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Monday, September 22, 2008

First middle-of-the-night ER run

Last night Carter ran into our room at 2:30. He was freaked out - breathing rapidly and loudly and you could tell that he wasn't able to draw a full breath. I assumed that he was having an asthma attack so I ran him to the ER. I should have suspected croup when he started to improve out in the cooler air, but he never had a barky cough and he said he still couldn't breath very well, so I took him in anyways. Long story short, by the time the doctor got to us, Carter was symptom-free. I felt like an idiot. It turns out that there is a spasmodic croup that comes and goes unexpectedly and just swells their throat in the middle of the night. Apparently this is what he had. I just wish that I had known about this prior to his $400 ER visit. It typically goes away on its own with the cooler evening air or a steamy bathroom.

He was pretty excited about getting to go to Children's hospital. We drive by all the time when we go to the hospital for Jayme and he always asks about it. It was cute; on the way home he said "thanks Mom, for taking me to the hospital. I feel lots better."

The ironic part is that Mike and I had just been talking about how we haven't had to pay much in medical this year. The kids haven't been sick, we've both been healthy... knock on wood, right? I'm just waiting for Samantha to fall down the stairs and end up with a concussion. That would just be our luck.

5 comments:

Manda L. said...

lots of firsts and lots of co-pays. Very exciting.

January said...

Oh goodness, I am so glad Carter is ok!! I am sorry the visit cost you so much for that "at home" answer. Boo to the doctors that charge for that kinda thing.

Unknown said...

Bad things come in threes. Maybe you guys should just stay in bed for the next couple months?

Nicki said...

I'm with Karen! I had the same thought! Be careful!

Sarah L. said...

OH, croup is so scary. Asher gets it on a regular basis so we have medicine in the fridge ready to go. :)