One Sick Little Boy

For the past several months Lucas has developed a really bad cough. It started out as a dry cough and only at night. He would lay in his crib and cough anywhere from a half hour to an hour at a time throughout the night. I looked up his symptoms online and thought maybe he had asthma. It didn't seem to affect him that much--he was super active and happy so I thought I'd wait to ask about it at his 15 month check-up the next month. His went from bad to worse within a few weeks and his cough became wet and lasted into the day time as well. His check-up was the next week so I waited.

We saw his pediatrician and asked about asthma. She really didn't even seem to think it was a big deal and said it was likely that he did, so she had me put him on albuterol. I don't like using that stuff and was wary about putting Lucas back on it. We vacationed in Washington for a week right after that check-up, and Lucas just got worse and worse, and even more so after we got back home. I wrestled with myself whether or not to take him in because I hadn't put him on the albuterol yet, and knew the pediatrician would tell me to start him on it. Another week went by and he started to plateau, but would cough every night. I finally gave in and tried to get him to use the nebulizer, but he wasn't having it. There was no way I was going to wrestle with him or pin him down for 10 minutes to give him medicine I didn't even think was going to help anyway.

I made another appointment for the following week even though he looked and seemed fine, as per Stephen's request. He said it was really starting to cause him anxiety hearing him cough, choke, and gag all night long, and quite frankly, I was really worried too. I would lay in bed every night listening to him wondering if he was still alive because that's how bad the coughing and choking was, not to mention all the gunk that he would cough up on his mattress.

We got in the see the pediatrician again and I suggested maybe it could be reflux. She just seemed to agree with whatever I said and put him on zantac. So we went home to see if it would work, and of course it didn't. After just five days on the medication Lucas just took a nosedive.

I put him down for a nap one afternoon and he woke up coughing and choking, and just screaming. I ran in his room to find that he vomited all over the bed and floor. Poor boy! Ever since he's been whiny and always wanting me to hold him. He was sluggish, and tired, and, and wheezy, and would struggle to breathe. He wouldn't hardly eat or drink anything for days. After consulting with mom and Becky, I called the pulmonologist to make an appointment. I couldn't get in to see her for two more months! So Becky stepped in and called them several times until they set up an appointment for him the next week. Whew! What a relief. And a HUGE thank you to Becky for stepping up and helping me get that much needed appointment.

Upon meeting the pulmonlogist, she told me right away that she could tell something wasn't right with Lucas. She listened to his lungs and mentioned aspiration, pneumonia, and a bronchial infection. She asked me about his eating habits and if he choked or coughed when he ate and drank. She said she was certain he had pneumonia on his right side, and told me he needed to get a chest x-ray. She was shocked that he hadn't had one yet or even put on antibiotics. She sent us to the hospital for the x-ray then right back to her office. It was confirmed that he had pneumonia really bad on the right side and sporadically throughout the rest of his lungs. She put him on antibiotics and a steroid, and told me to take him back in for another x-ray in 10 days to see if his lungs had cleared up.

Lucas is looking and sounding SO much better since that appointment. I'm so glad I was able to get him in so quickly and  that she believed me that it wasn't just an ordinary cough and that something was wrong. It has been a huge relief to say the least. We go back in this weekend for his x-ray and another appointment to see if he's cleared around Thanksgiving time.

I can't believe Lucas has been battling pneumonia for who knows how long.  I feel so bad that I didn't or couldn't do something about it sooner, but at least we caught it and he's recovering. I am so grateful for modern medicine and good doctors who listen.