The one with the nebulizer

We try to avoid bringing the kids to see the doctor, instead we prefer to let them get well on their own.  Hospitals tend to make one feel gloomy and the thought of germs all around can be quite disconcerting.  PLUS we really don’t like the long wait.

But when Hannah’s on-off fever was still lingering after 3 days, we decided to bring her in.  That was two days ago and it was a Thursday, so that meant I would have to take Hannah to see the doc myself, since Pete had to work.  After dropping Ethan off in school, Hannah and I went straight to the hospital.  She had coughed too forcefully in the car, and had thrown up, so I had to change her top first.  (Yes, that’s my very BRAVE girl up there..she can still smile so sweetly even though she wasn’t feeling well)

Thankfully, there was NO one waiting in the clinic, and we were ushered in after about 15 minutes.  Her fever had gone up to 38.2°C and upon checking, doc said that one of her ears was slightly infected, and her throat looked red too.  She had some wheezing in the lungs as well, which the doc diagnosed as bronchitis. 

This meant that Hannah had to undergo the nebulizer treatment, whereby she had to inhale medicine through a mouthpiece.  I believe the medicine is ventolin with some oxygen, and it is a muscle relaxant, that will open up the airways, so that the mucuous and phlegm in the lungs would be released.

That’s not all.  She had to have the nebulizer treatment every 4-6 hours, for a total of SEVEN times!  Doc said we could either bring her into the hospital every 4-6 hours or admit her.  Well, admission was certainly out of the question, so I told the doc we would bring her in.

I was worried the nebulizer treatment would be traumatic for Hannah, because I had heard stories of children screaming and crying whenever they had this treatment.  But Hannah’s first experience was thankfully okay.  She protested a little bit at first, but when the nurse held the mouthpiece over her mouth and nose, Hannah calmed down and stayed still the entire FIVE minutes of the treatment.  Great job Hannah!  Look at my little fighter…she even wanted to hold the mouthpiece on her own!

The morning treatments were manageable, because I only had Hannah with me, but for the other sessions, I definitely needed someone to help take care of Ethan while the nebulizer treatment was administered on Hannah.   So these next few treatments involved Pete having to take some time off to help take Hannah in, and the next day, I was grateful my Mom happened to be around, so she could accompany me in the afternoon in the hospital too. 

The first afternoon she had her treatment, Hannah had to *borrow* her brother’s front-facing car seat too, because I had washed her car seat after she had thrown up on it in the morning, so it was Hannah’s first time ever in a front-facing seat!

Today, Hannah successfully completed all SEVEN nebulizer treatments 🙂

She’s feeling so much better now, and we pray that she will be recovered completely soon.  We still have to continue the inhalation treatment at home for a few days more, although it is not quite the same.  At home, the doc prescribed an aerochamber equipment to be used in tandem with the Ventolin inhaler.  I tried it on Hannah just now, and she was VERY cooperative, allowing me to administer two puffs of the Ventolin medicine, without a single protest.

Good girl Hannah…and please get well soon! 🙂