) and we were talking off and on.  One evening, I was in the middle of a scene change and was jumping up to grab the rope for the curtain since I had to use my weight to putt it open and I started feeling a tugging on my wired headset but the show must go on! I kept pulling and pulling…the more I pulled, the lower to the ground I was forced! My headset was caught in the pulley!? I kept pulling and finally go the curtain opened to the right position and as I stared at the floor trying to figure out how I was going to get out of there, DC came up and giggled at me.  He helped me out of the pulley and we started dating from then on. J For months later, we were engaged and married August of 2006. (And still doing theatre off and on together!)

(Amanda N.)

John and I met in college, we were both engineering majors looking for the room where our very first Engineering Student Council meeting was to take place. My first impression of him was that he was very good looking and smart.  We became friends but didn’t date until later, but I learned he was trying to win me over everyday he saw me.  We got married 4 years later, in the chapel on campus where we met.  He has always been supportive of my wants, needs, and decisions even when he does not fully agree.  I appreciate everything that he does for me and our family, love him more and more everyday and do everything in my power to make sure he feels the same way.

(Andrea K.)

Dax and I were introduced by mutual friends in 1994.  We spent two days together when I went to Israel for 2 weeks.  We have been together ever since I came home from that trip.  We had a long distance thing going for 5 months while I was at college.  Moved home and we started living together.  Bought a house, and lived in sin for a year, got married in 1998.  We have had 2 boys and been best friends for almost 18 years.  I am the luckiest woman in the world.  It really doesn’t matter if someone has a better story, we already won!

(Blair J.)

I am excited to share our story.  Thanks for the opportunity…It was 6 months after the start of the Iraq war and a medical unit was deployed.  Within the group were SPC Deidre Phillips and SPC Lowell Bush.  I, Army Specialist Deidre Phillips, so loved being called up with the 330^thCombat Support Hospital out of Millington that not a day passed without my noting it.  How many days, Phillips? A comrade would call out.  “Only 268!… I was counting them down.  We hadn’t even hit the overseas deployment site and I had a calendar.” Everyone always would say they could count on me.  But, we, Lowell and I formally met at the in-processing station at Fort Benning, GA (even though we were from the same unit).  The unit was so big and we had different military occupations that we never saw one another.  But once we were deployed, because we were the youngest of the group and the same rank, we became battle buddies – a pair of soldiers that looked out for one another in war circumstances…we looked out for each other, we pulled guard together, and we prayed together.  But one day, 5 months into the deployment, I (Deidre) got gravely sick and was hospitalized.  I was in the hospital sedated for about two days; but when I awoke.  Lowell was sitting by my hospital bed waiting on me.  The hospital staff told me he had gotten special permission to stay with me “around the clock.” Then he told me that he was my battle buddy and I could also always count on him to never leave my side no matter what; and seven years later, three kids, a cat and 4 fish later, he is still keeping his promise.  HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

(Deidre B.)

This week, the IRS announced that moms can pay for expenses related to breastfeeding with pretax dollars.  The decision makes the cost of such things as breast pumps and nipple shields “tax deductible”

 What it means:

You can use your Flexible Spending Account money, use your Heath Savings Account money, or claim itemized deduction for the costs associated with breastfeeding.

 Depending on your tax bracket, you will receive an actual savings of between 10 and 35 percent of your expenses.  If the cost of a pump and the related supplies is $1,000, you would save between $100 and $350 on your taxes.

 The only gotcha:

If you do not have a Flexible Spending Account through your employer or your own Health Savings Account, you probably will not be able to save any tax dollars.  To claim an itemized deduction for medical expenses, your total medical expenses for the year must equal at least 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.  If your income was $50,000, then you must have at least $3,750 of medical expenses or you would not be allowed to claim the deduction.  The reason for this formula (Isn’t it always the formula’s fault) is that the Medical expense deduction is really targeted at the elderly who have low incomes and high medical expenses.   I guess all those lactating grandmothers will be in good shape for the itemized deduction. J

 I am attaching an article that provides a little more detail.

 http://news.change.org/stories/progress-irs-allows-tax-exemptions-for-breastfeeding-equipment

 Jim Folz

Giving parents quality info gives your business a good image. They will bookmark your website, articles or blog posts and with time, they might end up becoming your clients. As the old adage goes, information is power. In the bible, you reap what you sow. Sow a seed of giving and you will reap fruits.