And Now Asthma

Yesterday after his swimming lesson, poor Daniel said he felt sick. I checked his temperature and found out that he had a fever of just over 102 degrees. I suspect he had been feeling sick before swimming but hadn't wanted to say anything for fear of missing out.

He coughed off and on throughout the night, a hacking cough that sounded painful. Of course, we couldn't send him to school in this condition. Instead, I called the doctor's office first thing and got an appointment for 10:15.

The waiting room was packed with the usual Monday morning crowd of sick kids. I suspected we were in for a long wait, and I was right, unfortunately. The twins amused themselves with the stickers and crayons that I brought. Daniel sat next to me, leaning against my shoulder. He was very warm and too listless even to play his electronic game, Connect-4, so I read Harry Potter to him while we waited. And waited.

Finally we were called into an examining room. When the nurse took Daniel's temperature, I was not surprised to see that it was pretty high, well over 103. I asked the nurse for some children's Motrin so that we wouldn't have to wait until we got home to bring his fever down.

We saw Dr. Jacques, the pediatrician who had examined Daniel last Thursday. He checked Daniel's throat and ears, which were still infection free.

"It's still all viral," he said. "But I don't like the sound of his lungs. How often does he get these chest problems?"

"Every two or three months. Whenever he gets a cold, it goes right to his chest."

"Well, we're going to give him a nebulizer treatment, and I'd like you to continue to do this. We'll get you a nebulizer to take home."

He left and a nurse came in with a rectangular box, which she plugged in. She hooked up one end of a tube to the machine and the other end to a plastic breathing apparatus, to which she added liquid medication. The machine made a loud noise when she turned it on. She told Daniel to bite down on the mouthpiece and inhale deeply through his mouth. The process took less than ten minutes.

We finally left the doctor's office with the authorization for the nebulizer and a fistful of prescriptions: the nebulizer medication; an oral corticosteroid to reduce the inflammation; an antibiotic to prevent pneumonia; an anti-asthma medication, which Daniel is supposed to take for the next few months; and Patanol eye drops for his allergies. While we were waiting for the doctor, Daniel actually gave himself a bruise under his left eye from rubbing it so hard.

I also left with grave doubts about Western medicine. Not for the first time, either. Poor Daniel has a classic triad of disorders: allergies (for which he already takes Claritin), eczema (for which we use a topical corticosteroid), and now asthma. I have to wonder whether giving the boy a half-dozen or more pharmaceuticals is really the best response to his condition. I find myself pondering alternative treatments: Change in diet? Homeopathy? Herbs?

The thing is, I've tried alternative treatments for some of my own health problems, with some success. But when it comes to my children, I'm just not brave enough to experiment.

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