Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Tale of Woe

How's the new year been treating you? I'm hoping yours is going better than mine.

Daniel, my two-year-old, came down with a cold back on December 17. I got it the next day. I shook it off in a little more than a week, but his nose just stayed stuffed up, though by Christmas he was acting pretty normal. But then he started to cough. At first, it was just one of those post-nasal-drip coughs, kinda dry, which is what I had too. But on New Year's Eve, it turned into a wet, chesty cough. He ran a low fever that evening for a while, though thankfully that went away by bedtime. But he woke up coughing several times that night and for the next couple of nights. Which means I woke up too, because I'd hear him over the baby monitor. One night, he and I were awake for over an hour -- every time I (and probably he) would just about doze off, he'd cough again.

So I took him to the doctor yesterday, and they said that although we can't hear it, his lungs are wheezing again. Last winter, about this same time, he had a cold that went into his chest and he was wheezing audibly, so I took him to the doctor and ended up renting a nebulizer for a week to give him Albuterol treatments. Well, although we couldn't hear him wheezing this time around, the doctor could via the stethoscope.

And so yesterday's trip to the doctor at noon turned into a four-and-a-half-hour ordeal involving lunch, renting a nebulizer at a medical supply store, two trips to the pharmacy, and a parking ticket for spending 40 minutes at the Post Office for what should have been a 15-minutes-tops stop to mail a package.

The good news is, the nebulizer does seem to help him breathe better, and he slept for almost 11 hours with no coughing last night. The not-as-good news is that the medicine they gave to loosen up the mucous in his lungs makes him hyper, but it also lowers his immune system, so we're supposed to avoid contact with other germs as much as we can, ie, I can't take him out in public places to run off his excess energy.

And my husband came down with the cold at the end of last week too.

So, that's my tale of woe. I'm praying it's not a portent of things to come in 2010! And I hope you've been having a much better year so far :-)

EDIT: They haven't diagnosed Daniel with asthma, however, so that's a blessing. If this happens again, then they would probably diagnose him with "asthma-with-colds," meaning he's prone to having bronchial problems when he gets sick.

10 comments:

  1. Oh, Rachel...that is awful! Hope the little guy is doing better!
    My 15 year old daughter spent several days of her Christmas vacation puking her guts out with a horrible stomach virus. It really kicked her butt, so I feel for the taking-care-of-sickies thing!

    As for the asthma, hopefully your son will outgrow it. My 15 year old outgrew it by the time she was 5 years old, however, she does seem prone to bronchitis and pneumonia. My son on the other hand...he's 13 and still has asthma so bad. He is on two daily medicines, plus albuterol when his asthma acts up. The funny thing is the inhaler doesn't even touch his asthma, so he is still on the nebulizer. Plus when his asthma gets out of control, he has to take oral steroids. His allergist had to drop the bad news last summer that he will never be able to serve in the armed forces, which is a bummer for him. He has been wanting to be a Marine for as long as he can remember. Of course, he was devastated. Now he is looking into a career into a SWAT force or possibly the FBI.

    Hope you have a great new year and that you and your family suffer no more illness this year!

    Lisa

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  2. Thanks, Lisa! He's doing some better today, I think. It'll be naptime soon, and we'll see how he sleeps then. This really seems like the holiday season everyone got sick -- several of my friends had sick kids too over the holidays.

    They haven't actually diagnosed Daniel with asthma yet -- I should clarify that in my post, huh? If this happens again, then they would probably diagnose him with "asthma-with-colds," meaning he's just prone to having bronchial problems when he gets a cold. Or I think the doctor also said it could be called "winter asthma." But since he's fine ordinarily, it's not true asthma, at least not yet. I'm hoping if we're able to move out of the city in the next year or so, it'll keep him from developing actual asthma.

    I'm sad for your son finding out he can't be in the armed forces, though -- but law enforcement is equally important, and the FBI would be cool :-)

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  3. Aww I'm sorry to hear Daniel is still feeling sick :( Good to know that he doesn't have full on asthma. We'll be praying for him.

    Parking tickets stink! We had a message from the Cambridge police on our answering machine when we got back telling us that a moving van was scheduled to park in out spot. Unfortunately the message was on Christmas Eve and we didn't get back until the 2nd. So we had a nice $250+ in towing and ticket fees waiting for us when we came home. O'well. I guess there wasn't really anything we could do.

    On the bright side John's cold is staring to subside and I haven't gotten it yet (fingers crossed).

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  4. Erika, Larry says he would totally go dispute that ticket -- that's too much money to just shrug off. If you have your airplane ticket stubs or a record of your flight schedules, etc, I'm sure you could make your case. Especially since you happen to know an almost-lawyer. Tell John to just imagine he's Perry Mason :-D

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  5. Aw, I'm sorry, Rachel. I hope he gets better soon.

    A sick kid is just the scariest thing in the world to me. And every time my daughter starts coughing, or her nose starts running, I panic! I think, "Oh God, now she's gonna be sick for a week or two; I'm gonna have to take her to the doctor; she's gonna run fever..."

    It's a nightmare.

    And the fact that your son may also have asthma (with colds)? I can't imagine.

    I hope he gets better SOON.

    Have you tried a humidifier in his bedroom at night?? I know it's not a cure or anything, but if seems to help my daughter NOT cough, so then she at least gets more sleep.

    Here's hoping you and your son and your husband and the New Year all get better fast and stay that way. :)

    P.S. I LOVED Lauren Bacall's autobiography!

    I hope you're enjoying it, too. :)

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  6. Rachel, I think it's too late :( The ticket itself was only $20, but the towing plus storage at the towing company was $230 (since it was there for a week). We alrealy paid the towing company. I think your right though, that we could probably dispute the ticket. We probably won't though since it was only $20.

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  7. Hope your little one is feeling better and that you are finally getting some rest!!! Boo to the parking ticket...they always seem to get you when you are already having a bad day don't they?

    Thinking of you,
    April

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  8. Ginger -- yes, we've had a humidifier in his room since day one. Also tried Vicks on his chest. Just wasn't enough. (And I'm really digging the Bacall bio too -- stay tuned for a review soon, cuz I'm almost done with it.)

    Erika -- I see. Yeah, probably not much you can do about the towing & garage fee. Bummer!

    April -- Thanks! He does seem to be improving today, not coughing much and his nose seems to be finally clearing up some too. And yes, the ticket police seem to sense who's having a bad day and reeeeeally doesn't need a ticket (though who ever needs a ticket?)

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  9. Rachel,
    I have tagged you. shoot over to my blog to see what I mean. and I would love for you to post your tag!

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  10. Hi Rachel!

    Well, Happy New Year anyway!
    I am glad your little boy is doing better and I absolutely resist the idea that he has asthma! Don't even give this a second thought!

    We too have had our share of colds etc this season.

    I have found that rest is the most important ingredient to getting better! Unfortunately, you cannot pop a pill or get a quick fix for that one!

    And staying warm too. I saw on Good Morning America last year that getting cold does not give you a cold, but what is Does Do is makes your body fight harder to stay well. Thus, if your immunity is already lowered, then it is easier to get a cold.

    Anyways, just wanted to pop over to see how you were doing!

    Blessings,
    Kelly Taylor

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