Panic!!!

I'm the father of a great 8 year old son and I always thought that I could handle a 'crisis' of any kind...man, was I mistaken!! I know alot of you are parents so you'll probably be able to relate to my story. My son woke up around 2:30 AM this morning with a horrendous cough so I thought, 'just give him so cough medicine and he'll be fine.' WRONG!! Just as I was about to give it to him he looked at me and said Daddy, I can't breathe! My heart sunk...here's my son, unable to breathe and I had no idea what to do. My wife was standing there also and she dialed 911 and the ambulance must have been parked around the corner, because he got there FAST!!! Thank God!! They put him on oxygen and rushed him to UMC Children's Hospital. Once there, they gave him a large dose of some kind of steriod and within minutes, he was breathing on his own again. The diagnosis...'Croups,' which is a virus infection that attacks the airways and shrinks them to a point where breathing becomes difficult, but not impossible. The adult version of 'Croups' is larengytsis (SP). He's going to be just fine after a few days of rest (ever try to keep an 8 year old down....damn near impossible...especially if he has a Wii!)

The point of this is that, as parents, our children are THE most important things in our lives and we would do ANYTHING to protect them, but yet when my son needed me most....I lost it!!! That scares me to death. My son IS my whole life and if my actions, or lack thereof, would cause him harm in anyway I don't know what I'd do. You'd think that at 59 years old I'd be able to keep my head and a__ wired together, but this was one crisis I was totally unprepared for. I just wish these Little Buggers' would come with an 'owners manual!!' It would make life a lot easier!! One thing I HAVE learned from this is that a woman, when it comes to their children, are so much better at handling a crisis like this than a man!! Thank God for women and their maternal instincts!!

I know, I know, this isn't the Dr. Phil Show!! But I just had to get my stupidity off my chest and I feel comfortable doing it here.

 

Don't be so hard on yourself, when it comes to your own child you go into panic mode, that's why medical professionals don't treat their own. Glad to hear he recovered fast, as for keeping him down, LOL

 

Yeah, Zach had that 'barking' cough too, but my doc said it sounded more like a Pit Bull!! And you're right, I have never heard a sound like that come from a human being before and I can live the rest of my life without ever hearing it again. My doc also said, just what you told me, if it happens again, fill the bathroom with steam and put him in there for awhile. As for the Advil....already have some liquid Advil on hand and the next time he even looks like he wants to cough, he's getting some!! Oh well, 'alls well that ends well,' and when, or if, it happens again, and knowing what I do now, I'll be able to handle it in a much calmer fashion!! BTW Dr. LauraR, do you make house calls???:-D

 

i had croup as a kid a few times, and yep, the steamy bathroom works like a charm...luckily i haven't had that with my kids yet.