Frozen, paralyzed was what I felt this morning when I found my youngest son unable to breathe properly.
I had gone down at at 8AM to get some luggage for my trip tomorrow and found him in his room with his yaya.
“No school?” I asked.
Yaya Joan, a mother of one in the province, had decided not to take him to school due to a very bad cough.
I took Christian upstairs to my room played some cartoons on Apple TV. But he clung to me when I started to pack.
I carried him to my bed and found him quite weak, suffering. I had never seen him like this.
“As a rule of thumb, even if a child is burning with a fever, don’t worry as long as they are active,” says my dad.
It’s when they are “lifeless” that we need to worry.
Christian, 4, had no fever but also no energy. I worried as I listened to his rapid, noisy, short breaths.
We had given him cough syrup and a dose of Tempra as I thought he might be having a headache.
He fell asleep on my bed. When I tried to take a nap with him I felt the bed shake every time he took a breath.
I decided to call our pediatrician in Makati with no success.
I wondered if I should take him to the emergency room, which I dread, having been there too many times in the past.
Then I remembered the good doctor I had heard about from friends.
When I was a kid, my cousins, siblings and I had one common pediatrician called Dra. Zalamea, whose visits we dreaded as she pulled out needles and syringes from her old doctor’s bag. God bless her.
I’ve been a mom for 10 years now and it’s my first time to get a house visit from a pediatrician.
I was lucky because the doctor happened to be near the area when I texted.
I was surprised to see a fine-looking doctor taller than my 6-foot husband.
After examining my son and asking some question, the doctor diagnosed asthma and explained what was going on.
We sat down while he wrote out a prescription, answered my questions, then he was off to St. Lukes.
I had the driver rush to Mercury Drug and by 2PM my son had his first dose of antibiotics, plus Ventolin every hour for the next five hours to start with.
To calm my nerves I hired a night nurse who arrived at 6PM for a 12-hour shift.
The good doctor came back at night to check up on Chris who was remarkably animated and talkative compared to hours before.
I can’t tell you how grateful I am for this day, that God let this happen while I was still at home.
I wish there would be more doctors who do house visits, not just for kids. I find it such a noble profession—saving lives and removing stress from parents who get frozen in fear.
I am grateful to the friend who recommended the doctor (please don’t ask who the doctor is, I know he already has his hands full with his current patients) and the nurse connection I have, which I should share with you soon.
Such a comfort to have Filipino nurses at home, especially at night when emotions are heightened and we need to get some rest.
Get well soon, little boy.
Originally published at Chuvaness.com. You can comment here or there.