Asthma Again

Dazzle started to cough a bit Saturday morning. That cough. Not the little tickle in the throat cough that comes with a bit of a 'common cold' or a touch of hayfever. She started coughing the cough of another asthma flare-up. It began mild and infrequent, yet she got a neb treatment with albuterol, rather than a quick puff on the inhaler. I just knew. Sure enough, she continued to cough over the course of the afternoon, and the cough grew rather reminiscent of the times she has developed pneumonia in a matter of hours. The nebs came every 2 hrs and pulmicort was added before bed, and again Sunday morning (and will be added morning and evening until this flare-up is good and passed).

We stayed home from church Sunday morning. Her O2 level had dropped down to around 89-91% in the night, but came up to a nice 96-97% after a neb, so she was able to avoid a hospital visit*. She perked up a bit through the afternoon, even tolerating 3-4 hrs between nebs, so I'm hoping we caught this one in time and the frequent nebs have kept the airways open enough for her to cough it up and out and keep things clear. I've actually lost track of how many times she's developed pneumonia, crazy, huh?

*below 92% means in the hospital on oxygen for her...

Her overnight O2 didn't seem to dip as low, when she came down this morning and we checked first thing, she was at 94%, so she seemed to have had a much better night than the previous one, though she told me that she had woken up coughing and then heard herself wheezing in the night. I reminded her to please come down and tell me when she's wheezing in the night, so she can use the inhaler or get a neb treatment in the night. I don't dare just leave the inhaler in her room for her to grab when she needs it, as she shares the room with her 8 yr old and 4 yr old sisters, the 4 yr old obviously more of a concern. She's a curious one, and a quiet sneaky one at times, and I just cannot bring myself to leave strong meds around where she could get into them. Dazzle just needs to learn to come down and get meds when she needs them. The coughing I can hear sometimes (I am a very heavy sleeper, but you know how you just wake up when the baby cries or a kid is sick...?) but the quiet wheezing at night, it scares me that I cannot hear that.

She's playing pretty normally today, though she continues to cough. At least her energy levels seem good. If she is developing another pneumonia, it looks like a mild case. I'm hoping and praying that keeping up with frequent meds another few days will keep this one at bay and that we can make it through without any doctor visits this week or next.

Here's hoping the rest of the week only gets better!

Oh, and PS- my husband and I met the MckFamily last Friday night! They don't live very far from us and they opened their beautiful home for a lovely party. I just have to say that they are genuinely warm and open people and their children are just as special and cute up close and in person! Thanks again, Jennifer and Isreal!