Trip to the ER

Poor Snort has had a tough couple of weeks. Two weeks ago yesterday, we were at the doctor because he had a cold, and was wheezing with retractions. They loaned us a nebulizer, and we got some Albuterol, and he was better in a couple of days.

Then, Wednesday, the snot production went up exponentially - not much like a tiny boy getting over a cold at all - and his eyes had green goo in them. Back to the doctor we went, because he'd been waking up at night too. They didn't find anything wrong. Yesterday, though, there was more wheezing and retractions, and lo and behold, the doctor found an ear infection, too. This time we got to purchase a nebulizer. Thank you, God, for good insurance! And, the doctor said we get to come back next week and talk about an asthma plan. She said people who wheeze when they get colds are called asthmatics. To quote one of my very favorite children's books, "This did not make his mother happy at all." I don't want my boy to have asthma.

But, I digress. That evening, I'd laid him down to sleep for a while. He woke up around 9 pm with a 104.7F degree fever, breathing very quickly and his poor little heart was beating like a drum. He woke up crying, "All done, all done!" It just broke my heart. A breathing treatment and ibuprofen didn't improve the situation, so after a couple of calls to the after-hours nurse line I took him to the pediatric ER.

Naturally, when we got out into the cold air, he perked right up and chattered all the way to the hospital. He was still having pretty good retractions when we got there, though, so we got in to see a doctor pretty quickly. They gave him acetaminophen, oral steroids, and another breathing treatment. Withing minutes, he was jumping on the bed and using the raised head as a slide, saying "Whee!" On the other hand, I could barely keep my eyes open. I was glad to see him feeling better, though.

The ER doctor diagnosed him officially with RSV. We were there for quite a while, because even though he looked and acted better, his blood oxygen levels just wouldn't come back up. Finally, the nurse put the little monitor thingy on his other toe, and the levels came right up so they released us. He was much better today, no more scary fevers. Phew!