My Little Monster Visits the Emergency Room

Today was a particularly long day for us because it started at 1:30 in the morning, when Jessica woke me up concerned about Tyler. Our little 2 year old had vomited a few times before he went to bed last night. Now, Jessica was noticing that his breathing was very fast and he seemed to be laboring with each breath. It reminded us of the times when one of our older sons, Christian, had asthma attacks. He was also about 2 years old when it started. From that experience, we learned what to look for and we saw the same symptoms in Tyler. He had a cough, runny nose, and a fever, but the biggest problem was the way he was breathing. Instead of breathing from his chest we could see him using his stomach muscles and even his throat to help. We knew that we had to take him to the emergency room.

When we got to the hospital, the doctors checked his pulse and listened to his breathing. They quickly determined that he needed a dose of ventolin (an anti-asthma medicine). He did pretty good taking this medicine, especially when you consider that it required him having a plastic mask strapped around his head and having a smoke-like vapor pouring into his nostrils and face from the nebulizer. Maybe he was just too tired to complain or perhaps he was distracted with the other children getting various treatments. I like to think that it was because he sat in my lap during the treatment.


After that treatment we took him to get his first chest x-ray so that the doctors could see how his lungs looked. Jessica wasn't allowed to go in with us because of her pregnancy, but I was able to manage because Tyler did very well. He looked a little concerned (you can tell this if you click on the image to enlarge it), but he didn't complain or fight having to lay on his side on top of a 12 inch square piece of film. After the x-rays, we went back to the doctors who checked Tyler's pulse and lungs again. They decided that he needed two more rounds on the nebulizer. By this time, Tyler's patience had run out and he cried through both treatments, but the treatments did seem to help his breathing.

At this point the doctors aren't convinced yet that Tyler has asthma. They said that they think that it is more likely that he has the early stages of pneumonia, which is going around right now over here. Also because the xrays showed that Tyler had some fluid in his lungs. We got back home at about 5 am, just in time to grab a few minutes of sleep before dropping Grace off for her first day of school and going to an a.m. appointment with our boss down town. We called home while we were out to check on him a few times and he was doing well. He was just not cooperating in taking his medicine. The doctors prescribed antibiotics and a few other oral medicines for him. When we got back in the afternoon he was running around laughing and having fun. If you remember, please pray for our little guy. I guess a little pneumonia would be better than asthma which could be with him for years. In either case, we know that God is in control and trust that this will work for out for His glory and our good.