Wednesday 9/21/11 - It's THAT time of year...AGAIN.

I dread this time of year.  Summer is my favorite season.  I can do without the 100 degree temperatures no doubt, but now that I have kids, I like it because it seems like they don't get as sick during this time of year.  Fall, Winter & Spring seem to be the worst.  Brianna seems to always get some type of bug after school starts.  Her pediatrician hasn't "officially" told me that she has asthma, but we have a nebulizer on standby here at home just in case. 

Today, I received a call from the school nurse about Brianna.  She said she was having a lot of difficulties breathing and was wheezing really bad.  The nurse said that when she checked her oxygen level it was only at 89%.  It went up to 94% after she was given her breathing treatment.  She also mentioned that Brianna had a 100 temperature.  I told her I would send someone up to school to get her right away.  I called Grandma Parker to ask her if she would mind picking her up from school.  I had Jacob on the toilet and was trying to feed Kyndall her bottle. Of course, illness never happens at a convenient time...lol.  I called the pediatrician right away to see if I could still get her in for a visit to make sure she was okay.  Lucky for me they did, so I rushed her there to see what was going on.  After he looked her over, he said that he didn't see any signs of pneumonia or bronchitis.  He didn't detect a fever either.  He didn't know why she would have a fever with the exception she could also have a little virus too. All of her problems were due to her "asthma".  I told him that he never really truly diagnosed her with it and I wanted to know if she had asthma.  He said that she has a very mild case of it.  He said it can get better, stay the same or get worse down the road.  Fortunately for us, she hasn't needed her nebulizer for several months (5-6 months).   I guess I'm a little surprised about her having asthma.  To my knowledge, there isn't anyone in my family that has it.  A lot of us have severe allergies, but that's it.  After I spoke to Jack's mom, she told me that her younger brother had it really bad when he was a kid.  She also mentioned that Jack's sister had it when she was younger too.  I wonder if it could also be due to B having immature lungs when she was born because she was a preemie?  Who knows?  The doctor said it was mostly hereditary, but do they REALLY know?  So, her doctor put her on a liquid steroid for 5 days to help her lungs.  He also told me to keep her indoors and no running around for 5 days too.  He told me to keep her home from school tomorrow, just as a precautionary.  I emailed her teacher right away to let her know about this.  I told her that meant no P.E. (B corrects me when I say "gym class"...lol) and no recess on Friday when she went back to school.  We also have to do her albuterol treatments every 4-6 hours for the next 5 days.  When I call her doctor back on Tuesday, I have to let him know how she's doing.  He said that she shouldn't need the nebulizer anymore.  If she does, then he'll have to most likely put her on an inhaler too.  My fingers are crossed that she won't need that.  Poor girl!!


She wasn't very happy that she had to do this again, but she understands that it helps her lungs feel better. 

Jacob wanted to sit by his sister while she was doing her treatment.  Luckily it only lasts til the medicine is gone (roughly 10 minutes). 

Here's hoping that she'll be better and won't need an inhaler.  The steroids are helping and she told me she's feeling much better!  This was the 1st "true" attack she's had.  It scared the Heebee geebies outta me!  Hopefully it won't happen for a long time, if ever!