Scary Mask $16, Cute Penguin $48

Luke was diagnosed with Asthma a few days ago. Not a good day.

In the morning he was very tired and we could tell his breathing seemed a little labored. All he wanted to do was sleep. So he took a morning nap AND an afternoon nap, which is virtually unheard of from him these days. When he woke up from his second nap he was still having difficulty breathing normally and we could hear wheezing so we called the doctor.

It's a good thing we did. The doctor listened to his breathing and checked his blood oxygen level, which was 90%. The doctor said it should read 100% or very close, and they wanted him up to 95%. The doctor said 90% was “bad,” but then qualified that a little more by saying it wasn’t really dire, life threatening. His chest was very tight.

He treated him immediately in the office with a nebulizer, a machine that put out a mist. In it was a concoction of oxygen, albuterol and a steroid. Luke got pretty scared of the machine and the whole situation (and he wasn’t feeling well to begin with), and cried and struggled quite a bit. We had to wrestle him to keep it on. After a few minutes (and both Jim and my efforts), we got enough medicine in him to get his blood oxygen level up to 94%. That was good enough, according to the doctor.

(Sidenote: They make fun nebulizer machines, such as the penguin nebulizer or even a train. But...no, our office opted for the scarier masks to cut corners since the scary mask is $16 and the cute penguin is $48. I'm sure we'll be billed more than $48 for use of their nebulizer.)

He prescribed albuterol and a special contraption for kids to use an inhaler, and predisone (a steroid to help open his lungs better). We gave Luke a dose of each before he climbed down from my lap, walks off, and without looking back announces "I'M GOING TO BED!"

Poor kid. We were all exhausted.