Sick boys and Steroids

Carson brought home another lovely cold from preschool again last Thursday. On the way home from clinical Thursday afternoon I called my mom to check up on the boys and see how they were doing. She told me Carson had a runny nose and was laying around. Now anyone that knows Carson knows that this kiddo doesn't just lay down. He is active 24/7. Friday the barking, nasty cough started. By Saturday Eli had a runny nose and Carson sounded like a chain smoker. Carson was wheezing and on Albuterol every 4 hours. Saturday night was terrible. Eli developed a cough quickly and it came on bad. He was wheezing and I had to use his Albuterol every 2 hours. Sunday morning they both had temperatures and our house sounded like an emphasema clinic. Al came home from work early Sunday afternoon and we took them both to Children's Hospital to get checked out due to Carson's asthma and Eli's BPD (broncho pulmonary displasia--preemie lung disease) and their wheezing.

The doctors said that it was just your regular, run-of-the-mill cold but due to our boys both having lung issues, it had hit and affected their lungs hard. So, in addition to the 'round the clock Albuterol treatments, alternating Tylenol/Motrin, and lack of sleep, both boys are now on a 2mg/kg dose of OraPred for 5 days. OraPred is an oral steroid to help their lungs with the inflammation caused by the "cold". It's only the very beginning of October and both boys are already on steriods for a simple cold.....it's going to be a long winter. Thank God Eli was approved for a second season of Synagis and the boys are getting their flu shots tomorrow!