High fevers and terrible coughing, wheezing, etc.
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| Having missed nap for a doctor visit, he's crashing on the couch before dinner |
Showing posts with label Asthma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asthma. Show all posts
Friday, February 4, 2011
Dear Aaron could use a Prayer...
He is very sick today.
High fevers and terrible coughing, wheezing, etc.
High fevers and terrible coughing, wheezing, etc.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Allergy Update
Aaron saw his allergist this morning and got a pretty good review. His eczema is still bothersome, but there isn't a whole lot more we can do about it and it doesn't seem to be linked to how much egg product he eats. Ian had yucky eczema on his legs (backs of his knees, and in his armpits) pretty much until he turned three. Ian's has very recently cleared up to practically nonexistent.
Aaron's ear infection from 2 weeks ago is all cleared up and he is breathing well.
The allergist wants us to cut back on Aaron's pulmicort (nebulizer) dosage for July and August and then start back up "full force" on September 1st for the winter. So Aaron will get it every other night in July and every 3rd night in August instead of every night like he has been. Pulmicort is a steroid and there are always concerns about slowing down his growth. Aaron is already a peanut and he could use any break he can get to help him continue to grow well! Aaron has been gaining and growing in the last few months (as opposed to not gaining any weight at all over the winter) and his doctors attribute that to well-managed allergies and asthma not consuming all of his calories to fight off illnesses so he can pack on a little weight. He is still not on "the chart" for weight and only in the 5th percentile for height.
I happen to love his allergist. He's such a caring doctor and has great bedside manner. He really seems to love children, too. (He's both a pediatric and adult allergist.) He's a really good doctor. We've really been blessed with some excellent medical professionals for our children!
He also gets bonus points for mentioning to Ian that he was going to have a new baby sister "in the fall" and about fell out of his chair when I corrected him and said, "no...a couple of weeks!" He said, "Really?! You look great!" Telling a very pregnant lady she looks small and healthy will get you a pat on the back any day! (Sidenote, it must be true, I've been hearing it quite a bit lately... "you look great! you must feel good!" I do feel good. I feel great for being 36 weeks pregnant. Really!)
Aaron won't be going back to the allergist (or pediatrician) until October unless there's a problem! That's the longest stretch for him without having to see a doctor...ever! Let's hope he stays healthy and we don't have to have any sick visits between now and then!
Next week Ian will see the ENT to figure out what is going to happen now that his right ear tube has fallen out (and he's had an ear infection in that ear...). I'm not looking forward to hearing that it's time for a new set and most likely having tonsils/adenoids removed too. I'm prepared to hear it, but I don't want to hear it. Not right now. *sigh* If you could pray about that situation, we'd appreciate it!
Last weekend we went to Round Hill Farm Park with our friends Mike and Kim Markiw. We had a great time. It's a great park! Here are a couple more pictures from our visit to the "exhibit farm."
Aaron's ear infection from 2 weeks ago is all cleared up and he is breathing well.
The allergist wants us to cut back on Aaron's pulmicort (nebulizer) dosage for July and August and then start back up "full force" on September 1st for the winter. So Aaron will get it every other night in July and every 3rd night in August instead of every night like he has been. Pulmicort is a steroid and there are always concerns about slowing down his growth. Aaron is already a peanut and he could use any break he can get to help him continue to grow well! Aaron has been gaining and growing in the last few months (as opposed to not gaining any weight at all over the winter) and his doctors attribute that to well-managed allergies and asthma not consuming all of his calories to fight off illnesses so he can pack on a little weight. He is still not on "the chart" for weight and only in the 5th percentile for height.
I happen to love his allergist. He's such a caring doctor and has great bedside manner. He really seems to love children, too. (He's both a pediatric and adult allergist.) He's a really good doctor. We've really been blessed with some excellent medical professionals for our children!
He also gets bonus points for mentioning to Ian that he was going to have a new baby sister "in the fall" and about fell out of his chair when I corrected him and said, "no...a couple of weeks!" He said, "Really?! You look great!" Telling a very pregnant lady she looks small and healthy will get you a pat on the back any day! (Sidenote, it must be true, I've been hearing it quite a bit lately... "you look great! you must feel good!" I do feel good. I feel great for being 36 weeks pregnant. Really!)
Aaron won't be going back to the allergist (or pediatrician) until October unless there's a problem! That's the longest stretch for him without having to see a doctor...ever! Let's hope he stays healthy and we don't have to have any sick visits between now and then!
Next week Ian will see the ENT to figure out what is going to happen now that his right ear tube has fallen out (and he's had an ear infection in that ear...). I'm not looking forward to hearing that it's time for a new set and most likely having tonsils/adenoids removed too. I'm prepared to hear it, but I don't want to hear it. Not right now. *sigh* If you could pray about that situation, we'd appreciate it!
