Elliott goes back to the Doctor

This may not be the most upbeat post I have written, but in the spirit of documenting stories of Elliott as he grows up, I wanted to share what he has been going through over the last month.  

We had a glorious reprieve from doctor visits during the months of July and August.  The ear tubes Elliott got in June put a stop to the recurring ear infections he had since January.  Everything was going great, and when he would get a cold I didn't feel like I needed to rush him to the doctor since his body was finally able to fight them off without the assistance of antibiotics.  And then, mid-September, he woke up on a Monday morning with a runny nose and a slight cough, which I didn't think much of because I am no longer worried about ear infections.  Throughout the day at daycare he was fine, until he woke up from his afternoon nap at 4:30.  By the time I picked him up after work at 5:00, his lungs were very congested, he was running a fever, and he was struggling to breath.  He continued to worsen after getting home, and we were concerned about how we would get through the night. Thankfully urgent care was open until 7pm, and as soon as we arrived the nurses and doctors flocked to us.  They were concerned about the way his ribs were flaring out as he was trying to draw in air, and his low blood oxygen levels.

The doctor and nurses were fantastic, and we were quickly rushed down the hall for a chest X-ray.  It was a very scary moment, and at the same time I was so fascinated by the process that I paused to oblige the little voice in the back of my mind telling me to document the moment for the blog, and future memory.

In the x-ray room the technician went to work putting Elliott in a contraption that could be described as looking like a medieval torture device, complete with hinges and leather straps.  Since absolute stillness is necessary for x-rays, and it is very difficult to convince a 1 yr old to sit absolutely still, they are placed in a clear lead cylinder with their arms up.

The cylinder rotates in the table so that x-rays can be taken from multiple angles.  Poor Elliott was a good sport, but was crying pretty hard by the time it was over.

After the x-rays the doctor determined that it was pneumonia, gave him a shot of steroids to relax the passages in his lungs, and a shot of antibiotics to get a jumpstart on killing the infection, and then sent us on our way.

Elliott was so much better by the time we finally left Urgent Care, and continued to improve in the following weeks.  And then at the beginning of October, 2 1/2 weeks later (this time at 4 am) the congested lungs and difficulty breathing returned.  This time the doctor (thankfully the same great one we saw on the previous visit), thought that the symptoms may be caused by asthma, and put him on a nebulizer machine which puts medication into a steam form which is then breathed in.  Again, Elliott continued to improve after leaving Urgent Care, and has been on the nebulizer 2 times a day since which has kept him healthy.

We met with the allergy/asthma specialist last week, who took a very thorough medical history, and confirmed the asthma diagnosis.  The doctor had blood work done to determine what triggers the asthma, and hopefully on Monday we will hear back from her with the results, and get more information about how to control it.   In the meantime, please keep Elliott in your thoughts and prayers.

  Even though Elliott has had a variety of illnesses from birth, he is not a sick kid.  He is super happy and active, eats well, is growing at a normal rate, and loves to play outside.  I also had asthma as a kid, and grew out of it by the time I was 8, so I am sure Elliott will grow out of his as well.  We have been blessed with an amazing support team of family, friends, doctors, and our daycare provider, and I know that once we get this figured out, nothing will hold our amazing kid back from conquering the world with his smile and charm.