Over the last two years Griffin has had several bouts of pneumonia and bronchiolitis. Any time he gets a runny nose or a cough, it goes straight to his lungs. His pediatrician told us that many children outgrow this by the time they turn two. He continued getting sick and had to go on a daily steroid and other asthma medications as needed. I hated giving his so many medications and I hoped he would be one of the many children who would outgrow this airway disease.
A few months after he turned two he got a runny nose and a cough. Within a couple hours he was hardly able to breath. I took him to the pediatricians office who sent him straight to Children’s Hospital which is an hour from our home.
Griffin continued struggling for breath. Phil took him to Children’s while I attended to the other kids. When they got to the ER, Griffin was met by a whole team of specialists who pumped him full of several medications and breathing treatments. It was really scary as they tried to decide if he should be placed in the icu. I made arrangements for the other kids and drove to meet them at the hospital.
At that point he had been admitted to the regular ward with special instructions for extra attention from the health care providers. He was on hourly treatments that were expected to continue throughout the night. We called a dear friend who lived near Children’s to come help Phil give Griffin a blessing. I was reluctant to call our friend because he had an infant born with a heart condition who spent several months in the same hospital before he passed away the year before. I knew it would be difficult for him to come back to the hospital, but he gladly did and I was so grateful for his efforts to help save my son.
After the blessing, Griffin started improving and the treatments started spacing out further and further until he was discharged the next day with prescriptions for even more medications, inhalers, and nebulizer treatments, and a pretty sure diagnosis of asthma.
It was very scary. I hated that he was always sick, but at least before this happened, I felt like I could manage it-just start the meds at the onset of cold symptoms and wait for him to out grown it. Now, he had asthma, that could turn life threatening very quickly. I am afraid to leave him alone or go out of town any more.
Phil and I were out of the country on a trip for his company just the week before. I am thankful this didn’t happen while we were gone. I am thankful I am a pharmacist so I have a good understanding of how to treat him. But most of all, I am thankful for priesthood blessings that heal and comfort in times of need.
