What We Pass Down

(Beware: This is a lengthy documentation that I wrote mostly for Tobey and myself so that I could remember the details)

There are some things that you want to pass on to your children. For instance, your husband's smile and mannerisms. I love that when I look at Tobey I see a little boy version of my husband. However, where Rodney is laid back and easy going, Tobey is quite stubborn. Maybe it is just the toddler stage but I am afraid I have passed my own stubborness down.

Rodney and I are finding out, especially after this week, that we may have passed down a trait that we wish we could take back. Rodney and I both had asthma as children. Although mine only shows up occasionally now, Rodney still uses an inhaler once or twice a month.Tobey was unofficially diagnosed with asthma this past week. He woke up on Sunday morning wheezing and coughing. He had kind of a croupy cough so we tried sitting on the edge of the tub with the hot shower on. The steam seemed to make it a little better. He wheezed on and off all day but he was active and happy. He had a low grade fever. I honestly thought that his cold from the week before had just turned into bronchitis and since he was playing and in a good mood I didn't think it was that serious. I worked that night and it was the longest night of my life. I worried about him so much and called home I don't know how many times. When I got home that morning he was already awake and he sounded worse. Rodney was flying out for work that morning and Tobey and I headed straight to the doctor's office. I called on the way to tell them we were coming. Once we got into the exam room things moved pretty quickly. They checked his oxygen level and it was fine. But he sounded horrible and he had started retracting ( using muscles in his neck and abdomen to aid his breathing). The doctor gave him a steroid and two breathing treatments and asked lots of questions. He didn't think it was croup or bronchitis. He diagnosed him with acute asthmaticus. I felt horrible for not taking him to the ER the day before. My pediatrician was very reassuring and said kids are actually quite good at compensating during an asthma attack but eventually they get worn out. Well, Tobey fell fast asleep during the treatments. I think he had reached that point and he was worn out. The treatment did not seem to help Tobey at all and the doctor said we needed to go to Children's Hospital and that Tobey would probably need to stay in the hospital for 2-3 days for round the clock treatments and evaluation. I was very calm the whole time he ws explaining this to me but once I got in the car with Tobey I admit I lost it just a little bit. I was so worried and scared at this point. Tobey never even woke up when I put him in his car seat. He slept the whole way to the hospital. I called Rodney so he could work on getting a flight home. Then I called my sweet mother-in-law. She was so reassuring and comforting and I felt so much better after I got off the phone with her. Then I prayed prayed prayed the rest of the way there. Tobey woke up this time when I got him out of his car seat and into the stroller and he sounded slightly better although he was still retracting. Thankfully my pediatrician had called ahead and we did not have to wait in the very long line to be admitted. I still felt very guilty cutting in front of all those parents and their children. I am sure they were just as worried about their own children. By the time we made it back to an exam room Tobey was much better. The steroids and breathing treatments had finally kicked in. They kept us there for about an hour and monitored Tobey. The ER doctor had her doubts about asthma and dianosed him with Reactive Airway Disease agravated by a respiratory virus. He continued to improve and they sent us home with an oral steroid and albuterol. I am so thankful we did not have to stay there at the hospital.

He slept really well that night and my pediatrician even called the next morning to check on him. His fever never returned but by the middle of the week he started coughing. A very wet and productive and not so pleasant cough. And he was very fussy all day. He played some but mostly wanted to sit in my lap and lay his head on my shoulder. He had a follow-up appointment with the pediatrician on Thursday morning and he diagnosed him with Bronchiolitis which is basically a respiratory virus. He prescribed breathing treatments twice a day for the next two weeks. So we purchased this little nebulizer machine and stocked up on Albuterol and Pulmicort. He is still not 100% but is so much better. I asked the doctor if maybe it wasn't really asthma and Tobey just had a respiratory virus which caused the wheezing. He said that he really believed, especially with his family history and food allergies and excema, that this was asthma making its first appearance. The virus may have brought the asthma on or the asthma may have led to the virus. He couldn' t say. Now I am wondering if that is what his little cough was all about the day before his birthday party. I so wish that we had not passed this on to our sweet little man. But at least now we know what to expect and we have the equipment and medicine to help him out. He has been such a trooper and I can't wait for him to get back to his little energetic and wild boy ways. We can't always help what we pass on to our children but thank goodness for medications like Albuterol and Pulmicort. I have a feeling we will be very good friends.

And now we have the task of finding a new home for our first baby-our jack russell terrier Scooter. Tobey has a confirmed allergy to dogs which we found out at the beginning of the summer. And allergies can lead to asthma so I think it is time to really de-fur our house for the sake of our son. Scooter is definitely an inside dog and would not do well if we just left him outside. I am struggling quite a bit with this step. I am praying someone in our family will step up and take Scooter for us. That way we could still check in on him. It would be really hard if we could never see him. He has been with us since he was a puppy. For six years he has been a member of our household. Until Tobey came along he slept in the bed with us. He is a sweetheart who has has never been aggressive toward Tobey. In fact, they love each other and play really well together. Hopefully, Scooter will still be in the extended family. Beyond that I can't even think about.