Eating My Words

During the last few months I've often found myself explaining to other people--and to myself--that I think S-Boogie doesn't really have asthma, just some reactive airway trouble that's clearing itself up as she gets older. We haven't even had to break out the nebulizer for nearly a year and she's gone through several colds without a problem. She did still have a bit of night time cough, but when I asked her doctor about it last Thursday at her annual checkup I was told not to worry about it.

Then she got a cold on Saturday. She's been coughing since then, but up until this morning it was just a tickly, back of the throat cough. This morning we went to her very first dentist appointment (no cavities--yay!) and she seemed fine. Then she came home and didn't eat any lunch. Then she actually fell asleep while watching Dora and stayed asleep for two hours. When she got up from her nap, I noticed that her eyes were beginning to get dark circles under them and her chest was heaving. I waited a few more hours, but then around dinner time decided to call the after-hours nurse. I should have waited until after eating, because when I described S-Boogie's symptoms the nurse said "I'll let the hospital know you're on your way". Thanks.

During the ride to Children's I started to worry that I had overreacted, but once I got there the doctors and nurses reassured me that they were glad I brought her in because she would have only gotten worse in the night. (By the way, part of the reason why we often end up at the ER is because we live next door to Children's hospital and they take all urgent/semi-urgent cases after hours). So after a few hours of monitoring, one round of albuterol, and two-and-a-half Disney movies we were free to go. Tomorrow we get to try a new device: an inhaler with a spacer. That should be quicker and easier than a nebulizer, and it's a lot more portable for vacations.

The doctor gave me mini-lecture about accepting the fact that S-Boogie has asthma and that we should always be prepared for that. He really was nice about it and reassured me that I handled things well today. Her case is tricky because she's only really triggered by getting sick. No allergies, no other triggers. This is good, but it means that most of the time we end up with crisis care like today because we aren't very prepared. I guess I need to read up on how to prevent my child from catching colds. Like that's possible.