One of "those" walks

The kids and their dad went on an Easter walk, and walked and walked and walked. 11 kms through Bloor West village, south past Old Mill along the west side of the Humber, and then along the Lakeshore and up through High Park!!

Sports commentary

Looks like wet track conditions on a sunny morning in west end Toronto. This young man just completed the 1500m (longest race of the day) in 8 minutes exactly. Ran with the wind at his back and the sun on his face. Our on the ground reporter tells us that this runner "ribboned" (top 8)

One more race (800m) and then he spends the rest of his day messing about in the stands with pals and cheering his schoolmates.

Kudos to his dad who told work that he couldn't start till 10 am.

Track & Field 2013

Seb went in for the 1500 m race this year (plus the 4 X 100 relay with his classmates). The 1500m is the longest race that the school board stages for the younger year students and the marshalling hour was 8:30. It was a glorious day when we set out at 7:10 am; we got there in high spirits and with loads of time.

Unfortunately, no one else from the school came so early, so he only had his mum and sister cheering. Even more unfortunately, he didn't run his best; he blamed it on his asthma kicking in despite having taken some medication earlier. But the little trooper finished it in decent time and as one teacher/parent said, no one from any of the grades in her school entered because it is a hard race.

He done good in my books and I think with all the school spirit (by the time I left with Sophie at 10:00), he probably had a good day.

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Update: Turns out that his relay team was disqualified because he and a team mate took too long to hand over the baton... Frustrating day that was rewarded with his choice of family restaurants for dinner and him falling asleep before 9 pm (unheard of).

A visit to Sick Kids makes you grateful

We have made several visits to Sick Kids Hospital over the past 30+ months of living in this affluent city. We have visited the ER and the labs, the allergy unit and the respiratory specialists; oh and dermatology too.

I never fail to be impressed by its professionalism and skill. I know other professionals critique some of its ways of working and no doubt those insights are right some of the time. But as a lay person, I am so appreciative of being able to access this wealth of skill and information - and for my lowly tax dollars.

I sit here (at our new card table) and glance down at the lab test requisition sheet that Seb was given yesterday.

NYD
Asthma
Cystic Fibrosis
Bronchiolitis Obliterans
Cough
Pulmonary Fibrosis
CDH
PCD
ILD
Other____

Only Asthma is ticked. And my throat wells up at the thought of the other child patients - ones with many ticks - and of the fortitude that they and their families need to get through a regular day.

Turns out that while Seb has asthmatic episodes (always linked to colds), he has perfect lung capacity (he can snort like a bull and puff like a dragon). We will need to tune our parental ears to the wheeze because he doesn't need to start puffers at every sniffle that comes along.

I am grateful and I will remember that next time he takes all his breath and yells at me in anger.

I am so happy for him that as he races through childhood he can add so much breath to the wind.

The worst kind of night

OK, so I went to bed too late as I was blogging away - my fault, I'll confess.

But my bed mate had felt pretty rough all evening and was tossing and turning all night, until he reared out of bed at 2.30 a.m. and vomited all over the bedroom floor - three times. Migraine, terrible, terrible migraine. Fortunately, he hasn't had one for ages and ages. Poor guy misses his first chance to work for the national desk today.

After cleaning that up and tending to his now-sofa-based woes as best I could, I went back to bed but couldn't sleep. Sebastian kept coughing. Seb's coughs are a warning to both his parents - first sign of allergic reaction (had ruled that out), first sign of asthma attack (possible but had checked several times and nothing), just plain old deep cough that didn't seem to disturb his sleep (just mine).

I managed to doze off eventually, only to be awoken at 5.30. Sebastian is calling out because his nighty-nighty has exploded and his bed is wet with strange gel bits on the sheet. I change his pjs and put him back to bed recto-verso.

Surprisingly, I feel fine right now. The kids are merry. Their dad - poor soul - is still huddled on the couch.

Seb has a new cold

It's official; he is sniffing up a storm. So we will have an early opportunity to try out our new found knowledge on how to manage asthma. Yeah.

On another note, we are heading to curriculum night at the school tonight. It's a chance to meet the teacher, see the classroom, find out what the learning objectives are for the year and how to support them at home, etc. Unfortunately, we can only stay for an hour, as we have tickets to the first of our "season" at Theatre Passe Muraille. Now, that is a real "yeah"!

Boring Asthma Update - part 3

Good news for the moment. We saw the family dr yesterday and she says that Seb's lungs are clear. So she is hoping that he will only have cold-triggered asthma. So the next time he gets a cold, start the meds on day 1, take him to the dr on day 3 to check in, and keep our fringers crossed.

He carries his rescue puffer at all times, as we are not sure what else might trigger it. He can take up to 4 puffs/ week and still not have to go on a controller drug. So we will wait and see.

He is pleased with that (though he really liked doing the puffer), but even more tickled at the fact that he had a dry night last night. We have told him that it has to be a whole week before we take the "nightie-night" off for good.

