The snot fountain has finally subsided...mostly.

I'm happy and thankful to report that finally, after about 13 days, Aaron's epazoodic has waned. I'm not going to say it is completely gone, because it isn't. He's still got some mucus discharge from his nose, but he is dramatically improved. 13 days. That's a LONG freakin' time to be sick with a bug that is making it hard for you to breathe.

We started the albuterol treatments on New Years Day and did them pretty close to the "every 4 hours as needed" prescription. That's a LOT of Albuterol. He took an entire 5-day round of oral prednisone. He took an entire 5 day round of zithromax and will begin the 2nd phase of the prescription (another 5 day round after 5 days off) on Wednesday. Countless doses of tylenol. An entire refill package of baby wipes, hundreds of sucks from the "snot sucker" (bulb syringe), a fever, a brother who threw up 2 times, and several loads of laundry just to wash the snotty linens, he's finally feeling better.

It was a REALLY long road this time.

While the doctor deemed it unnecessary to test him for RSV because the treatment would not change, I'm almost certain he had RSV.

And this morning, I read a note on a blog about another baby, Gavin, who passed away January 7th due to complications from RSV at 8 weeks old. You can read about him here: http://www.natalienortonphoto.com/

Why am I posting this? Another reminder about how dangerous RSV is for tiny babies and children who have lung problems. Another plead to please try to keep these babies healthy. I mean, obviously, you can't know you're about to get sick before you DO get sick and there's no way to tell if your child's clear runny nose is going to turn into something crazy (like we didn't when Aaron was first getting sick this time...), but if you are in the throws of a cold, just don't go near the babies! Don't even come to visit. Trust me, your friends/family will understand. They might even THANK YOU. It is incredibly important. It can be the difference between life and death.

Here I am, counting our many blessings and breathing a sigh of relief on the flipside of 13 awful days for me & my son Aaron. I'm also sitting here reading about a sweet little baby who didn't overcome his "cold." And I'm so sad for them. I walked that road last February. Although Aaron didn't ever get admitted to the PICU, his doctor told me several times that it was practically imminent that Aaron would be admitted to the PICU. He also told me that he usually holds off on "the talk" because it is so scary for the parents, so if you get "the talk" it means that your baby is very, very ill.

Just something to think about today. Thanks for praying for us. Thanks for checking up with us and checking on Aaron. (And Ian, during his pukies...) We appreciate it deeply. Would you kindly say a prayer for the babies and parents who are still fighting their viruses, and the ones who have sadly lost the battle?