The Nebulizer

Oakley still has his cough that he has had for ten weeks now.  I took him to the doctor seven weeks ago but his lungs sounded good so the doctor decided to treat him for acid reflux.  Well it helped a little bit but he was still coughing, especially at night.  Then he started not wanting to lay down flat.  And sometimes in the middle of the night when he would wake up he would be wheezing.  I decided to take him back.  The doctor checked him over saying that he sounded good but I asked him if we could just take an x-ray because for some reason my kids' lungs sound good but look yucky on x-ray.  He ordered the x-ray.  Then Oakley started wheezing in the office so the doctor decided to put him on pulmicort that is delivered through a nebulizer.

We then went over to the hospital for the x-ray.  I am no stranger to what they have to do to babies during the x-ray so I was mentally preparing myself, especially because he was hungry.  I had to strip him down to his diaper and put him in the contraption.  I held up his arms while the nurse strapped him in.  And he chilled, didn't even whine or wince or anything!  The nurses could not believe it!  I was laughing so hard, they were laughing so hard and soon Oakley was starting to giggle.  He started sucking the x-ray.  We tried scaring him and tickled him to try to annoy him to get him to cry, but he wouldn't.  The nurses didn't know what to do because it's good for babies to cry so they can get a good picture of the lungs.  The just ended up taking the pictures hoping for the best.  I was mad that I didn't have a camera and that my cell phone had such a crappy camera on it, but at least it had one so I snapped a picture of him in the tube.  Bruce said he looked a little concerned but he really was just babbling.

I got the results of the x-ray and he has 'viral pneumonia' and he needs to be on the nebulizer for a few months.  He is responding really well and hardly coughs at all any more.  He loves 'helping' me hold it, but he is usually asleep by the end of the treatment.  I am so thankful for modern medicine!