The New Floodgates of the Mind

It happened again. Wed overnight Kyle had been coughing quite a bit. Charlize was, too, so I thought it was everyone fighting off the same cold again. In the morning, he wasn’t wheezing but to play it safe I gave him his pumps and some cough syrup. He was as active as usual and off to daycare they both went.

By 9am, I get a phone call from the daycare telling me that he’s wheezing and she had to administer his pump. Okay, no problem. I call her back at 930 asking if she wants me to pick him up. She tells me all’s well. At 10am, she calls back saying he’s burning up and coughing again. I head out.

I get there at 1020 and he’s being rocked by her while she’s on her knees. She’s scared, crying because she’s never seen him like this. I take him from her and get him dressed. He’s hurt, crying, coughing. I calm him down and get him into the car. He refuses his pump but I manage to talk him into it and within a few minutes he’s asleep.

Luckily, the 20 isn’t as packed as I thought it would have been and we get to the Montreal Children’s Hospital within 35 minutes. We check in, register, and are brought to the trauma crash room. The doc’s are confused because his stats are pretty bad (89% 02 saturation, coughing) but no wheezing. Strangely enough, it seems like his right lung was seized and not both – which made it difficult to detect. 3 masks are given in quick succession and he immediately starts to get better.

He’s monitored for a couple of hours and is doing well enough to be moved to the asthma room. We stay there another 2 hours (and get another mask) and just when it looks like we’re going to stay another hour, the doctor checks in and states that he doesn’t need a fifth and is happy with what she heard. As we’re talking and she’s writing up prescriptions, he starts coughing again. Again, she’s confused and concerned but gives me directives and allows me to leave. I was positive that had she listened again she may have decided against letting us go.

Luckily it’s early enough that we’re not stuck in traffic on the way home. I get to the daycare, pick up Charlize, and head home. The rest of the night was spent trying to keep Kyle from running around. And you can imagine how impossible a task that was. He’s hyped up on fatigue, his pumps, and everything that happened… and there’s no way to get him to stop. In fact, once Charlize was in bed, the only way Chantale and I got him to calm down was to hold him. I rocked him in the dark for at least 20 minutes before he was calm enough for me to put him in his bed. It took a few hours more, but he finally fell asleep. He coughed a few times overnight but not as bad as the night before.

I was so fried. Luckily, Chantale, although jet-lagged from flying back from Vancouver via Toronto, still had plenty of energy and was able to lift me out of my fatigued blue funk.

Today, I brought Charlize to daycare and am staying home with Kyle. One of the only ways to get him to NOT run around so much is if she’s not around. Otherwise, he’s always on her. Chasing her, teasing her, running around her… I’ve got to pump him every 4 hours again as well as give him meds for the next 4 days plus his orange pump morning and night for the next 2 weeks.

James and Melyssa are coming tonight… and we’re seeing Santa twice this weekend… I think I’ll have a bit of difficulty keeping him calm…