Friday, August 20, 2010

Diagnosed

Patrick got a runny nose on Sunday, which is no big deal... well, should be no big deal, but when he gets sick it seems to go straight to his airways. A puny runny nose ended up giving him some serious wheezing/coughing attacks! So we finally got him an appointment with an asthma specialist and they diagnosed him with asthma - THANK GOODNESS!! We were going to be pretty annoyed if they sent us home without any answers or better ways to deal with his attacks because, quite frankly, taking a nap with the nebulizer on is not my idea of a good day.
His diagnosis doesn't mean much, actually - the nurse gave him an allergy test where they exposed his skin to 32 general allergy triggers like cats, dogs, pollen, etc, and he tested negative for everything except cats. Since he doesn't have allergies it is much less likely that his asthma will be life-long, he'll hopefully outgrow it by about age 6 as his airways get bigger. Until then, though, we're able to use much better medications for asthma that can not only help when he has attacks, but also PREVENT attacks. Next time he has a runny nose, we'll be aaaaaaaaall over those meds, and we are looking forward to a MUCH better, less sick winter than last year. Never thought I'd say it, but yay for an asthma diagnosis!

5 comments:

Elsha said...

Glad you finally got a diagnosis!

Kari and Jonathan said...

That's the saddest picture ever!! I'm hoping for a better cold/flu season for you guys!

Brittney and Michael said...

I can imagine that is really scary, and frustrating! Patrick is lucky to have parents that stuck it out for an answer.

Eric and Amy said...

I'm glad you got some answers so that now you can have better treatments. I hope Patrick can have a healthier winter too!

Andrea said...

that picture swells my heart. what a sweet boy.
ok, the story about the breast pump is crazy!! only you!:)