Because I Would Give Anything

Knute and Tater are not here tonight; instead of sleeping peacefully in his bed, my dear five year old boy, my ray of sunshine, my walking giggle of a child, is spending this night at our local Children's Hospital with Knute by his side.

He had what we thought was just a cough/cold yesterday; last night he woke up coughing in that croupy way that gives all of us mommyfolks hives of fear. But it passed and he settled down to sleep. This morning, I kept him home from school and scheduled an appointment for him at the pediatrician's office just before noon.

And by the time I got him there, he was coughing in spasms and fighting for breath.

It happened fast.

They treated him, and sent me home with three scripts and our very own nebulizer.

{Insert knees bent in prayer of thanks that we have excellent health insurance coverage}

I dropped the scripts at Walgreens then took him home. He was breathing easily and demolished a big lunch. Phew, I thought.

But before I could run back to Walgreens for his pharmacy goodies (Knute was home today, burning comp time), he started coughing again. And his chest began heaving again.

Oh no.

Knute picked him up bodily and headed out the door to the doc's again; they treated him then sent them both down to Cincy Children's.

And I have waited all evening for word on my boy; Knute finally called a little while ago.

The good news? Tater is chipper, his oxygen levels are stabilizing and he's resting between nebulizer treatments.

The not-so-good news? The docs aren't sure if it's truly an asthma attack or a touch of pneumonia or a combination of the two, with the second causing the first. They hope to have a clearer picture tomorrow.

And me?

Oh, I am thankful that my boy is in good hands, yes indeed.

But I am ready to make any tradeoff necessary to keep my boy from ever suffering this again.

Thanks for your prayers for my sweet sunshine boy.

**UPDATE 11/11/08, 11:11 pm EST**

After a day of nebulizers, some serious Zithro, and a Prednisone cocktail a la IV, Tater is doing much, much better.

He's got walking pneumonia along with a double ear infection. I know, I know - I have a sore bum for kicking myself for not noticing anything was wrong with my wee dude. It took a bunch of docs plus a chest x-ray to see the pneumonia. And other than the episode Sunday evening/Monday morning, he'd been fine.

{sigh}

Let the Monday Morning Quarterbacking, Mommy-style, begin! Could someone please pass me a wet noodle?

Other than being stuck in a hospital bed for the day, today was a dream for him: fresh Crayola Crayons, a pack of blank index cards,scissors and glue, and endless access to SpongeBob TV. Add to that all the sausage and eggs he could eat and he was happier than a clam when Knute and I switched off tonight.

We'll move forward with an asthma plan for him, but we're hopeful that this was a, "Perfect Storm," type of event, one where the deck was stacked against his immune system. Add to all that a potential trigger - leaf mold from playing in the fall leaves - and it may have just added up to way too much. We'll keep close tabs on him, you betcha.

And we'll try our best to teach our naturally easy-going boy to complain a bit more.

Thanks for all the love and prayers for my little guy!