My child is very sick.

[jules321]

I just need to post and to know others are listening. My young child is very sick. My child has asthma and developed a chest cold 3 days ago. First symptoms were an immediate junky cough. (Kind of strange since most colds start slower in our experience and eventually develop a cough but that's not usually the first symptom. Our pediatrician said this chest-thing is going around and is likely viral.) I'm frustrated because I did all of the right things. Inhalers, doctor calls, doctor appointment, drinking tons of water, breathing in steam. All of it. But still it seems my child is getting worse, not better. I'm so scared. Of course it all turns worse on Friday night ahead of a weekend.

We saw the pediatrician today who said my child's lungs sound clear for now so would not prescribe antibiotics. She told us to go to urgent care over the weekend if my child worsens and then to the hospital for a chest xray if needed. Urgent care and hospital terrifies me due to possible flu exposure. It would not be good if my child got the flu on top of this chest infection. My child has had pneumonia before which was an awful experience.

On top of it all, my husband has a staph infection on his leg from a spider bite. Seriously? He's been on antibiotics for 24 hours. He's not concerned, but it's not looking better yet so I'm worried about him and about my child catching it. My husband is being very careful and keeping it bandaged, wrapped, etc but still.

I know I have to stay strong through all of this - and I will do whatever needs to be done - but I am scared. I'm overthinking and spinning out on the what-if's.
Just need to get through the weekend.

My child is asleep now and keeps waking up coughing - which sucks because my child is so tired and needs a restful sleep to heal. It's going to be a long night.

Please do NOT share your horror stories of staph or flu or chest infections or whatever else. I feel easily triggered right now.

Just support please.

[meant2live]

I’m so sorry you’re going through this.

Has the pediatrician mentioned any sort of breathing treatments for your child? I know that some people use nebulizers when they are sick. Maybe you could talk to the doctor about that possibility of this is still going on by next week.

I know you’re worried about the flu, but the ER or express care may be your only option if it gets really bad.

I really hope it gets better so your little one can rest. I hope I haven’t said anything to make it worse. Can your child have honey for the cough? Chicken soup?

Stay strong mama! You will get through this.

[jules321]

Thank you. We've been doing honey lollipop things for cough, chicken soup, etc.

I will ask about nebulizer tomorrow. Great idea.

I will definitely go to urgent care or ER if that's what is needed. Just hope it isn't as Im scared it could bring on more problems.

[MyNameIsTerry]

No horror stories from me. But I can tell you that my asthma started when I was around 9. I also went through a period of a couple of years where I was constantly getting some cold.

I've been on antibiotics plenty of times. Later they started giving me steroids too. So, if they decide she needs more they can even go that route and they tend to work quite quickly.

Nebulisers are great, I've been on them a few times. They kick in really quickly.

You are doing all you can and that's great. The rest is your child's immune system doing what it needs too and it can be very worrying with asthma in the young or old as we worry if they can cope. But kids are strong and asthma is so common and they get through it all.

Also doctors don't mess around with asthma in kids or the elderly so they tend to be cautious. If they think there is no need for intervention they must be happy with what you are doing and how your child is responding.

Just keep going with the correct inhaler dosing for illness periods and use Relievers if needed.

I find vitamin C helps me greatly with colds & infections.

Any parents would worry. Mine have had their share (I've had pneumonia too) and said how they were worried ay various times and they don't have anxiety. In fact, that anxiety will be pushing you to keep on top of things even more than someone without so there's no doubt your kid is getting the best care!

But try to rest yourself. Try to trust the doctors who deal with asthma probably daily and things have come on greatly since I was a kid (it was still a bit new back then) so they have well established protocols for treatment. And if you are unsure don't feel guilty for asking for a second opinion from urgent care as asthma always fits into the urgent care bracket for doctors as they prefer to be cautious despite it being nothing to worry about most of the time.

I hope he/she feels better soon :hugs:

[jules321]

Thanks terry. That’s why I’m confused why we aren’t doing antibiotics. I’d think we should take extra precaution. At the same time, my child has had allergic reactions to the only 2 antibiotics ever tried- so there’s that to worry about too.

I appreciate your kind words. Hope your asthma is better sorted these days. Really hoping my child grows out of it.

I’m trying to sleep and can’t. Just dashing in every time my child coughs. :(

[meant2live]

I know you said that you have tried having your child breathe in steam, but do you have a humidifier for continuous steam? Saline spray may also be good.

Does your child use a daily inhaler as well as the emergency inhaler?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes thanks, Jules, my asthma is quite mild. I think many of us go through stages of ill health as we are growing and you come out the other side of it. By secondary school (11+) I wasn't getting colds as much. But I still needed meds because they always seem to end up as chest infections. And later came steroids.

