And so with probably TWO asthmatic children, I'll take these common sense tips to heart:
Breathing Easier Through the Holidays
Breathing Easier Through the Holidays
Monday, November 29, 2004
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Because once is never enough
Strike that last post about the poultry. When the baby puked up peaches and rice cereal, we realized poultry probably *wasn't* the problem. And when he spent the rest of the night coughing until the gagged, it seemed that something strangely familiar was happening.
A trip to the doctor Saturday morning left us with a prescription for Amoxicillan and the suggestion that it was probably a sinus infection...but it could be Reactive Airway. (Newbies: "Reactive Airway Disease" is the new noncommittal language pediatricians use to tell you your baby or toddler probably has asthma.)
As I've said: Strangely familiar.
After another Exorcist-esque episode and the realization that I had nothing on hand to relieve this violent cough, I paged the pediatrician again (I'm pretty fearless with the paging) to find out what the hell I should do until the Amox kicks in.
And she suggested my old friend, the nebulizer and some Albuterol.~ My turn to pull an Exorcist moment.
The good news/bad news finale to my story? The Albuterol (actually, Xopenex) worked like a dream. Fabulous that it worked so well -- he's a million times better.
And horrible that it worked so well. What we've basically got is a diagnostic test with positive results: the baby probably has asthma.
I'll be seeing my buddy the pulmonologist tomorrow to find out how dramatically I'm jumping to conclusions. But I think it's that mother's intuition. Sometimes we just know.
We'll see...
A trip to the doctor Saturday morning left us with a prescription for Amoxicillan and the suggestion that it was probably a sinus infection...but it could be Reactive Airway. (Newbies: "Reactive Airway Disease" is the new noncommittal language pediatricians use to tell you your baby or toddler probably has asthma.)
As I've said: Strangely familiar.
After another Exorcist-esque episode and the realization that I had nothing on hand to relieve this violent cough, I paged the pediatrician again (I'm pretty fearless with the paging) to find out what the hell I should do until the Amox kicks in.
And she suggested my old friend, the nebulizer and some Albuterol.~ My turn to pull an Exorcist moment.
The good news/bad news finale to my story? The Albuterol (actually, Xopenex) worked like a dream. Fabulous that it worked so well -- he's a million times better.
And horrible that it worked so well. What we've basically got is a diagnostic test with positive results: the baby probably has asthma.
I'll be seeing my buddy the pulmonologist tomorrow to find out how dramatically I'm jumping to conclusions. But I think it's that mother's intuition. Sometimes we just know.
We'll see...
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Happy Thanksgiving: Allergic to poultry?!
Yes, believe it or not -- My three-year-old is allergic to eggs, and we've just learned that our 8-month-old is allergic to poultry. Okay, it's not for sure that he's allergic, but he does seem to have an unnatural tendency to vomit an entire day's worth of food when he has it...so odds are....
We'll be taking him to an allergist next week to be sure.
Way to start the holidays, right? Ho, ho, *HACK!*
We'll be taking him to an allergist next week to be sure.
Way to start the holidays, right? Ho, ho, *HACK!*
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
What every 3-year-old asthmatic wants to hear
Apparently, chocolate is the new codeine:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041122/hl_nm/health_britain_chocolate_dc
(When it comes to coughing, that is. When it comes to numbing pain...I think most women already knew this.)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041122/hl_nm/health_britain_chocolate_dc
(When it comes to coughing, that is. When it comes to numbing pain...I think most women already knew this.)
Monday, November 15, 2004
Worry more about colds than pollution.
Rabinovitch said the study findings offer good news for parents of children with asthma.
"Instead of worrying about air pollution, they can focus their efforts on preventing and treating the real wintertime threat to their children's health -- colds and other respiratory infections," Rabinovitch said.
http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A65309
...but the fact is, with pre-schoolers, it's probably easier to protect them from pollution than it is to protect them from colds!
"Instead of worrying about air pollution, they can focus their efforts on preventing and treating the real wintertime threat to their children's health -- colds and other respiratory infections," Rabinovitch said.
http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A65309
...but the fact is, with pre-schoolers, it's probably easier to protect them from pollution than it is to protect them from colds!
Monday, November 01, 2004
More good news for us regular folks....
If you're like me and more or less forced to mail order your kid's maintenance meds, here's some great news:
It's so reassuring to know that, not only is it next-to-impossible to know whether or not you have any medication left in the MDI, now you can't even be sure if the stuff's any good!
It's so reassuring to know that, not only is it next-to-impossible to know whether or not you have any medication left in the MDI, now you can't even be sure if the stuff's any good!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)