Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Enough is Enough

Ben is getting to know his pediatrician a little too well lately. We were back in the office today, for what we thought was going to be an 18 month well check. Instead, it turned into a double breathing treatment/steroid injection visit. He's been kind of congested over the last few days and we have been giving him the breathing treatments at home, but going all day at school without a treatment has proven to be too much for him. He got sent home from school on Monday, and when we kept him home yesterday and were able to do the treatments every 4 hours or so, he was totally fine. So we thought we were doing better. Andrew, who got to endure the doctor's visit today... with both kids... said that he sounded OK when he picked him up from school, but got progressively worse on the car ride, until he was coughing continually by the time they got to the doctor. So now he has to get rechecked tomorrow and has to take a preventative steroid by way of the nebulizer everyday for at least the next 2 months. Poor kid. I guess the breathing issues are going to be his "thing". They haven't diagnosed him with asthma, but he seems to be prone to upper respiratory issues when he gets even a little bit sick. After 2 breathing treatments, he was pretty amped up and crazy by the time we got him home. But thankfully the high wore off right around time for his last treatment of the day, right before bed, and he zonked out about 30 seconds into the treatment.

In all these trips to the doctor, Benny is a pro at the whole routine. He knows how they take his pulse-ox, pointing his little index finger out as soon as he sees the clip coming. He is totally calm and doesn't fight against the examination, which is uncommon for this age, and today, he was even saying "doctor" plain as day. He's such an easy going kid, even when he's being poked and prodded. You just gotta love him!

1 comment:

Lea said...

What a trooper! I am so sorry that you guys are having to deal with all of this. I hope that he doesn't have asthma and that his respiratory issues go away. Hang in there, buddy!