Journal

Is it a Cold or Covid? Making Hard Decisions in a Pandemic

laura12876 · January 16, 2023 ·

Everything was going so well. Then you heard the sniffle.

Is it a cold, or Covid?

What used to be barely a speed bump of parenting is now a minefield. Covid-19 has changed the rules. It used to be no big deal to head to school or play with other kids with mild cold symptoms, but now we have to be extra careful to avoid spreading Covid. With many Covid symptoms mirroring those of the common cold or traditional flu, their first appearance now triggers a spiral of difficult decisions.

Should I cancel that playdate?
Do we need to stay home from school?
Can we see Grandma this week?

Families are burned out. Parents are worried about illness, and about things that even a mild Covid case can bring: quarantines, school closures, and transmitting the disease to vulnerable others. Kids are anxious about getting tested or getting sick, and depressed from the disruption to their social worlds. Recently, my 6-year-old had cold symptoms and was afraid to admit it to us because he was scared of being Covid tested.

Take a deep breath. We’re here to help you get back to the basics, make day-to-day decisions, and navigate cold and flu symptoms in a world of Covid.

Remember the basics

First, the bad news: Though the vast majority of times that your child has cold symptoms will turn out to be just a common cold, Covid-19 cannot be ruled out without a test.

As both a doctor and a mother, I struggle with this truth. I hate putting my kids through Covid testing, and swabbing my own kids has been the toughest tests I’ve ever had to do—they may be little but they are strong! But I also don’t want anyone we’re in contact with to get sick.

To keep our communities safe, here are the points I come back to:

Stay home at any sign of illness. I am especially wary of fever and coughing because, for any viral illness, these symptoms can be when you are most likely contagious.
Get tested as soon as symptoms appear. This is one way we can continue to live as “normally” as possible, and it allows my kids to continue seeing their friends and be around their grandmothers.
Continue to take the simple steps that we have been doing to prevent spread—washing hands, wearing a mask, and keeping social distance from those who don’t live in your home.
Get vaccinated if your children are eligible. Vaccination reduces your child’s risk of serious illness and reduces spread, helping keep our whole community safe. Additionally, some schools and childcare centers have less restrictive quarantine rules for vaccinated children, so your kids may avoid missing as much school as their unvaccinated peers.

When can we see people again?

With a negative test result, it’s generally safe to see people again once fever has been gone for at least 24 hours and all symptoms are improving.

However, schools and childcare settings have their own set of rules regarding testing and symptom history required for reentry. Most require a PCR test. Reach out to your school nurse or center director for up-to-date protocols and help finding a local testing option.

The rapid test was negative, are we in the clear?

At-home rapid tests (antigen tests) from a drugstore are an option. They will give you quicker results and it is often less stressful for kids to be tested at home by familiar people.

Antigen rapid tests are slightly less sensitive than PCR tests (from a doctor’s office or official testing station, generally requiring 24-48 hours to get results). What does that mean in practice?

False positives are uncommon. If a rapid test is positive for Covid, you may still need to follow up with a PCR test but absolutely assume it is true in the meantime. Check our website’s Covid page for the most up-to-date guidance.
If you have symptoms and a rapid test is negative, continue to follow the advice above about restricting contact with others while symptomatic. If you have a high suspicion of Covid, follow up with a PCR test or discuss testing options with your doctor.
If you have no symptoms and no known exposures, and get a negative result while using a rapid test as another layer of defense before gathering, it is generally safe to proceed with the gathering.

We’re all in this together

None of this is easy—I, for one, long to go back to “the way things used to be.” My kids have already missed so much school. It seems like once a week someone in the family is sick and so we start the process all over again. But we’re all in this together—and our choices can protect the most vulnerable around us.

You’re part of the Peak Family, and we want to make this easier, along with every other aspect of raising healthy kids. Please reach out if you need any help navigating cold and flu symptoms in a pandemic and the challenging decisions they bring.

Advice in this blog post was current at the time of publication; because information about Covid-19 changes rapidly, we encourage you to stay up to date with information from our Covid page, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and your state and local governments.

Are you looking for a new practice and pediatric medical home? Check out our New Patients page.

How We Make Parenting Easy: The Peak Pediatric Care Difference

laura12876 · January 16, 2023 ·

Whether it’s eating and sleeping when they’re babies, driving and social media when they’re teens, or any age in between, parenting is a challenge with highs and lows. Some days it’s your favorite job and some days you fear that if you have to make one. more. decision. your head might explode.

We can’t rock your baby at 3 a.m. or take that call from the assistant principal. But we can make parenting easier by removing common barriers to health and wellness.

With an eye to comfort, wellness, easy communication, and streamlined logistics, we designed the Peak Pediatric Care office with a goal to help you seamlessly and easily get the care you need.

