Respiratory Update

I took Ben back to the pulmonologist last week to follow up on the treatment for his frequent respiratory flare ups. I was so happy to report to the doctor (who I love, by the way) that Ben has not had a flare up, or needed a breath of Albuterol, since the end of April! From January to April the longest he went without a flare up was 3 weeks, so clearly we are thrilled with his progress. Some of it I'm sure has to do with the change in the weather and the wind down of cold and flu season, but we are totally encouraged by the fact that he has had two little colds/allergy attacks since his last flare up. He had developed a little bit of a cough for a day or two, but it didn't escalate beyond that. Used to be that once he had a little cough it would turn into a full blown attack. We think that his respiratory issues (being careful not to call it asthma - no diagnosis yet) are triggered by seasonal allergies. He started on Singulair at the end of April and since then, no flare ups. The doctor was just as thrilled as we were with Ben's response to the medication over these last couple of months. I voiced my opinion that I think the Singulair was the main champion in the improvement, so we decided to keep him on that for at least the next year. We are also keeping him on the Pumicort (a nightly preventative breathing treatment) until next spring, but he lowered the doseage, so we'll see if we can keep these respiratory flare ups at bay.

At the doctor, Ben was such a little chatterbox. The doctor was impressed with how articulate he is. He almost fell out of his chair when I sneezed and Ben said "Bless you, Mommy" plain as day. And he's such a good boy at the doctor. Even with all of the torture they have put him through this year, he has never gone through the "white coat anxiety" that a lot of kids get between ages 1 and 2. He just makes friends with everyone and is too busy watching the doctor's every move to even think about being scared. You can't help but to love him!

Right now I think we might be on the verge of another flare up. Josh was sick last week and it seems that now Ben is fighting it off, and has a bit of that raspy cough we know all too well. But that's not discouraging in the least to me. His flare ups are most likely not going to be completely prevented and we don't expect them to be. Hopefully we can get through this without having to treat, but if we do that's fine. We're still so excited about the progress he's made. Hopefully he can keep it up when this year's cold/flu season hits!