[Canada] The pediatrician said that if the cause was a virus, there was no medicine to treat it; the child could only pull through it

01 Lingering fears

As the saying goes, “Women are weak, but mothers are strong.” The dark cloud of COVID-19 had overshadowed Canada for more than a month. The one-year-old child had a lasting fever, diarrhea, and was wailing. The pediatrician said that if the virus caused it, there was no medicine to treat it; the child could only pull through it. Even non-parents would understand the mother’s anxiety and worries at this time.

Although considered shrewd and capable in her family’s and friends’ eyes, Alice still feels scared when she recalls this experience.

02 It might be a virus

Playing back the experience from April 7, our baby turned one year old, I took him to a pediatric clinic for a vaccine. The doctor told me that the child might have a fever in a few days. I didn’t worry about it. The baby had been vaccinated before, and after a short-term fever, he was fine within 24 hours. Unexpectedly, on the sixth day, the baby suddenly developed a fever of about 39°C.He was given Tylenol every four hours, but his body temperature only dropped to about 37.5°C, before a high fever rose again. The next day diarrhea started; tongue sores appeared; he was unwilling to drink milk or anything else. He was just lying on my shoulders and continuously “wailing” (I can only describe the child’s voice like this).

I called the doctor. “Is this a response from the vaccine?” I asked. The doctor answered it was impossible. A baby may have a fever from the seventh to the tenth day after vaccination, but the fever will go away within 24 hours and not last five consecutive days. I became very nervous and asked the doctor what to do. The doctor supposed it was an acute baby rash. When the baby was three months old, he had a baby rash combined with a fever lasting five or six days. Now in the fifth day, no rash had appeared. The doctor said that I could come again, but I had to wait two days. During the pandemic, the practice was not open every day.

My husband and I took the child to see a doctor. The doctor said it might be a virus, and the virus may cause symptoms of tongue sores and diarrhea. We were very nervous. What virus was it? The doctor said he didn’t know what the virus was; if the virus caused it, there was no cure for it, and the child could only fight it off by himself. We didn’t dare to think about COVID-19. Since mid-March, we had not been out except for the baby’s vaccination. We had been at home for almost a month. Was there a virus in the clinic? At that time, COVID-19 was not easily detectable, nor could every one test accurately in perceived suspected cases.

I fell into a panic. The baby had a high fever for five days, and he could not take anti-fever medication every day.

03 After all that, should I give the medicine to my baby?

Then I thought of Dr. Yang. About a week or two before my baby got sick, I paid particular attention to his team and even planned to volunteer, but the baby was so fussy that I didn’t have enough time. At this point, I thought perhaps Dr. Yang’s medicine might relieve the symptoms caused by the unknown virus?

Once again, I contacted Dr. Yang’s volunteer team. With their warm-hearted help, I filled out a form for the first online consultation. Dr. Yang advised on the same day: treatment started immediately with 1g herbal mixture twice daily for three days. Following the consultation process, patients have to wait for their medication to be delivered, but the volunteers organized a pick-up. After my husband brought the medicine home, I was very hesitant to give the herbal mixture to our baby. After all, the baby was only one year old, and I didn’t know if the cause was COVID-19.

04 Enduring the distress

Again， I contacted Xiangang, the leader of the volunteer team, to express my concerns. **What if this was the wrong medication and aggravated the illness? **Xianggang reassured me, “Don’t worry,” Chinese medicine treats the symptoms and gets to the root of the problem. The herbal mixture is not aimed at a state of a disease but rather at improving immunity. No matter what the virus is, a strengthened immune system will fight it off naturally."

Taking himself as an example,he said he had had rhinitis for a long time. After taking Dr. Yang’s medicine, the rhinitis symptoms reduced significantly. This medicine is not for rhinitis, but the improved immunity helped him. I thought Xiangang was right, and I felt assured enough to give this medicine to the baby once. The baby was too young to take the medication actively. It was even challenging to get him to drink some water. I had to give him the preparation by mouth with a syringe.

05 The change

The first time I gave the medicine, I noticed the baby began to sweat a lot. After that, the baby fell asleep quickly and slept soundly. Touching his forehead, the baby had no fever anymore. In the past, after taking an antipyretic, his temperature dropped to about 37.6°Cand rebounded with a high fever later, but the temperature rarely fell below 37°C. I’ve read some information about Traditional Chinese Medicine, inducing sweat and relieving superficies stimulates inner circulation and reduces fever.

The day after the baby took the medicine, he had diarrhea again. I became afraid and contacted Xiangang immediately. He quickly put me in touch with Dr. Yang. I asked if the baby should continue to take medicine for the remaining two days. The doctor said with confidence that we must stick to it. I must dig my toes in to finish giving him the medication for three days. By the end of the third day, the child had no fever, the sores on his tongue resolved, the rashes on his legs cleared up, and most importantly, diarrhea was relieved. I think perhaps the child’s strengthened immunity had overcome the virus.

In the second consultation, Dr. Yang said that diarrhea is sometimes a good thing (I think it’s a detoxification process.) Doctor Yang says it’s best to take preventive medication for three more days to establish health. After taking the preventive medication, the child no longer had any symptoms. So far, I felt that I had made the right choice.

Two days ago, Xiangang contacted me again and asked if I could share this experience. I said I strongly supported it. I hope that some other patients will benefit from our baby’s case. This medicine is more like a nutritional supplement that improves immunity. The baby is very energetic now, babbling like music every day, and sometimes his voice can overwhelm my voice. The gratitude in my heart is beyond words.

I wish people in the world would be as pure and clear as babies and let the light of life drive away the pandemic’s haze.

A mother’s contribution