Another week, another doctor's visit....

Grrr. The cesspool of germs that is school. Poor Geo had finally recovered from whatever he had in Germany. He had about three healthy days before being slammed with an even nastier bug. He and I spent the weekend at the apartment, blowing his nose and listening to him cough.

Funny experience: I took him to the pediatrician Friday morning, since he had a barking cough and sounded awful, plus C was leaving town for the weekend, and I just did not want to worry all weekend about whether or not he had bronchitis. So we saw his doctor in Paris, who told me it was rhinitis (he said children this age can't have sinus infections, but if he was an adult it would be called a sinus infection). Before he sat down to write out his instructions to me, I told him to look over the list of about 10-12 medications that have been prescribed to Geo since October. Cough suppressants, expectorants, nasal sprays, antihistamines, even a course of antibiotics. He went down the list and said, "Nope, not this one, this one is useless, this is only for allergies, this is way too strong and should only be in case of emergency, this is also useless..." All the way down the list. In the end, the only thing he prescribed was saline drops for the nose, and eucalyptus for the cough. (Unfortunately, the eucalyptus stuff only comes in suppository form, and you can imagine how well THAT goes over.)

I had to laugh. Three doctors, ten meds, and ONLY ONE is actually useful. The French do love to medicate, but this is... ridiculous.

Anyway, today Geo seems to be feeling a bit better. His little face looks slightly brighter, the dark circles slightly less. I, on the other hand, woke up with one eye glued shut and hoarse as all get-out. Just hoping my version is milder than Geo's...

Oh, and luckily my wonderful mother is sending off some Vicks Vaporub for the next time. Because, really, suppositories... Not so much for us, thanks.