Last weekend we went to Round Hill Farm Park with our friends Mike and Kim Markiw. We had a great time. It's a great park! Here are a couple more pictures from our visit to the "exhibit farm."
Friday, February 26, 2010
16 Months and "Perfect"
Of course we all know that Aaron isn't perfect. (Nobody is, right?) Today his pediatrician called his development perfect. I wouldn't call it perfect, but he is doing GREAT!
When we think back to last year around this time (I didn't memorialize it on here, but was definitely thinking about it earlier in February) that Aaron had just spent a week at Children's Hospital and his tortocollis was really bad, it really is remarkable that he's above and beyond the developmental milestones for his age now.
His physical development is good, especially in the last weeks since he saw the Allergist and started his new allergy treatments. He's gained a pound since then! He has grown 4 inches since November. FOUR! I knew he was getting taller (can't open the kitchen drawers over top of his head anymore) but four whole inches?! That's a lot. He has only gained 1 pound 2 oz and has fallen off the chart for his weight/age, but who can blame him? His doctor's remark was, "Well he's growing taller and running all over the place, plus he's been sick quite a bit, it's no wonder he hasn't gained much. It isn't concerning to me at all. He's growing fine." His head is still small, only in the 10th percentile overall, but it must not be affecting his brain development!
His social, verbal, emotional, and motor skill development is excellent. He's doing everything he should be doing and then some. His pediatrician was quite impressed with his speech. Not only does Aaron know a lot of words, he's also very articulate. He loves being around and playing with other kids and he's really good at running, climbing, playing with legos, and using a fork. (Gross and fine motor skills.)
He didn't get his MMR vaccination today, like we had planned. He's allergic to eggs and it never crossed my mind! He's had other vaccinations (namely the flu shots, regular and H1N1) that were grown in eggs without noticeable reactions, but his pediatrician decided she'd rather we wait and talk to Aaron's allergist again before we proceed with the MMR. She said, "Just call me a paranoid mother, I guess, I just don't want to take any risks now that we've finally got him breathing better."
She's great. I love her. She's an excellent pediatrician.
He did get the Chicken Pox vaccine today, I guess that one is ok for kids with egg allergies? I was trusting her judgment. I'm going to google it as soon as I'm done typing.
Overall: great appointment. Aaron's a superstar. (But we already thought that.)
I really hope neither kid picked up anything awful there today. We've been "feeling good" for about a week. I guess we're due for the "next round" of whatever... I didn't let them out of the stroller and bathed them each in sanitizer several times, but we were still THERE... icky.
When we think back to last year around this time (I didn't memorialize it on here, but was definitely thinking about it earlier in February) that Aaron had just spent a week at Children's Hospital and his tortocollis was really bad, it really is remarkable that he's above and beyond the developmental milestones for his age now.
His physical development is good, especially in the last weeks since he saw the Allergist and started his new allergy treatments. He's gained a pound since then! He has grown 4 inches since November. FOUR! I knew he was getting taller (can't open the kitchen drawers over top of his head anymore) but four whole inches?! That's a lot. He has only gained 1 pound 2 oz and has fallen off the chart for his weight/age, but who can blame him? His doctor's remark was, "Well he's growing taller and running all over the place, plus he's been sick quite a bit, it's no wonder he hasn't gained much. It isn't concerning to me at all. He's growing fine." His head is still small, only in the 10th percentile overall, but it must not be affecting his brain development!
His social, verbal, emotional, and motor skill development is excellent. He's doing everything he should be doing and then some. His pediatrician was quite impressed with his speech. Not only does Aaron know a lot of words, he's also very articulate. He loves being around and playing with other kids and he's really good at running, climbing, playing with legos, and using a fork. (Gross and fine motor skills.)
He didn't get his MMR vaccination today, like we had planned. He's allergic to eggs and it never crossed my mind! He's had other vaccinations (namely the flu shots, regular and H1N1) that were grown in eggs without noticeable reactions, but his pediatrician decided she'd rather we wait and talk to Aaron's allergist again before we proceed with the MMR. She said, "Just call me a paranoid mother, I guess, I just don't want to take any risks now that we've finally got him breathing better."
She's great. I love her. She's an excellent pediatrician.
He did get the Chicken Pox vaccine today, I guess that one is ok for kids with egg allergies? I was trusting her judgment. I'm going to google it as soon as I'm done typing.
Overall: great appointment. Aaron's a superstar. (But we already thought that.)
I really hope neither kid picked up anything awful there today. We've been "feeling good" for about a week. I guess we're due for the "next round" of whatever... I didn't let them out of the stroller and bathed them each in sanitizer several times, but we were still THERE... icky.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Aaron has Allergies
I'm not surprised he has allergies. I am VERY surprised about which allergies he tested positive for!
