Wednesday, January 19, 2011

My Little Darth Vader

We're praying for health and strength around here

We're sick. And by we, I mean Seth. And before that it was Katelin, and before that Lina, and before that Seth and before that Lina. It all started before Christmas, and you know, I'm ready to be healthy. At least through all of it Trevor and I have been functional at least, maybe sleep-deprived, headachy, weak and even runny-nosed, but still functional.

Early yesterday Seth woke up gasping for air. He has a tendency to get croupy and tight with every cold or virus, but yesterday was scary. We tried holding him in the steamy bathroom and then, as per the phone nurse's advice, Trevor loaded him up and headed to the ER. Gulp. We're in the midst of switching to new insurance. And right now we are on COBRA, but if we don't use the cobra, we won't have to pay the $1100+ premium. Double gulp.

So Trevor got to the ER and by then Seth was sleeping, still breathing very loudly with a whistle, but not gasping. So they sat in the ER parking lot, waiting to see if his breathing would improve. Thirty minutes went by. Seth quieted, then woke up, and then he just sounded like Darth Vader, which was a big improvement. So they did what anyone would do - went out for breakfast. Seth ate a piece of sausage and apple juice, then they came home.

Since we'd seen the pediatrician the day before, I called and explained what happened. Stridor, they call it, when your airway closes off making it difficult to get air. Dr. B called in steroids to open that little airway and prevent another episode and then we had a new problem on our hands. A two-year old shot up on steroids. I'll take that over the kid gasping for air any day.

3 comments:

This Idaho Girl said...

I hope you have health soon, too, and a child who sounds like a kid instead of a nemesis. Insurance complicates my life as well. Sometimes being an adult just plain stinks.

Gabrielle said...

Oh, scary. Brigham would get croupy with every little cold when he was younger, too. He went to the ER a couple of times for nebulizer treatments, and then got on albuterol. It's really scary!
I hope y'all get better soon.

The Winwards said...

Stink, sorry the sick is lingering. On another note, two year olds on steroids is the hardest thing I've ever done. Enjoy!