

Doctors now have the ability to prevent or treat many illnesses if the recommended comprehensive care schedules are followed and diseases are diagnosed and treated early. There are, however, many illnesses in which a person is protected from future disease only by having the illness.
During childhood, it should be expected that your child will have a "cold", "stomach virus", sore throat, or some other condition. With these illnesses, as with any illnesses, the following suggestions will help the body to fight the illness:
In a child who is drinking and who feels better when the fever goes down usually means the child has a viral illness and you can treat him/her with the remedies listed on this web site or in your brochure. In a few days his/her body will begin to fight off the virus on its own. If, however, your child's symptoms continue for more than two days without improving you should contact the office.
Frequently, bacterial infections follow viral infections. This is especially true in small children who may develop a simple cold and then go on to get an ear infection or pneumonia. We have no way of knowing when this will happen. Sometimes it will be necessary for a patient to come back in 2 or 3 days after he has "just been checked." An ear infection or other findings which were not present at the first exam may develop as the illness progresses. It is much safer for your child to come to the office twice than to be blindly treated for unconfirmed problems.
We are often questioned about when to consider the child "well" and allow him to resume his normal activities. Generally speaking, when his appetite returns, when he feels well enough to want to get out and/or play, and when he has been free of fever for 24 hours, he is then ready to go about his business, back to school and/or back to play.
Many phone calls are made about the following items so we request that you read this thoroughly and keep by your telephone for handy reference for you or your babysitter.
Due to the rising costs of healthcare, our after hours advice line is now charging our practice a PER CALL fee. In order to help us keep your costs down, please use the after hours service for true urgent medical advice needs only.
For prescription refills or dosage advice, or appointment questions, you can call during regular office hours M-F between 9am - 5pm, or refer to our individual illness web pages for direction.
Thank you for your assistance in helping us drive down unnecessary costs during this tough and challenging economy.
We remain dedicated to serving your needs as well as the needs of our Cobb community.