Sparky is sick. He went to bed last night with a bit of a hitch in his breath, and woke up at three AM with a full-blown asthma attack. We were all up for two hours until he finally got back to sleep after having a fit at the mask and inhaler, then struggling against the rhythm of his breath. When we all got up this morning it was evident that an impending chest cold had triggered the asthma. It’s kind of like an early-warning thing. He’s currently coughing through his nap.
Counting back I figured that someone had a cold at Sunday’s birthday party, and after thinking about it I know which one it was, which is rather argh-inducing. I’ve kept Liam home from several parties because he’s had a cold. I keep him home if he has anything more than a runny nose, out of concern for the well-being of other kids. I get frustrated when other parents don’t show us the same courtesy.
When he’s up again we’ll head to pharmacy for a refill of his asthma meds, as they expired a couple of months ago and I didn’t know until I pulled them out last night. (Indirectly, this is a good thing: it means he doesn’t use them more than once or twice a year.) And of course I’m worried that they won’t refill them, despite the number of remaining renewals indicated on the scrips, because it’s been a couple of years. If they don’t I’ll call our GP and get her to call the pharmacy instead. It’ll just delay things by a day or so.
He’s cheerful and perky, as usual, except when we bring out the mask and the inhaler. I wish I was that perky when I’m sick.
I’m enraged by people who knowingly infect others or who let their children do the same. I was once told by someone—someone who had a raging cold but visited me and a three-month-old Devon anyway—that it was good for children to be exposed to germs so that they could build up an immunity as early as possible. Believe me, I’ve read the articles about germs and children, and *that* is a gross misunderstanding of what those articles suggest. What it amounts to is that this person was simply too selfish to reschedule.
Wow, what a transparent way of shuffling off responsibility. Trying to prevent colds isn’t denying kids the opportunity to develop immunity, it’s an effort to keep them from being miserable!
Hiya,
Yup know those well, been through it frequently recently with Kyle, don’t worry, they should refill the prescription even if it expired, tell them you NEED them and they give them with a “please visit your doctor and get a new one for the next time please”. :) we’ve done that too often as well.
Trick for the mask (we know the nightmare) we convinced him of a few things a)breath like a dragon (he thinks it’s cool) b)it’s like blowing a candle but you need to take a deep breath first…it’s basically lots of demonstration and repeating.
and repeating more. :)
My advice about the pump, once he stops coughing it was recommended to take the pump an extra week to completely ‘dissolve’ (whatever that’s so not the right word) the mucus build up in his chest and the cold won’t re-occur.
Trust me, it may (and did because we decide that he was fine and shouldn’t take it anymore seeing as he was symptom free) and he was on the pump again. It’s acts like an expectorant by clearing the pathways and seeing that cough syrup isn’t recommended anymore it helps in due time.
Hope that helps and he gets better soon.
– note: sick people who infect others with complete disregard…should be shot – or reinfected. sorry – I’ve spent too much time with sick cold kids to think differently.