Sound the (sick) Alarm

This is Caden's medicine schedule for the next week. Its a mix of an albuterol inhaler and liquid steroids to treat 'wheezing.'

It started Friday morning at 2 am with a trip to the emergency room when Caden woke up out of the blue wheezing and having difficulty breathing (stridor). The doctor diagnosed him with croup, and because of it's severity and suddenness, they gave him both liquid steroids and an epinephrine breathing treatment to open his airways again. At our follow up appointment three days later, a nurse practitioner diagnosed him with a viral infection and told us to let it run it's course. Thursday morning, something didn't seem right, so we took Caden back in, this time to see his primary care doctor. Caden had two nasal tests done, but they came back negative for both RSV and influenza A and B. A chest xray showed that he is having difficulty getting air out, so the doctor prescribed him an albuterol inhaler and told us to come back on Sunday. At that appointment, the doctor told us that Caden's wheezing hadn't cleared as much as he had hoped for, so he added a 5 day prescription of liquid steroids. Our next appointment is Friday, and I'm praying for both improvement and answers.

The past two weeks have really been a struggle for me as a mom, between being too afraid to fall asleep, to trying as hard as I can to find something my suddenly super picky son will eat, to catching Caden's cold, to struggling with the idea of filling my son with meds, to trying to remind myself that these constant tantrums are just because he doesn't feel good, to trying to stay strong and positive about the outcome.

My alarm is reminding me it's time for the inhaler again..

Linking up at The Not Quite Military Wife