Please Stop Smoking so Elleory Can Breathe!

Elleory has asthma, not a new thing for us, but not something we deal with frequently at all. She has had probably had ten attacks since her diagnosis in 2004, which averages two attacks a year, not bad for asthma when you consider the thousands of people who have attacks weekly, daily...


This week we have seen firsthand how scary asthma is. Elleory, bless her, had a full blown asthma attack that landed her in the hospital. She fought bravely, and hard to stay out, but in the end, she really needed to be there. She was such a trooper. I had NO IDEA how much medication or how many times a person can get nubulizer treatment and still be able to stand! She started out Monday morning with three treatments in one hour and then an oral steroid to keep her airways open. Then back to the doctor that afternoon for more nebulizers, then two more at home before bed, two in the night. Only to start it all over in next morning. It took most of the day for her doctor to decide that she really needed to be at the hospital. So off we went, I have to admit to breaking a few laws to get her there before the last treatment wore off.


Once at Seattle Children's, we started it all over again. By seven in the evening, we were admitted and she had had 2 hour long nebulizer treatments and a huge dose of steroids. Her heart was racing, she was ravenous, and totally jittery, and scared to spend her first night in the hospital. But, her air ways were open, for the first time in days. The goal at this point was to get her to a treatment every four hours, then every six hours, than she could go home.


Once again, she did a beautiful job. Her night went as well as could be expected. She saw a doctor or respiratory therapist every hour, and even got a little sleep. The next day went by slowly as her treatments got spread out, and her breathing got better, but she was isolated to her room so that "just in case" she wouldn't catch anything in the hospital. The hospital has a therapy pool (92 degrees) which was calling her name, but sadly the answer was "NO WAY!" I guess chlorine is a trigger for asthma attacks. Don't want that again. We spent the time reading, playing board games, and watching TV. She did get a nap in once the nurses didn't need to see her every hour.


Hospitals are interesting places for me, I'm at once very aware of the emotions that are involved with having a loved one there, and intrigued with the "clockworks" the goings on around me. Maybe it's my desire to get an education that would involve hospital things, who knows... but I find I'm drawn to the door to watch, and listen. There was a little girl next door to us that was Liam's age who was also very intrigued with the goings on. She was there due to a fall on the playground in which she needed stitches by her eye, that, then had gotten so infected that her eye had swollen shut. She was staying in the hospital because she needed I.V. antibiotics. Her recovery was amazing to watch. Her eye slowly emerged and as the swelling went down the bruising came up and was brilliant colors, purple, and yellow. Her parents just walked behind her for hours, following her around and around the unit, while she watched the people. She was discharged in the morning, much to her parents relief, I think. She was the only kid who was curious about Elleory and the only one Elleory was curious about. She missed her brothers.


Finally after the endless hours of hospital purgatory, we saw the doctor and were released. Oh blessed day! Even I was getting a little restless. She is home now and recovering beautifully. We saw her Doctor on Thursday and Friday for "just checking" check-ups. Saturday was her first doctor free day all week. She had a friend over to play "quietly" Saturday night and is resting this morning.

So all in all a scary week. Our "take home" from this is: Drugs are OK, Asthma is scary, but manageable, and we are once again very lucky and grateful.