Breathing Scare

Landon gave me quite a scare on Tuesday night. He had just finished playing with our neighbor's son who is a little younger than him. Once we came inside I noticed that Landon was wheezing. It wasn't too bad, but enough for me to hear it from a few feet away. I gave him a warm bath in hopes that the steam from the tub would clear things up. After his bath he started running around like usual to try to avoid getting his diaper on. From there his wheezing became worse. He was really having a hard time breathing. I wasn't sure whether to take him to the hospital or wait it out to see if it would clear on its own. At that time Matt had just came over so I was able to call my Mom and asked her to come over to check on Landon. I knew she had experience in this since she has asthma and I too have had it since childhood. She thought his wheezing was bad enough to get him to the hospital because it wouldn't let up. We went to the hospital where they treated Landon and sent us home with an inhaler. We didn't get back in until almost 4:30 a.m. The hospital stay was a nightmare. Landon wanted nothing to do with the doctors and even refused to have his shirt taken off so that he could be changed into a hospital gown. He wasn't feeling well and with it being so late at night/ early in the morning Landon was overly tired...not the greatest combination. He made the doctors work for their money that night!

I am so thankful that my mom and sister were able to come with me to the ER. I didn't even have to ask them. It was as if I had no choice in the matter. They were coming along whether I wanted them to or not. It is very well known that I am a nervous wreck whenever something happens to Landon. I usually cry more than Landon when he gets hurt or when he is sick. I hate seeing him in any sort of discomfort and the hospital was no exception. The worst part of the night was when Landon had to get his temperature taken for the second time. The hospital is no longer allowed to take temperature readings in the ear for some reason. They have to be done orally or rectally now. The first time around Landon cooperated for an oral reading. That was right upon entering the hospital when he was calm. The second temperature reading came after he was already screaming for over half an hour because he didn't want to get undressed for the hospital gown or have his oxygen levels checked again. Since he was screaming so badly they had to take his temperature rectally. Landon was crying out for me and grabbing me by the neck. He was so scared and had complete terror on his face. He even scratched his face up pretty badly in the struggle that he gave. He had reached his breaking point with the hospital staff at that point and was a complete mess. I couldn't handle the fact that he was in such agony and started crying right along with him. Once they were done with Landon's temperature reading my mom and sister jumped right in with trying to help me calm Landon down. We ended up grabbing a bunch of the hospital gloves and started blowing them up into balloons (this is a lot harder than it sounds!). My mom then drew a face on one of them and handed the pen over to Landon so that he could draw on them as well. It is so nice to have family around in those situations. We may not always get along, but we are always there for one another when needed. It never matters what is said between any of us in an argument. Grudges are never held because of what one may have regretfully said to another based on emotions or fears. Family is always there for one another. At least my family is. They are the only ones who I can count on when times get hard. Everyone else leaves when times gets rough or when things are said that they don't agree with. Family is always there time and time again. Thank you again Mom and Jenn for staying up all night and morning with Landon and I. We appreciated it. I know I would have been a mess sitting at the hospital all by myself.

Landon has been wheezing off and on ever since. It seems to be when he is active. Once he starts running around or jumping then he starts wheezing. We took him to his regular pediatrician for a follow up appointment on Thursday (what a great way to spend his birthday!). Landon's pediatrician said that Landon has intermittent asthma. It's not as severe as mine, which is a daily thing. Landon's will come and go. Allergies and colds will be what triggers his asthma. Landon does have a nebulizer to use when needed. I am hoping that it will not be needed. Trying to give him his inhaler is hard enough. I definitely do not want to struggle with him to do a breathing treatment. I barely have the patience to sit down and do a breathing treatment for myself at my age. I couldn't imagine having the patience to sit through it at 2.

I really do hope he outgrows this, but something is telling me that this is only the beginning. The way he starts wheezing with activity is what worries me. I want him to be able to run around like a normal child without wheezing and coughing. I want him to be able to play sports without having to keep an inhaler on hand. I know I did all of those things with asthma, but it definitely was no fun sitting on the sidelines some days because I couldn't breathe. There are days where I blame myself and find myself apologizing to Landon. I feel like I am the cause for his allergy and asthma problems. He inherited them from me so I am continually apologizing to him when he is not feeling well. When I am not busy apologizing to him for giving him my genes I am often staying up all hours of the night just to watch over him as he sleeps. He hasn't been able to sleep too well lately. He starts choking when he is sleeping so I keep him propped up. I still feel the need to watch over him throughout the night just to be on the safe side, which provides me with very little sleep. I wouldn't have it any other way though. I love him to pieces and I don't mind being sleep deprived to make sure that he is breathing ok throughout the night.