Now that I've calmed down as much as I can, I can tell you about this crazy, stressful morning. Most of you that know me well know that I do not handle stress well. I tend to deal with it by getting very emotional and crying - a lot. Yeah - not so pleasant for those that have to come in contact with me. It comes with the territory when you have a baby so I knew when I became pregnant that I would have to get a grip on it.
The reason for all the stress lately is because for the past month, Ethan has had a left ear infection that grew to a double ear infection accompanied by an upper respiratory infection with a hacking cough and runny nose. Within this past month, we have been to the doctors office four times and been on three different antibiotics with little to no improvement on the symptoms or infection. We had an check up today and it was not what I expected. I did expect the ears to not have improved much because he's been pulling at them. Plus, the hacking cough, runny nose and raspy breathing is STILL here! What I didn't expect was for the doctor to give E another antibiotic shot, a breathing treatment and a prescription for three new drugs. One is a 5-day antibiotic and the other two are for cough and congestion. So that's now 5 antibiotics in a month! Poor boy. He cried, hard, for an entire hour. He cried even harder when I had to hold his hands down to put the breathing mask on him for an entire 10 minutes. That doesn't sound that long, but believe me, it is when your child is NOT happy and crying so hard that he's sweating. I was afraid he was going to throw up on me. That was probably one of the hardest things I've had to do, besides when he was in the ER for pneumonia. That made for one stressful mommy.
If Ethan wasn't such a trooper I think all my hair would have fallen out by now. He's been behaving, eating and sleeping well, despite a few nights here and there of getting up once in the night. I'm so proud of him. I guess he's just as frustrated as I am in going to the doctors office. He just says "No" when we go in now, and I certainly don't blame him. I'm sick of going as well! We have another check-up on Friday and if there is no improvement or it's not cleared up, the doctor will make us yet another appointment for a ENT doc. She suggested possibly putting in tubes or removing the adenoids. Eek! Please keep him, and his parents ;), in your prayers.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
What a Morning!
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4 comments:
I feel so sorry for both of you! I can remember when Camryn was just about that age, and we seemed to be going to doctors visit after doctors visit because the coughing just would not stop (she had multiple ear infections for a period of time as well, just not at the same time as all of the coughing!) We have lived with breathing treatments since Camryn was about a year old - we seem to have to pick them back up for one reason or another every 6 months or so. We are currently doing them now, too, because of a crazy cough she picked up last week. I remember how horrible they seemed when we first started, too, but Camryn got used to them quickly. Give Ethan something to watch on TV while he's doing the treatments - we did VeggieTales and Praise Baby when Cam first started. That's how we would keep her distracted so she didn't mind them as much. Of course, that's when her TV addiction started, but hey - you trade one battle for another! :) Good luck and hope he feels better soon!
Bless your heart! It sounds exactly like what Ian went through. We were finally sent to the ENT too...and the dr. suggested we do tubes. BEST THING WE EVER DID. He has not had an ear infection since then. We went through several ear infections, 3 antibiotics, pulmonologist visits, breathing treatments, etc...nothing was helping. However, immediately...and I am talking like 1 day...we saw lots of improvement. He was a different child. So, if you have to go that route...you'll probably be glad you did. I know we were! I, like you, was so tired of (and worried about) giving him so many antibiotics. I hope he gets to feeling better very soon!
I am so sorry little E (and his parents) have to go through all of this!
If you end up with tubes, don't worry! It is GREAT! We still do breathing treatments with Caedyn every once in a while for a couple of days, but she hasn't had an ear infection since tubes in Oct 2007.
As for the treatments, try it without the mask. Ask your doctor, but ours said that as long as we used the other thingy that came with the machine and it was directed toward the mouth and nose, it was fine. Now Caedyn holds it herself and sometimes it is in her mouth and sometimes out, but it still works and isn't as traumatic as that mask.
Hi there-
I stumbled across your blog, and I just thought I would let you know what worked for us with my little girl's ear infections! She used to have about 1-2 a month, and she's only 15 months old...horrible. She was on antibiotics all the time, and I figured she inherited it from me because I had tubes and infections all the time. However, a neighbor told me to take her to the chiropractor, so I did. She has not had one since!! It's been about 5 months now. The doctors don't believe it helps - he just said she's growing out of them, it's summer, etc., but I'm telling you...Carlyn is a different child. We had an appointment for tubes but canceled because she has done so well! You might just want to get a recommendation for a chiropractor, then call and ask them about helping children with ear infections. You might be surprised!
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