Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Our little asthmatic

Madeline has severe asthma. It's not fun. Her first attack was over Easter weekend in New York City, and since then she's been in and out of the doctor's office, hospital, ER several times. She always seems to get sick right around times when we are traveling (with or without her). I'm not sure if it's bad luck or a sign that we travel way too much; probably the latter. She is now on nebulized steroids twice a day to try to keep her healthy for at least a few weeks. She just finished her 4th round of oral steroids in 3 months. We hate putting her on them, for health reasons and because they turn her from our sweet little angel into a blond, petite version of the Hulk (in pink). The albuterol makes her hyper, while the 'roids make her irritable and really, really hungry. After finishing twice her usual dinner, she raided the pantry and pulled out mini bagels, which you can see her double fisting here.
We're hoping she grows out of it...sooner rather than later. In the meantime, please send prayers and packages of bagels our way.

6 comments:

Ann said...

How we love our little Maddie. I have to smile at your description of her steriod induced behavior having witnessed it first hand. Pictures are adorable!

Anna and Ryan said...

Oh, man, I'm so sorry!! Giving those darn nebulizer treatments are the WORST. Did they say that she might outgrow it? The pediatric pulmonologist we saw at Duke said that they couldn't really even give an accurate diagnosis of asthma until a kid was 2. He thought Elliot might outgrow his "baby asthma/reactive airways" by 4 or 5. Fortunately he seems to have outgrown it much sooner than that. We haven't had to dig out the nebulizer in almost a year...good thing, too because honestly after all our moves I have no idea where all the parts are!!

Can't wait to witness the "roid rage" in person!

Anonymous said...

That is miserable! Charlie's had to be hooked up to the nebulizer a few times since he was born- it's so miserable. She's a cutie for sure!!

Megs said...

Hi! I'm your cousin Tim's wife & I love reading your blog! I just wanted to leave a comment and say "hi"...also, I was diagnosed with severe asthma as a child - not as a baby & I'm so sorry for your little Maddie! - but I was pretty young. For me, it wasn't so much "growing out of it" - because I can still have attacks occasionally, but it would definitely come & go, which was a great thing. There is hope, I promise! Good inhalers are a must for life, but it's worth it!

stephanie said...

so sorry! that must be so stressful. she's still as cute as ever!

Kimberly said...

Irish bagels just don't live up to much of a standard... but many prayers headed your way.