The whole reason we ended up at the Allergist's office today was Aaron's near constant congestion and coughing. At first, his pediatrician was willing to dismiss it as asthma caused by respiratory illnesses. Well, I believe that is true in certain instances (he's been sick about 10 times in the last year or so), but I didn't really believe it wholesale. Many times Aaron has been the only one who was "sick." Nobody else got the "virus" that was causing all of Aaron's breathing troubles, not even Ian...and keeping those kids from sharing germs is impossible.
On Monday, while at the pediatrician for yet another episode of bronchiolitis, I asked if Aaron should be tested for allergies. His pediatrician agreed that perhaps Aaron did have an allergic cause for some of these respiratory problems.
So today, Aaron was tested for a bunch of different things. He didn't seem to mind the test at all, in fact he was really good the entire time.
A
If you notice, the 2 hives on the bottom left... those are Dust Mites. The egg allergy was a much more mild reaction than dust mites, but it is the top dot in the 3rd column.
Eggs??? REALLY?? I'm shocked! Although Aaron never eats eggs outright (scrambled or whatever, he doesn't like them), of course he eats things with egg in them all the time. His doctor said that it is obviously not an anaphylactic allergy to eggs, he is certain now that is what is causing Aaron's rampant eczema. (So I asked about Ian & my dad because they both have bad eczema too, and the allergist replied, "I bet you they have an egg allergy. Allergies & eczema run in families.") Intersting tibit- Ian & Aaron have never really liked eggs. Often when a child has a strong aversion to a food it is because he is allergic or sensitive to it!
Super!
So we have some work to do to cut down on Aaron's exposure to dust mite dander & eggs. Dust mites is going to be the easier of the two allergies to handle, and is the most probable cause for any allergic breathing problems Aaron has. We already don't have carpet and he sleeps on a crib mattress, which is not dust-mite harboring), his linens are washed regularly, not too many other cloth things in his bedroom, etc.
Reducing the amount of egg & egg products Aaron (& Ian) consume is going to be much more difficult. We're open to any & all shared experiences with egg allergies! We want to know your tips, tricks, etc.
Aaron will also now be taking Singulair in addition to his pulmicort and hopefully it will be a miracle-cure for you sweet boy! If I am tired of him being sick, he must be really tired of it!
The whole reason we ended up at the Allergist's office today was Aaron's near constant congestion and coughing. At first, his pediatrician was willing to dismiss it as asthma caused by respiratory illnesses. Well, I believe that is true in certain instances (he's been sick about 10 times in the last year or so), but I didn't really believe it wholesale. Many times Aaron has been the only one who was "sick." Nobody else got the "virus" that was causing all of Aaron's breathing troubles, not even Ian...and keeping those kids from sharing germs is impossible.
On Monday, while at the pediatrician for yet another episode of bronchiolitis, I asked if Aaron should be tested for allergies. His pediatrician agreed that perhaps Aaron did have an allergic cause for some of these respiratory problems.
So today, Aaron was tested for a bunch of different things. He didn't seem to mind the test at all, in fact he was really good the entire time.
AIf you notice, the 2 hives on the bottom left... those are Dust Mites. The egg allergy was a much more mild reaction than dust mites, but it is the top dot in the 3rd column.
Eggs??? REALLY?? I'm shocked! Although Aaron never eats eggs outright (scrambled or whatever, he doesn't like them), of course he eats things with egg in them all the time. His doctor said that it is obviously not an anaphylactic allergy to eggs, he is certain now that is what is causing Aaron's rampant eczema. (So I asked about Ian & my dad because they both have bad eczema too, and the allergist replied, "I bet you they have an egg allergy. Allergies & eczema run in families.") Intersting tibit- Ian & Aaron have never really liked eggs. Often when a child has a strong aversion to a food it is because he is allergic or sensitive to it!
Super!
So we have some work to do to cut down on Aaron's exposure to dust mite dander & eggs. Dust mites is going to be the easier of the two allergies to handle, and is the most probable cause for any allergic breathing problems Aaron has. We already don't have carpet and he sleeps on a crib mattress, which is not dust-mite harboring), his linens are washed regularly, not too many other cloth things in his bedroom, etc.
Reducing the amount of egg & egg products Aaron (& Ian) consume is going to be much more difficult. We're open to any & all shared experiences with egg allergies! We want to know your tips, tricks, etc.
Aaron will also now be taking Singulair in addition to his pulmicort and hopefully it will be a miracle-cure for you sweet boy! If I am tired of him being sick, he must be really tired of it!
Monday, January 11, 2010
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?
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?
