The cough has left the building
Last week was not so much fun for you.
For Mommy or Daddy either.
You came down with a fever and some vomiting, which we thought was the flu. Then the cough arrived. Ferociously. You coughed so hard and so much that I finally called the doctor Tuesday evening and she suggested we take you to the ER in case you might have pneumonia. Eeek! So we drove you downtown and sat in the ER hallway for a couple of hours while nurses, doctors and respiratory specialists ruled out asthma troubles and pneumonia to tell us you just had a cold.
A cold.
I've never heard anyone cough like you were coughing with a simple cold. But OK. Everyone's body is different, eh?
Daddy took you to the pediatrician for a follow up the next day and he said the same thing.
A cold.
At this point you were coughing so much that you were vomiting occasionally and gagging during the night. You were losing your voice too, and every time you tried to talk, more cough spasms would make it nearly impossible. But the doctor told us you were OK to go to daycare the next day. And we, uh, stupidly believed him.
Two hours later I was zooming back to school to pick you up. You'd vomited several times and were coughing so hard you were shaking. I actually started crying in front of Erin because I felt so frustrated that there wasn't anything we could do for the cough. We'd tried the decongestants the doctors gave us, but none of them were even touching it. And you would look at me sadly and cry, "Momma, I can't stop coughing!"
I called the doctor's office again when we got home to ask if there was anything I could do about the vomiting and the nurse heard you in the background and suggested another visit. So in we went. And out we came with a possible pneumonia diagnosis and some antibiotics.
I'm not sure if that's what you had exactly, but your cough abated the next day and continued to improve. What a relief!
You're back to snuff now and, other than being frustrated by the constant cough, you were pretty easygoing and happy throughout your illness. But we're just thrilled that the bad stuff is over and we can, hopefully, avoid the germs for a while. Fingers crossed.
