Thursday, March 28, 2013
RAD and other things
The other morning (or was it evening?) we were sitting around the kitchen table discussing how seldom any of us has been really sick or injured in the past twenty odd years. What a dumb thing to talk about.
Several days after patting our collective backs on our good fortune of life and health, I found myself riding in an ambulance with my dear little one year old. Don't worry, all's well that ends well. He had a bit of a bout with what they call reactive airway disease (RAD). Basically he had a common, ordinary cold for a few days, and then suddenly woke up one morning struggling to breathe. It's scary how quickly that can happen.
Unfortunately RAD has made it onto our short list of ailments before. Garth (14, almost 15) would get it as a tot, too. Garth had been the only one of our family to ever have it, and he outgrew it about dozen years ago. When he was little we had to be hyper vigilant when he showed even the slightest hint of a cold. He could be sitting there with the sniffles one minute and almost passed out from not being able to breathe the next. Was I ever glad when he finally outgrew that!
It had been so long since I last had to deal with this particular thing that I had stopped being paranoid about the sundry colds the next children would get. You know, children get colds. They get over them in a few days. Usually.
What is RAD? It's one of those broad spectrum terms to describe breathing problems in children up to 5 years old. Basically it's a quick narrowing of your child's airways, making it hard for him to breathe. Sometimes pet dander can trigger it. Sometimes it's second hand smoke. Sometimes, as in our case, it can be triggered by a virus like a cold.
RAD symptoms can occur because of airway swelling. A child's airways are small and narrow, making it easy for them to fill and get blocked with mucus.
The signs and symptoms of RAD aren't so unlike a bad cold: trouble breathing, wheezing, coughing, fast heartbeat, runny nose.
You turn the dark corner to menacing when your child's heart beats rapidly and he starts breathing really fast, his lips and fingernails turn blue, his nostrils flare out as he tries to breathe, and the skin over his ribs draws in deeply with each breath. That last thing is what they call retractions and with it you'll also notice that your child's stomach may sink in with every breath and so will the skin up around his neck. If it gets bad enough, you won't even have to wonder if it is happening. You'll spot it clear across the room.
Definitely abandon all home remedies if your child is blue or experiencing the nasal flaring or retracting. You've got an emergency on your hands at that point.
Thankfully a few breathing treatments and a short hospital stint later, my baby is back to normal. Very normal. You wouldn't even know anything had happened to him. Actually when it's over, you get to wondering if you overreacted. But no. You didn't overreact. It's just one of those things that can strike fast and then that fast it can be gone.
We've moved on from the RAD thing (I hope). Dare I hope this was an isolated event that will never happen again?
Everyone seems to be feeling fine at the moment. We've been gathering maple sap and doing some clean up outside. The children even got to make some snowmen the other day. Wasn't that snow just the perfect snow for snowmen?
We've had a number of birthdays in the family recently. There are several things that make birthdays special at our house. I'll mention them in no particular order of specialness.
Paul's mom makes birthday pies for every one her children and grandchildren. She even lets each person choose their own flavor. Count that up. That is 25 different birthdays that she is making pies for!
Our dear neighbor Ann always remembers each of my children with a birthday card in the mail. They love getting the mail on their birthdays, Ann!
My mom and dad always mail a card to each one on their birthdays and come over for a little party. Only the parties keep getting bigger and bigger because our family seems to keep trying to add people to it!
~Colleen
Several days after patting our collective backs on our good fortune of life and health, I found myself riding in an ambulance with my dear little one year old. Don't worry, all's well that ends well. He had a bit of a bout with what they call reactive airway disease (RAD). Basically he had a common, ordinary cold for a few days, and then suddenly woke up one morning struggling to breathe. It's scary how quickly that can happen.
Unfortunately RAD has made it onto our short list of ailments before. Garth (14, almost 15) would get it as a tot, too. Garth had been the only one of our family to ever have it, and he outgrew it about dozen years ago. When he was little we had to be hyper vigilant when he showed even the slightest hint of a cold. He could be sitting there with the sniffles one minute and almost passed out from not being able to breathe the next. Was I ever glad when he finally outgrew that!
It had been so long since I last had to deal with this particular thing that I had stopped being paranoid about the sundry colds the next children would get. You know, children get colds. They get over them in a few days. Usually.
What is RAD? It's one of those broad spectrum terms to describe breathing problems in children up to 5 years old. Basically it's a quick narrowing of your child's airways, making it hard for him to breathe. Sometimes pet dander can trigger it. Sometimes it's second hand smoke. Sometimes, as in our case, it can be triggered by a virus like a cold.
RAD symptoms can occur because of airway swelling. A child's airways are small and narrow, making it easy for them to fill and get blocked with mucus.
The signs and symptoms of RAD aren't so unlike a bad cold: trouble breathing, wheezing, coughing, fast heartbeat, runny nose.
You turn the dark corner to menacing when your child's heart beats rapidly and he starts breathing really fast, his lips and fingernails turn blue, his nostrils flare out as he tries to breathe, and the skin over his ribs draws in deeply with each breath. That last thing is what they call retractions and with it you'll also notice that your child's stomach may sink in with every breath and so will the skin up around his neck. If it gets bad enough, you won't even have to wonder if it is happening. You'll spot it clear across the room.
Definitely abandon all home remedies if your child is blue or experiencing the nasal flaring or retracting. You've got an emergency on your hands at that point.
Thankfully a few breathing treatments and a short hospital stint later, my baby is back to normal. Very normal. You wouldn't even know anything had happened to him. Actually when it's over, you get to wondering if you overreacted. But no. You didn't overreact. It's just one of those things that can strike fast and then that fast it can be gone.
We've moved on from the RAD thing (I hope). Dare I hope this was an isolated event that will never happen again?
Everyone seems to be feeling fine at the moment. We've been gathering maple sap and doing some clean up outside. The children even got to make some snowmen the other day. Wasn't that snow just the perfect snow for snowmen?
We've had a number of birthdays in the family recently. There are several things that make birthdays special at our house. I'll mention them in no particular order of specialness.
Paul's mom makes birthday pies for every one her children and grandchildren. She even lets each person choose their own flavor. Count that up. That is 25 different birthdays that she is making pies for!
Our dear neighbor Ann always remembers each of my children with a birthday card in the mail. They love getting the mail on their birthdays, Ann!
My mom and dad always mail a card to each one on their birthdays and come over for a little party. Only the parties keep getting bigger and bigger because our family seems to keep trying to add people to it!
~Colleen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)