Medical May

For the past two years May hasn't been a good month for our family medically.  Last year Mason was in the hospital for his hip, and just a couple of days ago I was at the ER with Bree at midnight.  Earlier that day she had a fever, barked like a seal when she tried to cough, and was having trouble breathing.  It got better as the afternoon went on, but when she woke up at midnight with her whole body heaving while trying to breathe, Paul and I decided to get her to the emergency room.  We waited a few minutes to be triaged and when the nurse actually saw her he said "She can't breathe!"  Uh, yep, that's why we are here!  He immediately got a team assembled who were already waiting for us as we walked to the room around the corner.  Great service!  The doctor was there and so was a respiratory specialist.  He held a tube of medicine-turned-to-vapor that she could breathe in and it quickly opened up her passages so she was able to breathe more normally.  They also gave her a shot of steroids in her leg for good measure.  Her diagnosis was Croup, which is swelling in the throat caused by an upper respiratory virus.  What a nasty virus!  This happened last Thursady, it is now Monday, and she is just now starting to be back on her feet.  She had a fever all weekend and was pretty listless, along with labored breathing, just not as bad as before.  Hopefully she will be fully recovered in a day or so and we can put this one behind us.  Poor baby, it was torture watching her trying so hard to breathe.  I'm sure it was worse for her.  Once again I am extremely grateful to be living in an age where these illnesses can be controlled with a dose of readily available medicine and my kids don't have to suffer without it.