These days I don't even need the antibiotics. I've found increasing my vitamin C has dealt with several throat & chest infections. But obviously I'm not saying this should be tried with a child, it's just from my research & experience seeing if it worked on me as I could respond earlier.

My GP's always said to look out for coloured mucus being coughed up because that was a sign of infection. So when this happened I would see them and be given antibiotics straight away. If I was struggling with clear mucus then I would still see them but they may or may not prescribe them.

They probably don't believe there is an infection in play and considering your child has issues with reactions to them they are likely trying to spare her any of that..If they think antibiotics are needed, they won't hesitate.

Doctors over here won't give them out anymore in a just in case scenario.

If breathing needs a boost they can always use oral steroids to reduce inflammation. I used to have them as a child if the antibiotics weren't appearing to be doing enough and second courses were needed.

Steaming can break the mucus up, which is a good thing, but it can mean coughing so it could be a bit of that too. Sleep will take over when it's needed but yes it must be concerning as you just want them to rest and it upsets them coughing with a painful throat & aching chest.

[jules321]

It’s amazing how long a night can feel.

I might use this space as a bit of a journal to get through the weekend if that’s ok.

My child slept more than I expected but also had a fair amount of coughing through the night. She is on a steroid inhaler and albuterol. Two years ago (after the pneumonia), our pedi told us to start using the steroid inhaler at first sign of a cold since colds always went to chest and lasted for weeks. Then to add albuterol if coughing developed. It worked great and we have never needed to add the albuterol. This time the cold started with the junky cough so we are using both.

Terry I’m so glad yours is under control and that Vit C helps you at this stage. Always good to find what works for your own body. Perhaps I’ll add orange juice today to the regimen today. Can’t hurt.

We aren’t using a humidifier since our house runs humid already. I’ll ask our pedi this morning though if we should add it in. Thanks for the suggestion.

My child is coughing up deep yellow stuff so I’m again confused why an antibiotic isn’t being called in. I do trust our doc overall and know it’s because the chest sounded clear- still wish she had called it in or this all hadn’t gotten to this point on the weekend.

With HA I’ve come to dread the weekends with doctors being closed mainly for my child. I’ve always run a bit anxious since I was a child, but my HA really came on after my child was born and went through some scary medical stuff as a toddler. I’m homding it together through this experience pretty well. I even slept a bit.

Thank you all for being out there with me. I’ll update later.

[pulisa]

My son suffered from numerous chest infections as a result of complex medical problems and my daughter had acute viral pneumonia and septicaemia at 4 weeks of age so I can appreciate how scared you must be, Jules.
You are obviously keeping a very close eye on her and will be aware if she needs antibiotics. I always used to feel my son's ribcage on both sides for the telltale rattle-also he was so unwell generally with no energy or appetite and a high temperature. I would advise you to hold off the antibiotics if her chest is clear.
I do hope that she is better this morning and that you can have a chance to get some rest.

[utrocket09]

I can tell you as someone whom has had lifetime asthma about my experience. If your child has any sort of cold, which is a virus, no antibotics are going to help. Antibotics are given for virus caused by bacteria. Not your run of the mill virus. No matter what color the phlem is.

[MyNameIsTerry]

They don't prescribe antibiotics to treat the cold, it's to treat infections that commonly follow it e.g chest infections (bacterial ones, they won't work on viral ones).

Glad to hear your child managed to get some sleep. She will feel stronger for that.

My doctors always said to increase Preventers from 2 to 4 times a day, if needed, and to add in the use of the Reliever up to 4 times a day. The latter has likely changed over the years to an as needed basis. It depends which you take. My GF has been switched to a combined Reliever & Preventer and you can take that many more times a day.

[Scass]

So sorry that your child is poorly.
You’re doing all that you need to do at the moment. Let them rest & keep up the medication that you have. Don’t be concerned about urgent care, because if they need it then they’ll get it. You’re worrying 3 steps ahead of where you need to be!
Also don’t worry about your child catching your husbands infection, it’ll be fine.

I completely understand why you’re worrying, and I know I’d do the same. I have asthma and when my child gets a cough (she has one now), I panic. However, you need to try and relax yourself a bit. Try and eat and drink so you can function. Maybe you can all get on the sofa and watch a film together, so that you’re all relaxing.

Keep us updated xx


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[MyNameIsTerry]

So sorry that your child is poorly.
You’re doing all that you need to do at the moment. Let them rest & keep up the medication that you have. Don’t be concerned about urgent care, because if they need it then they’ll get it. You’re worrying 3 steps ahead of where you need to be!
Also don’t worry about your child catching your husbands infection, it’ll be fine.

I completely understand why you’re worrying, and I know I’d do the same. I have asthma and when my child gets a cough (she has one now), I panic. However, you need to try and relax yourself a bit. Try and eat and drink so you can function. Maybe you can all get on the sofa and watch a film together, so that you’re all relaxing.

