Four

That is, this is the fourth time that Chris has been gone for the majority of the week that T ended up sick.

Sigh. Not a good track record for me.

He’s had this lingering cough since, well, the week of the third yuckiness – right before I left for my work convention and before he wound up with a week-long fever with the hubs. February was not a good month for the little bugger.  But since the cough wasn’t slowing him down at all, I basically just chalked it up to allergies and went on with my business.

Last night he went to bed and the second he laid down, he started coughing more than normal. By 9 o’clock I was up in his room giving him some cough medicine to hopefully help him sleep. By 11:30, it had turned into a wheezing, terrible sounding thing that lasted just about all night long. He did sleep peacefully from 12-2:30, a plus, but that, of course, was the dog’s cue to get up from bed, start growling at the door and prowl around the house. Thanks guard dog, I needed that. By 3 AM, I decided that the boarding kennel seemed like a very wise move for the pups the next time the hubs went out of town. By 5AM, I decided we’d be taking another trip back to the doctor’s office this morning (and that caffeine would be a Wednesday necessity).

Diagnosis? Basically, his on-going cough didn’t give his lungs a chance to recover – so they were inflamed. She said the cough sounded like croup – but the breathing tests were fine, which is good, so most likely, the month of coughing resulted in him sounding the way he does because his poor lungs need some down time. We start the steroids tonight and hopefully this knocks out whatever yuckiness is left in him!

I’m preparing for the side effects now: I was warned of him possibly having a ferocious appetite and a lot more energy "to redirect" (read: get in trouble with) than usual. The thought of both of those side effects in my always-ready-to-eat child who only-runs-never-walks (and likes to test his boundaries on a daily basis) partly makes me giggle, and partly, makes me want my pillow and a nap.