After another weekend full of coughing, throwing up, and waking up all night long, I took Laura off to the doctor today. The diagnosis is asthma, although not officially (yet). That diagnosis can't be given until we use the nebulizer machine for two weeks. So we were sent home with a nebulizer machine, my old standby from childhood. They are much smaller these days though. My first one was the size of a small sewing machine; Laura's is more the size of a can opener.I feel highly negligent in not recognizing Laura's asthma, since I have suffered my entire life from it. But Laura has never wheezed, gasped for breath, or even remotely acted as though she can't breathe. All she does is cough and wake up at night, constantly. She's been like that since she was born, and I finally accepted it as my lot in life that I just wouldn't be sleeping through the night again until 2022. But apparently coughing is often the number one sign of asthma in children, and wheezing is frequently never even an issue. Who knew? I'm just glad that I got a little push in the right direction today from a good friend, and hopefully Laura's problems will soon be under control. And hopefully when she's older she won't see this blog post and know that I let her suffer for so long!
3 comments:
Steven had the night cough and it was a while before the doctors told me that it was asthma related. It sounded like a dry hacking cough, like he had something stuck in his throat. We relied on the breathing machine and some good cough medicine to get through the nights. I just found out this summer that Joshua was having trouble breathing during his basketball games, I watched him suffer and kept wondering why he was so out of shape for an 11 year old (duh!)
You are a GREAT mom!
Yes! She is always coughing like she is trying to clear her throat. Not a gaspy cough at all. Thanks to the breathing machine and some Nighttime Dimetapp, last night was a great night for everyone! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more nights like that.
oh no! i'm glad you are taking care of it. and remember laura will still be able to do lots of stuff...just ilke mom! :)
Post a Comment