Stressed + Pulmicort

After playing at the farm all afternoon on Sunday, Parker was really wheezy and congested. I gave him his breathing treatment, but it didn't help that much. I also gave him Mucinex. Parker ended up in bed with me, and we only slept for an hour straight. He was up and down all night struggling with congestion and drainage.  I debated calling the doctor on Monday, but I decided maybe he needed something different for the congestion. I headed to Rite Aid after work on Monday night to buy Benadryl. Parker's never had Benadryl before so the pharmacist suggested Claritin.  We ate dinner and then played for a while. I started worrying because Parker was out of breath and we were only doing puzzles. I went ahead and gave him another albuterol treatment, but it didn't help. I was too scared to give him the Claritin, in case we wound up at the hospital over night. I didn't want  them to blame his breathing on the Claritin. This was the first time it hit me that I was alone -- a temporarily single mom with a sick baby boy. I hated it. Luckily, Parker fell asleep in my arms and his breathing slowed back down.

I called the doctor's office the next morning (Nov 6th), and they wanted to see him. Since Dr. Ray wasn't available, I was comforted knowing that we'd see Dr. Mason. This was the first doctor to prescribe breathing treatments, and he was also the doctor we saw the day after Parker's febrile seizure.  Dr. Mason is wonderful. He's really easy to talk to, he explains things well, and he listens.  It'd been exactly a month since Parker's last severe wheezing spells. He'd only been off steroids for about 3 weeks.  Dr. Mason asked how many times Parker had been on steroids, he asked about our family history of asthma, and he asked about Dr. Ray's game plan. He decided to continue the albuterol treatments every 4 hours at a higher dosage, and he prescribed more steroids. Dr. Mason also prescribed Pulmicort once a day for at least 4 months. It's an asthma medicine that might help decrease the frequency of Parker's wheezing spells. He kept saying the "hope would be" and it "might help." He also said it might allow us to decrease the need for regular albuterol treatments. I interpreted this as no more breathing treatments! Woooo Whoooo!!!   I was totally bummed out when I got to the pharmacy and realized that pulmicort was another type of breathing treatment. Major bummer.

I cried on the way back to work. Parker was back at daycare, and Wil was at the farm. We were stuck with even more breathing treatments, and Parker was miserable. My boss was out of town, and I needed to be at work. It just didn't seem fair. It breaks my heart when Parker would ask for his breathing treatments. He didn't fight them; he knew he needed them. I called my mom and started to say, "You have no idea how sick I am of breathing treatments." I stopped myself mid-sentence, because I know my mom knows how sick of them we are. She did them regularly with my brother and my sister. I also know that Mimi knows how sick of them we are. Parker gives her flash backs to Wil as a little boy.

It was a really tough week. KWC asked me to participate in a mock interview with KWC seniors. I hated to say no. Mimi and Dan-dad watched Parker after work on Wednesday night, so I could go. There were so many people who helped Wil and I along the way at KWC. I'm glad when we can give back to other students. Mimi and Dan-dad also watched Parker on Thursday night, because I had a Thirty-One party.  By Thursday, I was broken -- absolutely exhausted, overwhelmed, and sad. It was a long week. I was sad for Parker. Every morning, he needed two breathing treatments (albuterol and pulmicort) before we could leave the house for work. By Thursday, he was sick of breathing treatments. It seemed so unfair to make him sit there for 40 minutes straight.  At one point, I said, "Parker, we have to do this."  He turned, swatted the breathing pipe, and said, "Don't want to!"  I cried. I didn't want to either. This was the first time Parker had ever said something like that. It broke my heart. I was 20 minutes late for work (I'm never late), and I just felt so out of sorts. I needed Wil. Parker needed both his Mommy and his Daddy.

Wil came home that night and met Parker at his parent's house before my 31 party even began. I was so thankful to have him home. I know he really enjoyed his time at the farm. I wish Parker wouldn't have gotten sick. It just made for a really tough week.  We're so blessed to have Wil. He's such a hands on Dad. He dresses Parker in the morning and picks him up from daycare most evenings. He also gives Parker his baths half the time. This week confirmed that we need him every single day.

Thanks for being such a helpful daddy!