ASTHMA ATTACK - Friday, 12/1/2017
The Short Version
Miles had a full blown asthma attack at school Friday morning. Paramedics came, he received medicine to stabilize his lungs, started a new inhaler prescribed by his allergist in the afternoon, and he's back to being able to breathe.
Now go hug your kids a little tighter this weekend!

The Long Version
(my therapy as I process the day's events... and after re-reading all this, you'll have to excuse the verb tense changes that are all over the place - lol)

Friday morning started with Davin's sore throat that kept him up most of Thursday night. His tonsils were swollen enough that I decided to keep him home from school and take him to his pediatrician (9am opening - yes! no waiting around all day). After a 98% pulse-ox reading and a diagnosis of, "Let's wait and see how Davin feels over the next 24-hours," we started driving home around 10am. My phone rings. It rings again. And again. I don't have hands-free in 2006 Bucky, so I don't answer my phone while driving. I tell Davin I need to pull over and find out what's going on.

The school was calling. I read the transcription of both voicemails on my phone ... one says that I need to call back asap ... the other says Darron has been reached and Miles is having an asthma attack. When my phone call to the school gets through to the nurse, she's calm and says she believes it's not food-related because Miles said he didn't eat anything (i.e., not anaphylaxis)... rather, Miles is having an asthma attack and he didn't respond to his inhaler because he can't breathe the albuterol into his lungs... and all I hear is Miles struggling to breathe in the background (it's a distinct stridor sound as air can't get into the lungs). I immediately tell her that I'm over 20 minutes away (what felt like a lifetime) and to call an ambulance. Of course, she already had one on the way before she ever contacted Darron or me because she's an angel (and knows protocol :-) ). She could hear my anxiety n tears through the phone and assured me that his color was fine {not turning blue}, she was staying right beside him, and that help was on the way.

I decide to drive to the hospital... thankfully, Darron calls me before I go into the ER and tells me the paramedics are at the school and will remain there as long as Miles is improving and until one of us gets there.

As I pull into the school parking lot, there's an ambulance and a fire truck. I want so desperately to just jump outta the truck and run inside. But Davin's still with me and when he stands up, he feels lightheaded and nauseous (almost threw-up at his appt). So we park and walk as fast as possible through the parking lot.

There are certain images you can never erase from your memory. This is one that's so bittersweet. As I open the school door, I see a stretcher in the hallway. I know it's for my son. After I pass one of the paramedics standing outside the nurse's door and tell him, "I'm the mom," I see the most precious, terrifying scene. Miles is seated in a chair with the nebulizer mask on and there are 4 paramedics and 1 nurse - that makes 5 angels - around my Miles. I can hear that he's still wheezing, but the stridor is gone. As I hug him and ask if he's feeling better, he talks in a voice I don't recognize.

Immediately I think - Next Steps! What do we do now? Are we leaving to get to the hospital? What medicines have been given? As the paramedics fill me in on the specifics (steroid shot given in his arm, albuterol w another medicine was being administered through the nebulizer, pulse-ox went from 82/83% to 92/93%, etc), Darron arrives. We continue the discussion of going to a hospital or not. One of the paramedics relays his experience with his own 6-year-old son's asthma and also says that Miles is responding very well to the treatments they've given. Given the flu "epidemic" down here in the valley (made national news already and claimed the life of a toddler), the hospital may not be the best place ... but totally up to us to decide. Darron n I both remembered Miles's last asthma attack when he was 4-years-old that landed him in the hospital for a few nights. No thanks. We decided to monitor him at home and follow-up with his allergist. Dorris Wedding black color prom party wears in affordable price

I fully expected to wait until next week for a follow-up appointment; however, the allergist had a 12:10p cancellation ... yes! The allergist performed two breathing tests ... the one that blows out candles (measures rate of return air or something like that) and another blow test that measures the amount of Nitric Oxide in your lungs (Miles hasn't done this test before). Normal levels read below 20 and many of us have less than 5. Miles? His nitric oxide came in at 80! Yes. EIGHTY! When the reading gets that high, it's typically indicative of an oncoming asthma attack. (which just occurred)

So what's causing the inflammation in his lungs (the reading of an 80)? What brought on the asthma attack?

Miles said he was with all the 4th graders getting ready to rehearse the upcoming music program. His throat felt a little dry and his chest was feeling kinda tight. So he got a drink of water. That didn't help. He started coughing and then couldn't breathe without coughing. One of the ladies preparing lunch asked him if he was okay and he shook his head, No. His teacher immediately recognized something was wrong. As they moved through 6th grade hallway, someone called the nurse's office and said to get the inhaler and epipen ready because Miles can't breathe. Miles said the Star Hallway (main hallway) was sooo long and he could only go about halfway because his legs felt "exhausted." His poor teacher - sounds like she had to carry him a portion of the way to the nurse's office.

It's still unclear what EXACTLY caused the asthma attack. It wasn't exercise-induced (he wasn't running in the gym, hadn't been outside at recess, etc). Possibly pet dander on another student's clothing? Possibly the air in general (allergens are awful in the desert right now --- I'm even stuffy)? Possibly air filters being changed at the school? Possibly a slow progression this whole week (Miles has had a stuffy nose all week with some sneezes mixed-in)?

All I know is that we're incredibly thankful for the way things turned out. Not knowing what caused the asthma attack doesn't sit very well with me because I'd like to prevent it from ever happening again, but I know I can't dwell on it. The school handled the emergency superbly and Miles began a new regimen Friday night. He's taking Symbicort (inhaler) in the AM and PM (can I just interject here and say that BigPharma/pharmacies-in-general and their legal need to CYA with the pamphlet warnings make it so you question whether or not a new drug might actually kill your child? <insert me checking on Miles every 15 minutes or so until about 2am>), in addition to continuing his daily Singulair and as-needed-Allegra. We also still have the nebulizer and a new refill of albuterol tubes.

Miles has a plan. And I pray that God's plan for Miles when he goes through puberty is to let Miles outgrow asthma. Until then, prayers preside and an eternal gratefulness to the Spectrum Elementary staff, Gilbert paramedics, and my husband continue as I take my own big, deep, sigh-of-relief breath.

# GodheardaLOTfromme
# sothankfuldarronwasintown
# milesisaCHAMP # sobravethroughitall
# milesNmomsleepoverintheloft

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life... do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."
~ Matthew 6:25... and 6:34