Reactive Airway Disease

I realized that I never blogged about this huge part of our lives. Well here is the story. Some of you may know that the kids were really struggling with getting sick. From January until September both of them seemed to be battling cough, congestion and ear infections. Every time we would take them to church nursery or to daycare they would come home and the next day they were coughing had a runny nose and running a fever. Todd and I were constantly missing work and seeing the pediatrician every week, and I mean every week. Dylan ended up with 5 ear infections and Kiera had 4. In August they both got tubes in their ears and things went well for 1 week and then everything started up again just this time without the ear infections. So in September, I took them to a pediatric pulmonologist, a lung doctor. We found out that the kids have Reactive Airway Disease, or pediatric asthma. The twins were immediately given a regimen of breathing treatments, mainly preventative, and decongestants (allright!). The biggest thing about that appointment was NO daycare or church nursery. The twins are not supposed to be around other children until springtime. We were told that with asthma, every time they were exposed to other germy kids their lungs went into overtime trying to get rid of the germs and that ended up creating even more mucus which increased coughing. So every week when both Todd and I go to work the kids go to my (Maddy) parent’s house. Now on Sundays Todd and I try to trade off and on. He stays home with the kids this Sunday and the next I stay home with the kids while he goes to Sunday school. It is a little bit annoying but the wonderful thing is that we haven’t been to the doctor for a sick visit in over two months.
We revisited the lung doctor 2 weeks ago and he said that since they are doing so well we can decrease the amount of medicine and they will hopefully both out grow this!!!!! So if you go to our church and are wondering why you haven’t seen us or the kids that is why. We are hoping that all four of us will be able to come back to church in the spring.