Seven ingredients that make parenting easy

No phone tag
Connecting with your doctor shouldn’t take an all-day game of phone tag. We’ve adopted the simple and straightforward Spruce app as a communication tool that lets you send secure, HIPAA-compliant text messages to get urgent medical advice or request a same-day appointment. For non-urgent needs, you can use our patient portal to ask questions, get appointments, request forms and refills, and get lab results when you have time to reach out—even if that’s 11 o’clock at night!
Get answers to common questions online
We all know that moment when our kids get sick with new symptoms, and we’re not sure what to do. Our website features helpful resources—including an online symptom checker, fever guide, and dosing guide for common over-the-counter medication—that can help you decide whether to contact us or watchfully wait.
A calm and welcoming space
We know that it’s easier to talk to your doctor when you—and your child—feel comfortable. No cold and drab exam rooms here. We’ve designed a modern, open, relaxing office space designed to calm and welcome kids and parents from the minute you walk in the door. Some of our exam rooms even take a new approach, replacing the exam table with additional comfortable seating for a less “clinical” feel. Keep an eye out for our office dog/mascot, Boma, who loves to say hi and keep kiddos calm when they’re feeling a little nervous.
Seamless bill payment
No more hunting to find your checkbook (and a stamp!), or having to keep track of bills that arrive weeks after your appointment and make multiple phone calls to reach someone to pay it. When you keep a credit card on file securely with our payment processing vendor, you can get in and out quickly, knowing your bill will be automatically paid.
Complete forms at your convenience
Arriving early to fill out a bunch of boxes and forms while your kids crawl all over the waiting room? We’ve been there (and we hope never to go back). At Peak Pediatric Care you can fill out all of your forms digitally on your phone or computer, at a time that works for you, before coming in.
Feel safe in the waiting room
No parent wants to bring their healthy kid in for a visit, only to have them bring germs home. (And we know that no parent of a sick kid wants to spread what they’ve got.) Our office has a separate door for sick visits, and we work with ill patients to bring them into an exam room directly from their car, to bypass the general waiting room, and keep germ-sharing to a minimum.
Medical care that sees the big picture
Too often, medical professionals look at a narrow concern within their specialty. Dr. Hansen is trained in integrative medicine, allowing her to offer a different approach to your child’s healthcare that looks at the big picture. This leads to a focus on overall wellness and a treatment plan that incorporates medically comprehensive solutions that also consider stress, mental health, lifestyle, and nutrition. In practice, this approach lends itself to treatments that work for your family, are more enduring, and increase overall wellness.

At Peak Pediatric Care, we’re parents too. We know that barriers to wellness and medical treatment are the last things you need.

The team at our family-run practice has worked together for years and watched so many of our families grow. We set out to make parenting easier, and on top of how we’ve designed our office, we know that everything feels easier when you feel known.

To our Peak families, thanks for being a part of this journey and letting us partner with you!

Are you looking for a new practice and pediatric medical home? Check out our New Patients page.

Why I Became a Pediatrician

laura12876 · January 16, 2023 ·

I wasn’t always certain what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I’ve loved kids as long as I can remember. There’s something about their genuine curiosity and authentic, earnest nature that has always drawn me in and helped keep me grounded in the things that are truly important in life.

As a kid, I was obsessed with Anne of Green Gables and other books by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Her heroines were strong women, many of whom were writers, and so that’s how I pictured myself contributing to the world. But in high school, I became more and more fascinated with science—particularly biology—and followed this passion down the path to medicine.

From day one, there was no question I’d work with kids. And yet I continue to feel more and more at home in pediatrics with each passing year. I really found my voice in the role when I had kids of my own. Before that, I had the medical knowledge to do my job well, but becoming a mother gave me a much deeper understanding of parenting and the challenges of raising healthy kids. It’s so much easier to connect with parents about sleep challenges and toilet training when you’ve lived through those adventures!

Of course, some of my favorite things about being a pediatrician are the moments with kids. But I also discovered that I really love connecting with parents. It’s as big a part of my job to talk through their concerns, to partner on treatment plans, and to give them clear guidance that makes parenting easier.

The community we feel here in North Attleboro has given our family plenty of confirmation we’re in the right place. The positive response and support from my patients, and their parents, buoyed our hopes and dreams for launching a family-run private pediatric practice. (My husband Adam will be running our office, and our dog Boma is even part of the team!)
The long-term relationships I’ve developed with families make all of the challenges worth it.

I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to grow as a doctor at Sturdy Pediatrics, and I particularly value my coworkers from that time. We’re bringing that same feeling of “family” over to everything we do at Peak Pediatric Care, and it’s a privilege to build our practice in the same community where we’ve chosen to raise our children. What a treat to run into patients in so many places around town—seeing the smiles and waves that remind me that we’re all in this together.

We welcome all families to join us, and let us partner with you on this crazy—and amazing—journey to raise healthy, confident kids.

Why I Became a Pediatrician

laura12876 · January 16, 2023 ·

Retina Specialist, Ophthalmologist, and Vitreoretinal Surgeon serving Queens, Long Island, and NYC

At ClearView Retina, we offer expert retina treatment to preserve your vision with compassionate care and clear communication. Dr. Rodney Coe, MD treats conditions including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal tears and detachments, macular conditions, and more.

Retina Specialist, Ophthalmologist, and Vitreoretinal Surgeon serving Queens, Long Island, and NYC

At ClearView Retina, we offer expert retina treatment to preserve your vision with compassionate care and clear communication. Dr. Rodney Coe, MD treats conditions including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal tears and detachments, macular conditions, and more.