asthma... it is?

Last Tuesday came a runny nose.  At the time we were thinking maybe teething or allergies.  Elliot was still playful and didn't have a fever.  Then Thursday evening Elliot and I were outside on the porch waiting for Daddy to come home.  My allergies felt terrible and Elliot seemed itchy too.  Once Daddy finally came home we went inside and I took some medicine and thought if Elliot felt anything like I felt that he needed something too.  So we gave him benadryl.  He took a nap and when he woke up Dad was the first to notice his grunt when he was breathing - it was just like the last time he was sick. 

We started with some albuterol from the nebulizer which maybe  helped a little bit.  Elliot had a shower (with Dad) and once he was out he was sleeping again.  I left a message with the doctor on call and when she called back I told her how he was breathing and that he was taking 48 breaths per minute but said he seemed a little bit better now that he was sleeping.  She said that the breaths were a little bit concerning and that it's hard to say how he is doing without looking at him.  She said we could give him a little bit and see how he was doing or suggested taking him to the emergency room then.  We decided to wait a little bit, but Elliot woke up again and again and his breathing wasn't improving.  So just after 11pm we headed up to the hospital.  

It was much faster than I imagined to get in.  I gave our information and they sent us to the back right away and we went over things with someone there and then they headed us to the back right away.  We waited longer there after for someone to come in.  Elliot was hooked up to the monitor and his breathing was in the low 80's - it was a good decision to go and we were glad we didn't wait longer.  

They gave him oxygen and took a swab to do a test for viruses.  They suggested an x-ray and I was glad that Josiah spoke up asking if it was really necessary right now.  They explained how much things have changed but with all the x-rays that he has already had and something Josiah heard on NPR it was nice that they didn't push the x-ray further and just gave him albuterol which seemed to help so they then did the super dose and told us we would be staying overnight.

By 3 am we were in the room we would be staying in and maybe after 4 we were settled enough to get some rest.  Elliot stayed on oxygen and started an oral steroid and was taking albuterol every 3 hours or so.  I think it was by that afternoon that one of the doctors came by and talked about asthma.  They said that Elliot had rhinovirus again and that the virus is what triggers the asthma flare.  As they explained asthma to us it made sense how Elliot's cousins all get sick but he gets affected so badly it was just strange that they stopped the athma medicine last time we were there.  Elliot is just a classic case of asthma with his eczema, food allergies and frequent hospital visits.

We stayed another night because Elliot still need oxygen and through the next night he was on room air.  After an albuterol treatment he needed more oxygen still that morning so we were staying until he napped and had another dose.  So just after five we were released, yesterday. 

For now Elliot has to finish out the oral steroid and started flovant which is the asthma controller he will need to take twice a day and is taking the albuterol now through an inhaler (which is much easier) every 4-6 hours.  We have a follow up with his doctor tomorrow and will go from there.  Elliot definitely is doing better - and only time will tell how this asthma plays out.  It was just hard to accept with one other thing to worry about on top of his allergies but we can handle this... I hope!