When your wife is a pediatric nurse, you become aware of the infinite medical maladies that can victimize your children. Of late, my projected hypochondria has focused on diseases of the airways, with good reason: My spouse, Patti, spent the last eight years on a pulmonary floor frequently filled with seasonal asthmatics, too many cystic fibrosis victims, and an array of children breathing through tracheotomies. During cold snaps, pollen season, and ragweed blooms, her unit fills with wheezing kids, and her own asthmatic conditions are exacerbated.
By osmosis, I have learned much about children’s lung ailments and their related contributing factors.
When our fair-skinned son, Graeme, first came home from the hospital in November 2006 with eczema that never really cleared up and then quickly developed frequent coughing fits, we both thought the same thing: He’s got asthma. The extent of his illness was unknown until last Thanksgiving, when he spent the night in the emergency room of the same children’s hospital where my wife works.
Officially, it’s not asthma, which is tricky to diagnose in toddlers and infants. But his asthma doctor has written the phrase "Asthma most likely" numerous times on his chart. In fact, small children can grow out of asthma just as they often grow out of eczema.
Now 17 months old, however, Graeme is not growing out of his conditions. After a visit with his asthma and allergy doctor last week, he came home with four new, expensive prescriptions: Xopenex ($311.89), Pulmicort ($432), Zyrtec ($35.39), and Locoid Lypocream ($215); he has a total of six scrips when you throw in the Atopiclair and Albuterol he was already on. I have no idea what all of this does, but half of the drugs are creams rubbed on the skin and half are inhaled. None of them are generic. Mercifully, insurance covers most of the cost for us.
Twice a day we strap him to a nebulizer and he inhales two of the more expensive drugs, and twice a day we slather him with creams. Most of the time he’s a good sport, content to be held while he inhales, occasionally squirmy while we cover his sores with cream. My wife—accustomed to seeing children suffering from far worse—is unfazed.
But I’m not. On a recent morning as I gave Graeme his breathing treatment, I became bitter and angry. He’s not old enough to understand why he has to take all these medicines. It’s not fair.
I felt a similar emotion when I was first diagnosed with diabetes—and it’s a feeling that returns when the management of my disease isn’t going well. That self-pity, however, pales in comparison to what I feel when Graeme is wheezing or scratching sores on his skin.
And I catch my breath when I realize that it could, indeed, be worse. His new doctor wanted to test him for cystic fibrosis because she thinks Graeme is a little small for his age. When she told my wife this, Patti chuckled. Having worked with CF kids for most of her nursing career, she knows the signs better than the doctor. I envy how she can laugh in the face of such things.
As I finished his treatment, Graeme let out a shrill giggle in my arms, the last of his expensive new medicine evaporating into his lungs. The happy-if-not-entirely-healthy boy danced over to the toy pile, not daunted by his symptoms. I smiled in his glee, no longer thinking about drugs or disease.
Comments (5)
Having a child on prescription medicines is one thing – you know to be careful. But, when its ordinary products bought in a drugstore or supermarket then its hard to always be careful.
One thing I found was that many really known brands, even some of those labeled sensitive, contains ingredients that can cause allergic reactions for people with eczema.
I found a good site that compares children creams and lotions – its amazing whats in some of these products.
There is also some good advice on caring for sensitive kids skins. The site is called http://www.exederm.com/kids-eczema.html
17 months old and already on a nebulizer! It must have been some case of allergic reaction that actually didn’t require all those prescriptions. I could only imagine what medications can do to the poor toddler’s immune defenses. Nonetheless, if it were some form of allergy, there are herbal supplements that can be administered to treat allergens and regulate histamine levels in the body. Quercitin is a natural compound often used to regulate histamine while the homeopathic remedy Arsen Alb is prescribed for nervous system and respiratory conditions. Of course there are standardized herbal supplements you can use for allergies that won’t produce severe side effects in your child.
If you are open to alternative approaches to health care (which people do not look into until they find western medicine continually failing them)then you should look into a hollistic take for your son’s condition, by which is probably exacerbated by prescrip. drugs. We must utilize both eastern and Western healthcare…Western medicine is good for two things, and two things only: broken limbs and in an emergency.
I have been a nurse for 29 years and reading your story. I feel your pain.
Your absoultely right, this child should not be on all those meds.
If your open to alternative methods seek them. The exzema can be a direct correlation to the bodies inability to eleminate toxins from the system and drugs can be associated with that. The skin is a organ and if your not elemiating from other systems then skin conditions occur. This is also a direct correlation with the bodies lack of natural flora in the digestive system and proper enzymes due to medications such as antibiotics that have eliminated them. Alot of the lotions and creams applied to the skin are only temporary fixes not the root cause. Look at what foods your consuming and more importantly processed or foods with preservative. Focus on foods high in antioxidants which combat free radical damage and inflamatory responce in the body.
Actually, Anella, you’re partially right. He’s allergic to a lot of different foods including peanuts, chicken, corn, wheat, egg whites, soy, etc. We just found out last week. Got a long way to go to sort it out. But it’s a root cause of his skin conditions and someo of his breathing problems. Thanks for the comments.
sean