Abby Update

We took Abby to her Pediatrician in Mobile today for a follow-up appointment. Abby continues to have a bad "croupy" cough but otherwise is doing MUCH better. Her lungs are clear - no wheezing in a couple days which is great. The doctor read through all of her notes from our family doctor and the notes from the er (the night she was admitted to the hospital last week) and after looking through all of it, her first words were, "sounds like she may have some asthma problems". She too said that asthma is not officially diagnosed until later because you cannot do the appropriate tests on a baby her age. She also said that she hesitates to diagnose and document an asthma diagnosis for insurance purposes. She used a similar term that the doctors at the hospital used, "Reactive Airway Disease". I found a really good article that describes it and I thought it would be better than my feeble attempts to describe it.

"Reactive airway disease is a general term that doesn't indicate a specific diagnosis. It may be used to describe a history of coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath of unknown cause. These signs and symptoms may or may not be caused by asthma.

Use of the term reactive airway disease in part reflects the difficulty in establishing a diagnosis of asthma in certain situations — such as during early childhood. Although it's possible for infants and toddlers to have asthma, tests to diagnose asthma generally aren't accurate before age 6."

The doctor wants us to continue with the breathing treatments that our family doctor had started (Xopenex) if she has any more episodes of wheezing and she also gave her another 5 day regimen of steroids. She hopes this will kick the cough. This is her 5th episode of croup/bronchitis since January (I thought it was only the 4th, but according to her records, we have taken her one more time than I remembered). We are praying for her complete healing in this matter. It is very unnerving to be 2 hours from a good hospital when she gets as sick as she did this last time. Small town life definitely has it's disadvantages at times like these!!!

I know that this is an Abby update, but Zach would like for everyone to know that he is also doing much better! He is standing over my shoulder trying to see which words he can read .

Sorry that this was so lengthy. We love you all.

Don, Laura, Zach & Abby