Otoscope

All you Home Executives out there know that there are so many job descriptions that describe the many hats we wear. Ones I often use are:

Personal Chef

Housekeeper

Interior Designer

Memory Preservervationist

Teacher

Negotiater

Professional Organizer

Nutritionist

Disciplinarian

Girlfriend

Therapist (in my case)

Cheer Leader/Coach

Fashion Coordinator

Student

Chauffeur...Just to name a few.

Then there is the Nurse definition. This is a big one. We diagnose, medicate, evaluate and nurse children back to health all the time. So this was one of the best ideas I had heard in a long time.




I was talking with a girl I visit teach who has a little girl with some health problems and I was complaining about how every time I think my kids have and ear infection I have to take them to the doctor just to find out or worse I don't realize that they have one until they have a 104 temp. Then she told me that she just went online and bought an Otoscope so that she can know for sure what is going on in there! She also bought a stethoscope and a good ear thermometer. Think about when you take your sick child to the doctor, those are the first things they use to check them out right? It just never occurred to me to have my own since they don't really sell them readily. I am not saying this should replace the doctor, but you can at least know if they are sick enough to really need to go. I can't believe I never just got one of these handy dandy little things when my oldest was going through 2 years of chronic ear infections and tubes. I bought this one on Amazon for around 10 dollars and prices go up from there, but this works great. It even came with a little booklet with pictures of what your ears look like in there and different problems. It also has a tongue depressor for checking the throat. I will definitely be getting the other equipment too. With a stethoscope I will be able to better judge when a cold has turned into Bronchitis or Croup, etc. Being new to seeing the inner ear, I must say however it is pretty nasty, even healthy ones. I have a growing collection of medical books and my medical drawers are filled with small equipment, natural remedies and over the counter meds , but I love being able evaluate and treat my children at home as much as possible. Then of course we go to the doctor.

*If you are interested I noticed that Walmart now carries an otoscope for about $15, which is new because it wasn't there when I was looking to get one.