How I spent my Friday

On Thursday I wrote how I thought I was over-protective of my son because of his asthma, well, now I feel like I wasn't protective enough. He was up most of the night Thursday and I gave him a nebulizer treatment at 1 am, then he finally went to bed and woke up around 5:45, so he got another treatment at 6 and when he wasn't getting any better I called his pediatrician who had to get back to be because they weren't open yet. I got a call from a very wonderful Nurse Practitioner (she knows my older sister too which always helps) who advised I should give him another treatment and then take him to the ER and we would be there for at least a couple of hours probably most of the day. So I give him a treatment, get ready, call my MIL to meet me so I have someone to help me out since my DH was at work by then. Called my DH to let him know what was going on, called my parents in FL and then left when my MIL came.

Our local ER put in a pediatric ER not too long after I had my son, so about 4 years ago, it is wonderful. The best ER experience I have ever had. It was my son's first time being in a hospital since he was born. I went in, gave the desk our info. The triage doctor came out to listen to his lungs because she had one person before us but wanted to make sure he was getting some air. We waited for maybe 10 minutes and were taken in to Triage where the got the history of this event as well as some health history, checked his lungs and oxygen level (92 - should be between 90-100, closer to 100 for a healthy 4 yo). Set my son and MIL up in the hallway for another treatment (3rd in 3-1/2 hours) while I finished registering my son. When I got done, they were done the treatment and we waited about 45 minutes to an hour to go back to a room in the ER, they need to let the neb treatment work and all things considered, being in the hall was probably a better option than being in the room with a 4 yr old who is bouncing off the walls from albuterol. They listened to his lungs, checked his oxygen levels (93-94) and got a full history. Then they gave him albuterol and Ativan (4th treatment in 4-1/2 hours) which was the worst experience of my life. I had to hold my son down while he was screaming because the medicine either tasted awful or hurt his mouth, I'm not sure which, but it helped his lungs. Once he was done his treatment, they let us be for about an hour or so and came in to check his lungs and oxygen level (95) and my DH called to let me know that he was coming home from work and would be over as soon as he could, he works in Philadelphia and takes public transportation which, on a good day, means he has a 1 hour commute.

Around 12:30 they came in and gave him another albuterol treatment which he finally fell asleep after. Then my DH came right after the treatment. They came in around 1:30 and listened to his lungs and said they'd be back around 2 to check his oxygen levels. They came in and woke him up, his oxygen levels asleep were 91, awake and sitting but not moving around were 92-93, so they gave him a chance to get up and move around for a bit and came back in at 2:30 and his oxygen levels were up to 95-96. So we got discharged, my son and DH headed out to the playroom in the lobby while my MIL and I cleaned up, then she left and I handled the discharge.

He's on ridiculous amounts of medicine for the next couple of days, but he's home and breathing much better. We went to his pediatrician yesterday and they modified the treatment so that we'll be backing off of the Xopenex tomorrow to 3 times per day instead of 5-6, and we go back the day before Thanksgiving to see how he's doing. We also now have to go to an allergist to work on controlling this so we don't wind up with more frequent attacks.

The doctors and nurses in the ER were wonderful, I've never had that good of an experience with any hospital before. I would highly recommend that if you live in the area and need to go to the ER, go to Kennedy in Washington Township, NJ.

Confessions of an over-protective mother

Well, I don't really talk about it too much, but my son has asthma, not bad, and the doctors just started actually calling it asthma, they were always calling it Reactive Airway Disease (RAD), but he had his first attack at 9 months old and pretty regularly since, usually in the fall. Why, you may ask, am I not discussing it, well, he's been having coughing fits all day and is breathing heavy, not an attack, but I have to keep an eye on him now. Every time he has a cold, I have to watch him for the next couple of weeks because that's usually when he has the attack, about 2 weeks after his cold he starts coughing and we are at the doctor's office getting treatments and more medication. We are now at the point that, 4 years after the first attack, I pretty much call the doctor, tell them he's having an attack, give him a nebulizer treatment and keep the doctor's informed if there's a problem. I'm getting pretty good at early detection, but I am so afraid the time will come where we'll have to go to the hospital.



I had a friend growing up who had asthma, well, she still does, and we still talk, so I guess I should say I have a friend that has had asthma since we met the day I got put up to first grade from kindergarten. I have many childhood memories of visiting her in the hospital, I never realized how life-threatening her disease is and I never realized what her parents must have gone through.



Now, for the confession part, whenever my son gets sick, I hover. I got a stethoscope because of the recommendation of a friend who's daughter has the same type of asthma my son has, it helps to tell if his wheezing is in his throat from mucus or if it's in his chest. When I worry, I will listen to his chest, sometimes every couple of hours. I also have a really difficult time with him now participating in sports, soccer and floor hockey. I watch for anything when he's running around, any coughing and I panic because he has flare ups during exercise too. I know I'm paranoid and he's only twice ever been close to possibly having to go to the hospital, but whenever he's sick, I feel helpless. I feel like I'm just waiting and watching to see if his asthma acts up or if it's just a cold or allergies or a cough. Whenever he has a bad cough, well I'm sure you can figure that one out. I called the doctors so frequently at one point, I felt like a nudge. Finally I just asked what I should look for, but of course, my son doesn't usually wheeze, he coughs, his lips don't usually turn blue, but he does get pale, so basically I have to listen and wait. When he coughs each time he breaths, well then I know there's a problem, of course by that time he's usually really bad, hence my paranoia.

I'm fortunate to have a wonderful husband who grew up with athletic asthma and therefore doesn't allow me to get too overprotective, and calms me down when I do over-react to any issues.

Thanks for "listening"