An Afternoon at the Pediatrician's Office

Monday afternoon, Brody woke up from his nap with a hoarse cough. As the afternoon continued, it developed into that barking, croupy cough. By nightfall, he was running a fever and wheezing. By morning, he sounded horrible and we were at the pediatrician's office by 10:15am. By this point, every breath sounded like he had just finished running a marathon. The nurses at the front desk could hear him from across the waiting room and promptly brought us to the back. Breathing treatments were started almost immediately, yet after finishing the treatment, our doctor did not hear much improvement. My poor little guy had developed severe upper and lower respiratory inflammation in a matter of twelve hours. The doctor said although it was really early for flu season, that is one virus that can cause breathing issues so quickly. Sure enough, Brody's test came back positive. Another breathing treatment was administered. A steroid was given, then two more breathing treatments. Finally, around 2:30pm, we began to notice an improvement and our doctor allowed us to bring him home (versus taking him to the hospital) with strict instructions to continue breathing treatments every three hours throughout the night.

Despite his difficulties, my little guy was being his happy self. He was smiling and waving at people, and clapping his hands. Our doctor just shook his head and couldn't believe it. Because we were there for so long, the staff was gracious enough to share some food with us that had been delivered by a drug representative. Brody ate all of the fried rice!

After two nights of interrupted sleep, I am pleased to report that Brody is sounding MUCH better. His chest is moving normally and he is able to take deep breaths again. We went in for a check-up this morning and the doctor was pleased - Brody has not had a fever since Monday night and does not have a runny nose. We will continue the breathing treatments through Saturday (although at a less frequent interval) and hopefully, no one else will get sick so we can leave for Disney World Tuesday as planned!!

Please keep us in your prayers that Brody will continue to improve and the rest of us will avoid it! And, get your flu shots early this year!!