Monday, January 4, 2010
Update
"Though he doesn't appear to be FEELING as bad, dear Aaron is not really doing much better yet. We expected that just as in the past the oral prednisone would work very quickly and he'd be back to breathing well right away. This doesn't appear to be the case this time. His pediatrician explained it by saying that Aaron is probably not as "far long" in the virus as he has been on other occasions and so he's taking longer to recover because he just hasn't finished up with the virus part of the illness. His lungs/bronchioles are not going to get less mucus in them until there is less mucus being produced. This will happen when his little body has finally fought off the virus, you know, in the usual 7-10 day window course for the common cold, a bit longer if the virus causing all this is RSV.
So we are in a holding pattern.
Except, one other thing... He now has an ear infection on top of all the other crap! Aaron is fortunate to not seem to get as many of them as Ian did (pre-tubes) and for that we are very thankful. But right now, it really is the last thing he needs, to have his ear hurting right now.
And our regular pharmacy didn't have the prescription ready for us when we got dthere, a full hour later, so we came home empty handed and will have to make another trip out in the sub-freezing temps and snow to get it later. GRRRR. I don't understand why it is so dang hard for our pharmacy to get and fill our prescriptions properly and in a timely fashion. I hope the pharmacies over on the other side of town are better. Just another reason to get out of Monroeville.
Ian's pneumonia is not back, I had him checked this morning.
So we are in a holding pattern.
Except, one other thing... He now has an ear infection on top of all the other crap! Aaron is fortunate to not seem to get as many of them as Ian did (pre-tubes) and for that we are very thankful. But right now, it really is the last thing he needs, to have his ear hurting right now.
And our regular pharmacy didn't have the prescription ready for us when we got dthere, a full hour later, so we came home empty handed and will have to make another trip out in the sub-freezing temps and snow to get it later. GRRRR. I don't understand why it is so dang hard for our pharmacy to get and fill our prescriptions properly and in a timely fashion. I hope the pharmacies over on the other side of town are better. Just another reason to get out of Monroeville.
Ian's pneumonia is not back, I had him checked this morning.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Aaron could use a little prayer
What we though yesterday to be a little bit of a cold has now become a full-on asthma/bronchiolitis attack and Aaron is not doing well.
He has 102.4 fever and I have packed my bag for Children's Hospital, just in case. The roads are not very nice here tonight and I would be going alone because Roger will stay home with Ian. I'm just hoping and praying that this is the lowpoint of this illness for Aaron and we will see marked improvement very soon. I do NOT want to go to CHP.
If you could pray for us, we would really appreciate it.
Night is the hardest time.
^this was taken on Christmas Eve.
He has 102.4 fever and I have packed my bag for Children's Hospital, just in case. The roads are not very nice here tonight and I would be going alone because Roger will stay home with Ian. I'm just hoping and praying that this is the lowpoint of this illness for Aaron and we will see marked improvement very soon. I do NOT want to go to CHP.
If you could pray for us, we would really appreciate it.
Night is the hardest time.
^this was taken on Christmas Eve.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sweet Boy, Sick Boy
Aaron's cold/sinus infection turned to wheezing over the weekend. Not all the time, but enough to notice and especially when we would go outdoors into the cool air and then come back inside. He's been coughing pretty regularly and his breathing was rattly & wheezy. Since we'll be traveling soon, I didn't want to wait too long to have his situation re-evaluated. I called this morning and our regular pediatrician happened to be the "on call" today, so I took Aaron.
When we got to there, Dr. P. took one listen to his chest and said, "oh wow. Ok. did you do a nebulizer treatment before you came?"
I told her we didn't because we didn't have time and so they did one in the office. She came back in and listened again and said, "oh.... let's do one more..."
So they did a double albuterol treatment in the office this morning. It took 2 hours and 15 minutes. In a little room. With a 2.5 year old and a 1 year old.
Ian got a Happy Meal on the way home because he was good as gold. He played with his toys and we did stickers, and he ate snacks, and he didn't get into any trouble at all! (I really love how he seems to just *know* when he really needs to be good. He's such a delightful 2.5 year old. I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom, either. Ian is so good when he needs to be, I'm totally blessed by his behavior when it really matters.)
Aaron left the doctor's office as a diagnosed Asthmatic.
He will be doing pulmicort and albuterol nebulizer treatments through the winter at least. He's on prednisone for the next 4 days to steroid up his lungs and kick this bug to the curb, finally. He will also have a "ready" prednisone prescription in case we get another bug. (In case, ha ha ha, more like WHEN. Let's be real, people.)
He was "starting" with pneumonia, so he is now on a 2nd antibiotic since the one for his ears from last week isn't a good one for pneumonia.
Poor guy!
I'm so glad I "chanced" getting sent home as a hypochondriac mother this morning and took him in.... the more we can do before we leave for Florida the better!
We're also the proud new owners of a "travel" nebulizer. How delightful.
*sigh*
Please pray for Aaron.
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