…And Bells on Her Toes

Caity came home with a cough on Friday, we didn’t think much of it because Lexy currently has that deep barrel-chested-phlegmy cough that everyone at her school currently has.  We figured it was just the start of that.  I gave her some cough medicine and put her to bed around the normal time she goes down.  I could hear her on the monitor, moaning about an hour after I put her down.  I know what this means, a fever.  I know my kid very well.  All week she was sleeping badly, waking several times a night with a moan or a groan and she was very tired and grumpy as well.  I took her temperature and it was at 101.7 so I woke her to give her some Tylenol.   That helped with the fever but in the middle of the night, Alex woke me and told me she was breathing funny.  Her breathing was shallow and rapid, like she couldn’t catch her breath or was jogging – not like she had been sleeping for hours already.  I had the vaporizer in her room going and I suggested letting her get some sleep.  At least her fever was down.  I told Alex that if she wasn’t better in the morning I’d take her to the clinic.  I took her downstairs and sat on the couch with her for a couple of hours until she fell back asleep, then brought her back to bed.

In the morning I could hear her breathing from my room.  It was a raspy wheeze.  She still wanted to get up and play though.  The fever was back.

I took her to the clinic and hoped it wouldn’t be busy – it was.  When we were signing in I heard the receptionist say to someone “there’s 12 people ahead of you” – oh boy.  Caity wanted me to pick her up.  I put her on the counter while I handed in her health card and told the receptionist that she was having trouble breathing.  She looked alarmed and said she would get the nurse to see her right now.  We barely made it to the reception chairs when they called her name.  I could tell the other people sitting there were a little miffed that we budded in line, but they take breathing problems seriously.

The nurse came in and did the initial triage and asked if she had Asthma.  I told her not that I know of but it’s in the family, including me.  They took her blood oxygen and heart rate through that little finger clip.  Her oxygen was down to 91 (100 is normal) at first count and her pulse was at 161.  Her little heart was working overtime trying to get enough oxygen pumping through her system.  They said it was low, not good but not horrible.  The doctor flew in, asked me a bunch of questions and ordered a Ventolin mask.  She sat like a very good girl with the mask on for about 15 minutes and they tested her stats again – the oxygen level was up to 93 a slight improvement and her heart rate was around the same.

The doctor said she her fever and wheezing could have caused by a virus, a bacterial infection or an allergic reaction to something.  Since there was no way to know for sure, he prescribed an antibiotic.  He said ignoring it would be the fastest way to get to the hospital.  Her other prescriptions include steroids – both liquid and an inhalant (Flovent).  She also has a rescue inhaler too (Salbutamol, a.k.a. Ventolin).  I had to buy an air chamber too because its impossible to get a toddler to inhale the medication properly otherwise.  The doctor ordered that she stay away from other kids for a couple of days. 

It was pretty friggin’ scary yesterday.  She was so good at the doctors.  She wanted to play but was ordered to keep still.  It was hard for her.

All the medication she had yesterday knocked her out and she slept for four hours in the afternoon.  Her fever broke, had some more medicine and was wired for sound.  One of the effects of the Salbutamol is hyperactivity – hard to keep her quiet when she wants to run around.

I remember there were times earlier when she’d be running around and she’d start coughing.  That’s the same way I was as a kid, I had “exercise induced Asthma“.  I had to be excused from gym class.  I rarely had a spontaneous Asthma attack, but when I did, it was horrible – my lungs felt like they were on fire and I couldn’t breathe.  I know how my poor kid feels, it’s awful.

She had a better night, but she’s still a bit wheezy.