We brought A to the allergy doctor today. Both the girls want a cat, AND we have at least one mouse (I can be optimistic that it’s just one mouse..right?) that seems to be avoiding the trap AND the D-Con we’ve put out for it…so, a cat would be a nice addition to the family. However, I felt it would be irresponsible to introduce a cat to the house when I don’t know for sure how it will affect the girls.
We had 2 cats when A was an infant. We were also frequent fliers at the local ER for respiratory trouble. Once we surrendered the cats to the shelter, her breathing got SO much better. Apparently, the 2 situations were entirely unrelated. A had RSV when she was an infant, and spent 12 days in PICU. It’s entirely possible (read-probable) that the decrease in ER visits had nothing to do with the cats leaving the house and had everything to do with her lungs healing from the virus.
Miss A was a trooper girl. She got the full panel of allergens…both her arms were covered with little dots. She only reacted to a couple of trees. So…first child…clear for feline.
Dr. W is an Allergy doctor and also an asthma doctor…though he is NOT a pulmonologist. He is good for “run of the mill” asthma…but I know for a fact that he would refer M out. SHE is beyond his scope. Anyway…in talking about history, I didn’t realize that the fact that A has had pneumonia 4 times makes her a recurrent pneumonia sufferer. Dr. W considered her one, and we walked out of there with a firm sick plan to implement with any cold. I don’t tend to be as proactive with A when it comes to colds, because she doesn’t always have trouble. This plan should prevent her from getting into trouble at all.
Dr. W wanted to know how I know if A is having a flare or if it’s pneumonia…our conversation sounded like this…
Dr. W: “So, how do you know if it’s a pneumonia cough or an asthma cough?”
Me: “My stethoscope”
Dr. W: “What does pneumonia sound like?”
Me. “It sounds like rice crispy’s in her lungs”
Dr. W: “OK…you know what a pneumonia sounds like”
He also said that I know more about asthma than most doctors. I’m sure that’s a compliment to ME, but what does it say about “most doctors”?
So, A got her allergy testing done, she survived (and got to pick out a game at Wally World as a prize)…she impressed the doctor with both her reading and conversation skills…and also was bouncing off the walls because we didn’t have her Adderall in the house this morning…if I was ever questioning our decision to start the meds…I am SO not questioning that any more…I’m exhausted just watching and listening to her.
Perfect Imperfection 