Trust the 'Mummy Meter'

Although the story from CNN did appear to be a tad sensationalised, the take home message is clear. When I was doing Paediatrics, my professor told me to always listen to the parents. Often times when we were buried to our neck with work, we forget to do that.

(CNN) -- Naomi Zikmund-Fisher says her son's life was saved by her maternal instincts -- and her son's flat ears.

One Friday night in May, Zikmund-Fisher looked across the dinner table at 3-year-old Jesse and noticed that his right ear, which usually lies close to his head, was sticking out. She went over to check it out and found a big red lump behind the ear.

She e-mailed her pediatrician, who said that it was probably just a mosquito bite and that as long as Jesse otherwise felt fine, not to worry about it.

Jesse did otherwise feel fine, but something set off Zikmund-Fisher's "mommy meter." So the next day, even though nothing had changed, she called the pediatrician's office and spoke to the nurse.

"She told me, 'If you're worried about it, take him to urgent care,' " Zikmund-Fisher remembered.

Her husband took Jesse to the emergency room, and doctors determined that he had a classic case of mastoiditis: an infection of the mastoid bone, just behind the ear. If not treated with antibiotics, mastoiditis can be deadly.

Ignore the mother at your peril!