Phew!

When I got up yesterday morning Adia joined me on the couch while Rasa was busy playing on the floor. I noticed Adia was breathing fast like she had been running around all morning except I knew she hadn't been. I thought it was weird but figured I would watch her. The girls were down to doing only one neb a day but just for good measure I gave Adia a fast acting neb because she didn't seem quite right. She refused breakfast and only wanted a little juice to drink. A couple hours later she was breathing even more rapidly and this time was wheezing. After talking to my neighbor who's a nurse and seeing my Mother-in-Law panicked I knew I needed to bring her in to be seen. She wasn't exhibiting any of the "emergency" symptoms of asthma yet but she was getting worse and starting to act lethargic right as we were out the door.

When her Pediatrician listened to her he said she was so tight he couldn't tell what was going on so they had to give her another fast acting neb at the clinic. She was breathing 50 times in a minute and should be at 20. Ten minutes later she was clear and he was able to determine it was a bad asthma attack that was triggered by something we are unsure of! Her breathing had slowed down to about 40 times a minute and he was comfortable sending us home with orders to give her a fast acting neb every four hours and her regular neb treatment twice a day. We feel like we cant leave the neighborhood because she always needs another neb!

Royce had serious asthma as a toddler that he grew out of later on. My asthma wasn't diagnosed until I was a preteen and then it was exercise induced so I used a rescue inhaler. As I've gotten older it's been viral induced too so I still use a rescue inhaler anytime I get a cold so I can breath. I've had two bad asthma attacks in my life, one of which caused me to start to black out. Not being able to breath is scary and it puts you in panic mode. Looking at Adia, so so tiny, and her shoulders going up and down so hard trying to breath was super sad and super scary! The worst part is wondering what triggered it and hoping it doesn't happen again.

So we're back at square one with trying to get the inflammation down in her lungs and it can take weeks. I feel a little overwhelmed with the logistics of all of the nebs and the paranoia of wondering what her triggers are. At the same time Royce and I were talking about how we are blessed this really is manageable and she will be okay. It surely looks easy in the eyes of parents who are dealing with more serious chronic disorders in their children and we are thankful.