Boring asthma update for relatives - part 2

I can't hear any wheezing in Seb's chest this morning, so something is working. We have finished with the systemic steroids - thank goodness. He will still puff some steroids (to deal with inflammation) twice a day for 2 more days and then we hopefully will only be on his blue puffer (ventolin - open the airways) 4-6 times/day. However, we almost deinitely will be on some kind of prophylaxis, especially (this) winter. Seems a lot given that he wasn't on anything a week ago, but it's progress.

Also, Seb's ability to remember not to sniff but blow is creeping along. He is trying to count how many tissues he uses/day. Obviously, that's not scientific but it gets across the message that every tissue is less "guck" on his lungs.

But he is active and mostly happy. Perhaps a bit weepy now and again when he gets frustrated or disappointed. This afternoon is the Terry Fox run, which he is excited about. "We are going to finish the cross-Canada run for him, Mum". I'll let you know how it goes.

Boring asthma update for relatives - part 1

We saw the family doctor yesterday and the $250 respiratory machine (a nebuliser) plus gadgets that we had bought 40 hours before was tossed out and we are on to regular puffers, as well as pills... Likelihood is that we will need the nebuliser again later this winter or next, so all is not wasted - and the government paid for 75%.

But the puffer is more portable, so Seb is back at school and the playground today. His teacher's son has asthma, as did Alice our French babysitter, so he is in good hands. Asthma is so prevalent now that there are procedures at school, special story and activity books for young children and 7-12 year olds, etc. The book we were given features a blue elephant that sits on the boy's chest from time to time, so Seb's code is the elephant.

We will be back to the doc after a week and then if all is well, 2 weeks and then a month and then only when needed. But we have charts to fill and some tests to take and lots and lots of monitoring - what are his triggers (besides colds)? what are the early warning signs (before/instead of wheezing) - clear his throat lots, headache, cough.

But he is off and running and so, if anyone has or wants to sponsor his Terry Fox walk, he will be doing it on Thursday, though his swimming lessons are off for another week.

Recovering nicely

For those not yet in the loop, we definitely now know that Seb has asthma. He developed a sniffle, followed by a wheeze, followed by more serious wheezing and after a trip to our doctor, then ER, he was admitted to hospital Thursday night - well more like 1.30 on Friday morning. So we have managed to avoid Canadian ERs & hospitalisation for allergies, but we fell at one of the first asthma hurdles. And that's probably why we fell. We hadn't been coached, hadn't got the right meds or machinery, and didn't have good judgment...

Anyway, none of the interventions were scary. A very different experience than in February when we didn't know what was wrong with M and he seemed so dramatically ill. Here, it all seemed known and under control; in fact the lovely paediatrician who managed Seb's case said that it was "asthma week" - just after the return to school/daycare, change in temperature and allergens, etc. We got to know a lot about lungs and "sat levels" and were secretly relieved to see that he wasn't the youngest asthmatic there.

It was a tiring few days as M & I played parental tag, trying never to leave Seb alone. It didn't seem like the nurses had any inclination to get to know him or play with him. I know they have a job - but when you see them watching tv or lying down between duties, you kinda think they could be a bit more involved with their patients. But Seb loved his own tv and VCR, the playroom, the yummy food (go figure), and having an adult always around and focused on him.

Suddenly, it was over. His oxygen levels were low but ok; he was almost wheeze-free. A nebulizer (a compressor to vaporise medication into a mask) was shoved into our hands, and he was discharged within the hour (that hour being 8.30 pm on Saturday night). He is on oral steroids for 4 days and the meds via mask every 4 hours for another day or 2. Hopefully, he will then come down to a puffer every 4 hours and then less and less and less until we find the right low-level but constant support for his lungs. It seems that he has multiple triggers - smoke, exercise, colds, cold-hot-cold temperatures.

Sophie was a trooper through it all and didn't seem the slightest bit fazed. I thought she might find it strange to breakfast without Mr. Morning but she didn't show it. She liked the toys and babies on the ward and scooting up and down the long halls on a ride-on toy.

Back at home, it is ups and downs. He is a bit fragile and is really unhappy at the idea of using this nebuliser/face mask on and off for the next umpteen years (or days or even hours). He is frustrated and wails at a drop of a hat. But at the same time he is extra whiny and self-centred, so he is a bit hard to be around and help. Oh well, we will muddle through these young emotions. Any advice especially from parents of young kids with asthma would be great, as there are tips that help. We will be sent to an asthma clinic and get the kid-friendly posters and dvd/books whatever, but still...

Thsi afternoon, he had a happy time helping his dad cut the tiny patch of grass with the new-to-us push-mower. He'll probably be off school until at least Tuesday.

But to cut a long story slightly shorter, I just nipped downstairs to get something. Upstairs, I left a very active Seb engaged in a mammoth train project. Downstairs, I found M asleep on the couch and Sophie asleep in her highchair. It's 5.30pm and I guess they just needed to catch on some zzzzzzzzzz after a long 4 days.

Here's to a quiet week ahead.