Keep us updated xx


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^ excellent advice. Pamper her with some movies. A good way to watch her being happy while you get to rest and hopefully feel less anxious because you see her enjoying the films.

[jules321]

Thank you all. She is definitely feeling better today than yesterday, so I don't know if that's due to a better sleep or the illness starting to improve. I'm just so relieved to see things moving in the right direction and hope it continues.

I have to pat myself on the back for not falling off the ledge over my husband's staph infection. It's something I'd normally flip over, but I'm not letting myself go there or think about it. If my child wasn't ill, I know I'd be obsessing over it. So - it's a good reminder for the future that I can compartmentalize and make myself not worry about something.

Thanks to Terry about mentioning increasing the inhaler dose. Our pedi called me this morning to check in (which is very rare - I think I came on pretty strong yesterday so I think she's CYA'ing). I asked her if we should increase the inhaler dose, and she said yes to do so for the weekend so hopefully that will also help. (Also makes me question her as it seemed clear she wouldn't have suggested/thought of that if I hadn't asked - but that's a concern for another day.)

While typing, I just now got word my parent who had COPD is in the ER. Come on. Ok - I will deal with that.

For now - my child is on the right track. Thank you for the positive thoughts. I'll continue to update as it's helping me cope. Grateful to you all.

[Scass]

It never rains does it...

Definitely pat yourself on the back! You should give yourself praise for coping better than you thought.
I don’t know how old your daughter is, but they do seem to get better much faster than we do! They get bored of it I think.

Hope your parent is made comfortable x


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[jules321]

Thank you :) And, yes, kids are so resilient!
My child is still coughing, but is acting SO much better than yesterday.
Besides the cough there isn't too much sick behavior at all.
So Mama is breathing better now... :)

Just hoping we have a good night and then I think we'll be on a good road.

[meant2live]

I’m glad she’s feeling better! I hope everyone gets sleep tonight.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I'm glad to hear she is feeling better. A quick change suggests she is stronger than you realise.

I'm also really sorry to hear your parent has been taken to ER. With COPD maybe it is precautionary? Anything breathing related is treated quite seriously by doctors and it can be quite scary to those with and those seeing them struggling to breathe. The breathing issues we have (like in panic attacks) are scary but to have something that won't just stop on it's own is quite scary to experience and to see.

Hoping for good news from you over this. :hugs:

[jules321]

Thanks to you both. I hope for a good night tonight too. My child is coughing much less so will hopefully rest better. I think that second dose of the steroid inhaler really helped, or the virus is at its tail-end. I feel maxed out but am doing ok.

My husband's staph is looking worse which is concerning, but I'm trying not to freak myself out about catching it or imagining the what-if's for him. He will see his doctor on Monday, or I'll make him go to urgent care tomorrow if it's a lot worse. I can tell he's starting to get worried about it, but he won't talk about it. He started Googling tonight and went a bit pale while reading, so I told him to get off the computer and stop reading about heart complications, sepsis, etc.

My parent has been released from the ER. The COPD is one of the diagnoses, but there are multiple pulmonary diagnoses (easier to just say COPD as a catch-all) which will ultimately be terminal but we don't know how long that will be. For now, it looks like this episode is contained which is good. It's quite an emotional roller coaster, and it's awful to know how scared my parent is during each episode and of the larger prognosis. Puts HA into perspective when I just want to shake myself (and others on this board) to not live in fear because other people are actually dealing with real stuff (which we all will one day, too).

Okay... Off to try to relax now that my child is sleeping. Again thank you for the support. It helps to feel less alone during scared parental moments.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Really sorry to learn of that. So, each scare must make you all wonder if this is an escalation of the terminal illnesses and whether this is it. That's a lot to live with and must be the same for anyone terminal as sometimes things happen. I can also imagine all the flu stories have not been helping you one bit with this.

Yes, it really does. From knowing someone terminal I was in awe of their attitude to live well until they couldn't. After the initial tears and emotions this person was pushing the rest of the family to go on as normal and spend time away to pursue their beliefs.

I hope you manage to get some rest tonight and that all continues well for your family.

[jules321]

Yes each episode with my parent is scary because we have been told that eventually there will be one ER visit that will be "it." The widespread flu this year has definitely triggered my HA because I'm scared of getting my parent sick or my child (who has asthma). Makes me feel overly responsible and having to control everything - which isn't good for someone who already runs anxious.

My child seems about the same as yesterday - sometimes a little worse, sometimes a little better. She did sleep hard last night with very little coughing which is great. So I'm glad we've made it through the weekend with my anxiety intact and no need for doctor visits! I'll take that as a triumph. :)

[pulisa]

It's always a relief when Monday comes and you've survived the weekend with a health crisis! Hope she soon picks up, Jules. Also I hope that your parent is stable although I appreciate this must be a big concern for you.