Lessons Learned

      I am sure most of you found out about Little Man's trip to the hospital last week, but wanted to post the full report here. Little Man started wheezing Sunday evening. I gave him breathing treatments on Monday and Tuesday and by evening on both days he seemed to be fine. On Wednesday he woke up and was struggling so I took him to the pediatrician.  I also noticed at that time that his room seemed very hot and humid. We were sent home with enough steroids to last for five days. I put him down at 8:00, and he was back up by 11:00. Even after two more treatments, his breathing became worse; he began to grunt with every breath and scream out in pain. I woke both the girls and by 3:00 am we were in the emergency room. They rushed him back immediately and by 5:00, we were admitted to the PICU.  My wonderful friend took the girls to her house for a couple of hours until hubby's plane landed and we could trade off. So a night and a half in the PICU, and another night on the Pediatric Ward when he was able to get off oxygen and had enough doses of steroids administered in his IV to make the docs happy. The photos above are of him just before we were released. The children's hospital was wonderful and the playroom really helped him calm down once he was feeling better. 

          We are now back home and on some major meds. It has been determined that he will be on preventative care for the next two years, so hopefully we can avoid another severe attack. After checking the AC duct to his room we realized that it had become detached, and was probably the leading reason why he just wasn't getting better even after the doctor's visit. He has now been officially labeled as an Asthmatic, so now hubby and I are studying what this means for him and our family. So far this is what we have:

1. He will not be allowed in a home that has a cat. Doctor's orders.

2. Leave all of our shoes in the laundry room to keep the house cleaner.

3. Be the mom who "cleans and occasionally has fun" instead of the mom who "has fun and occasionally cleans." No strong chemicals- all natural and a lot of elbow grease.

4. Stay close to home this summer. We were going to spend the weekends exploring the state, but now we will settle for playing games and watching movies when the temperature gets too high.

5. Two treatments EVERY DAY for the next two years. 

We are just so thankful that God has his protecting hand on all of us during this time. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. I will be busy the next few days, but I'll post an update after our follow up visit.