My Little Trooper

8PM: I notice Drew is a little wheezy and laughing funny. We assume it is because he is due for a dose of allergy medicine. We give it to him and put him to bed.

Every 30 to 45 minutes he is up, thrashing around the bed, dry cough, and the wheezing is worsening. We can't make him comfortable.

2:30AM: call doctor

3:30AM: arrive at ER

I was worried, but I figured they would give him some type of medicine and we would be on our way. As we entered the ER waiting room my heart sank at the amount of people there. I braced for a long wait.

The admitting nurse rushed us right in...I panicked. This is more serious than I thought.

Drew is an amazing patient. They take all his vitals - he thanks the nurses without me telling him to. They strap on a face mask and he wears it for 15 min without a peep. The nurse takes it off and he says thank you. They decide to do another treatment. He accepts the mask with a chipper, "ok!" After that they give him an oral med. After drinking it he exclaims, "It taste like syrup!" Then he marches down the hall for an x-ray.

Did I mention it is 4:30 AM and the kid has not slept?

He must stand against a machine with a heavy skirt wrapped several times around his legs. I leave the room and wave at him through the window. They turn him this way and that, ask him to raise his arms and stand still. He yells, "freeze!" They give him a sticker when they are done and he says, "oh, thank you! I love stickers!"

Back to the room for more waiting. He says, "I like this place. Look at the nice tv."

7:30 AM: We get in the car to leave. As we were talking I mentioned that we were at the hospital. He exclaims, "We are at a hospital?! Mommy, was I born today?!!"

I love this kid.

They think it was a type of asthma reaction to his seasonal allergies. We will need to follow up with our doctor and perhaps an allergist.

In the meantime we took home a neubulizer machine and his own dinosaur face mask.

He is bouncing off the walls from the steroids they gave him. He is as happy as can be and breathing good.

I am about to fall over!

It is hard to describe the feelings of bringing your child to an ER, especially in the middle of the night. It is absolutely heart breaking to see him sit with a mask on inhaling medicine.

Piles of laundry....messy house...late for an appointment...trivial.