Even though I'm in the medical field (well, sort of), it still flabbergasts me how much of it is guessing and how much is science. I guess I never paid too much attention when I was the nurse treating patients in the hospital. It's an entirely different story when you listen to the racking coughs in a tiny 3 yr old body, when you hear the wheezing and there's nothing you can do, when she cries in the middle of the night because she was coughing so hard she couldn't sleep. Mary got sick with whatever is going around over 2 months ago. It's been a steady stream of sickness, getting better and getting sick again in this family. I think we're all passing it around like hot potato. No one wants it, but we all have to touch it. Doug had the worst case that left him with bronchitis. I took Mary to the hospital 2 weeks ago for this persistent cough that she can't get rid of. She was diagnosed with allergies and given Zyrtec (I'm going to start calling it vitamin z, since all the kids her age seem to be on it) and Flonase nasal spray. I think we should start a vitamin z club here. Anyway, it really hasn't helped. The past couple nights, the coughing has gotten worse and now I can here expiratory wheezing when she's sitting next to me on the couch. It's much worse in the evenings. I took her back to the hospital today and yes, (thank goodness) the doctor also heard the wheezing. We now have an albuterol inhaler for coughing/wheezing episodes. It could be temporary, it could clear everything up and she goes on her merry way. It could only clear the wheezing, but not help the cough. If she has to use it regularly for 2 weeks, then she has a mild case of chronic asthma. She could clear up, but then get the wheezing every time she gets sick. It could be the crazy stuff floating around in the air here and she'll be all better when we return to the States. It's all so vague and confusing and frustrating and heart wrenching that I can't just magically make her better. So for day 1, we've had to use the inhaler 3 times (Luckily, she's not freaked out by it), it clears up her lungs, but she still coughs and coughs and coughs. My poor baby.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
medical mystery
Even though I'm in the medical field (well, sort of), it still flabbergasts me how much of it is guessing and how much is science. I guess I never paid too much attention when I was the nurse treating patients in the hospital. It's an entirely different story when you listen to the racking coughs in a tiny 3 yr old body, when you hear the wheezing and there's nothing you can do, when she cries in the middle of the night because she was coughing so hard she couldn't sleep. Mary got sick with whatever is going around over 2 months ago. It's been a steady stream of sickness, getting better and getting sick again in this family. I think we're all passing it around like hot potato. No one wants it, but we all have to touch it. Doug had the worst case that left him with bronchitis. I took Mary to the hospital 2 weeks ago for this persistent cough that she can't get rid of. She was diagnosed with allergies and given Zyrtec (I'm going to start calling it vitamin z, since all the kids her age seem to be on it) and Flonase nasal spray. I think we should start a vitamin z club here. Anyway, it really hasn't helped. The past couple nights, the coughing has gotten worse and now I can here expiratory wheezing when she's sitting next to me on the couch. It's much worse in the evenings. I took her back to the hospital today and yes, (thank goodness) the doctor also heard the wheezing. We now have an albuterol inhaler for coughing/wheezing episodes. It could be temporary, it could clear everything up and she goes on her merry way. It could only clear the wheezing, but not help the cough. If she has to use it regularly for 2 weeks, then she has a mild case of chronic asthma. She could clear up, but then get the wheezing every time she gets sick. It could be the crazy stuff floating around in the air here and she'll be all better when we return to the States. It's all so vague and confusing and frustrating and heart wrenching that I can't just magically make her better. So for day 1, we've had to use the inhaler 3 times (Luckily, she's not freaked out by it), it clears up her lungs, but she still coughs and coughs and coughs. My poor baby.
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