Asthma

Little man had a pretty bad asthma attack this morning - scared the you-know-what out of me.   He had woken up a little before 5 and I was sitting with him...it was obvious that he was coming down with the cold that Sydney has had for the past couple of days.   I headed out to the living room and he followed me...when I turned around he was choking in the hallway with big eyes and I could tell there was something wrong.

He got so panicky and was choking and gagging...I have recently started having asthma problems of my own and in some way I am so grateful because now I am able to see the signs in him.  I could tell he was struggling.  He started running up and down the hall in a total panic, coughing and then leaning over to gag.  It was so, so scary.

I did get a couple puffs of my inhaler into his mouth...I am sure he inhaled only a little of it but I was hoping that would be enough.  We got him in the shower in hopes that the steam would help, and I was running his nebulizer too.  He was refusing to cooperate for the nebulizer so I just had to try to get some in when I saw him inhaling or if he started coughing hard.   His voice was SO hoarse when he did get a few words out and he was scared to death.  So was I.

Chris and I talked about the emergency room or calling 911 but we decided we had pretty good supplies on hand and as long as it was getting a little better we would continue on.  But I had the phone in my hand for awhile. 

Finally when he calmed down a little (still coughing and very hoarse) we got him in his bed.  I really wanted him to relax as best he could because I know from experience that the panic will set it off and make it worse.  We put a heating pad on his chest and then his favorite Angry Birds pillow on top of that for him to hug.  I gave him a little gum to combat the nasty taste of the nebulizer medicine I kept trying to get in his mouth/nose.  Here he is with big eyes, sitting with his pillow and chewing gum.  I think he was starting to feel better but was probably shaky from the nebulizer and still pretty scared.

It's been a couple hours now and I just keep giving him puffs of the nebulizer when I can.  He's still in bed, playing Angry Birds on the iPad and he took a bath awhile ago.  But when he talks he is hoarse and sounds really tight.  I am worried it could easily be set off again and am saying lots of prayers for my boy this morning.

I hope today goes well and we don't end up in the ER.  I'll have to get him in to his allergist to see what to do now that he's had such a bad attack.  He's had asthma symptoms for years but never an attack like this one.  I want to make sure we have all the right supplies on hand, just in case.