attack of the bronchioles

For my whole life, the emergency room was never made an option. If we tripped and fell, or got a fever, or broke a bone, we always went to the nearest InstaCare for aid. But at 4:30 in the morning when all InstaCares are closed and your son is having a breathing problem, what can you do but go to the emergency room?

Answer: If you're a kid, you go to Wee Care Pediatrics. I remembered the place as I sat holding Boston in a steamy bathroom as I tried to think of what to do. It's a pediatric office located next to Davis County Hospital, and their doctors are the pediatricians on call when babies are born at the hospital. They are open 24 hours a day, ever day. I gave them a call and for the first time in my whole life found my family--all four of us--at a doctor's office at 4:30 in the morning.

The diagnosis: Boston had croup. And bronchiolitis. They hopped him up on a steroid shot and three breathing treatments of Albuterol. From experience, I know that Albuterol makes one hyper. If you've ever met Boston you know he's naturally active as it is. After his third treatment, movies and books and goldfish couldn't stop him from practically running around in circles at that doctor's office.

And Boston's reaction to the whole thing? I think except for the shot he pretty much loved it. One of the gifts at his birthday celebration was a doctor kit with things like a stethoscope, a shot that squeaks, a plastic perma-bandaid, and laryngoscope(that little thing with the light that doctors use to look in your ears, throat, etc.) among other doctor tools. So when the doctor approached with the stethoscope Boston held out his arm with a big smile and no fear...even though the doctor actually wanted to hear his heart beating, of course.

Thus, not only was he comfortable being there, he got to watch A Bug's Life, eat lollipops, snuggle with both his parents and run around freely in a big room with empty chairs to climb on. We got home at 8:30, four hours later, and crashed together. Danny went to work around 10 and Boston woke up with an appetite for quesadillas. I don't know why quesadillas but if that's what the sick kid wants he can have it.

By the end of the day we were new owners of a nebulizer and a facemask so we could give Boston breathing treatments at home. How do you get a two-year-old to sit with a mask on his face? Ask Danny. He came up with the solution of sitting Boston down on the table, like at the doctor's office, and holding up a mirror for Boston to see what he looks like with the mask on. They also practice colors with the paint chips I picked up from the store.

While a little scary at first, it has somehow made us closer as a family. That is, since it happened we've all been feeling an extra dose of happy.

And that's not just because of the Albuterol. :)

The Mask

The Lollipops

The Sick Kid

The Nebulizer