here we go again....

this was the scene in my living room this morning. most of you know, we are quite familiar with breathing treatments for ian, but i had to take a deep breath as i plunge into this world again with my little tysen. at least this time, there is more clarity though...let me explain.

ever since ian was born, on top of the crazy milk allergy that we still are confused about....we've always dealt with wheezing. it started at 4 months when he got rsv...and was constant for the first year and a half, and since then, it has dwindled significantly, but still there occasionally. i remember when ian was tiny, asking the dr. about how he was breathing cuz it sounded strange, and the dr. telling me that it was no big deal, he probably has a 'condition' that just made him breath a little louder. its a very weird memory, cuz i remember asking about it, and all i remember was "trache-something", "soft flap" and "breaths loud"....you know how drs. just talk way over our head sometimes, but that was the basic explanation, and there wasn't a reason to worry about it, so i didn't.

3 years later....with the birth of tysen...and a new pediatrician that i love....i have a whole new meaning of what this "condition" is....because i had a de ja vu moment when listening to tysen sleep peacefully, while sounding like he was wheezing. when i asked my new pediatrician about tysen's breathing (i actually recorded it and showed it to her), she immediately diagnosed him with what's called tracheomalacia . she then gave me an overview of what it is, and what it might look like in the future... my jaw dropped as i realized that she had just described ian's entire life!! she sent us to get him an upper gi done to rule out type 2 of the condition....this was when he was about 2 months....

this morning .... it has all begun. he had nothing more than a slightly runny nose last night, and then when he woke up, i thought there was a seal in the next room! the poor kid was so barky (sounding like croup), i took him straight into the dr. and sure enough....she told me what i was pretty sure she would.....since there's no fever, that its his tracheomalacia condition. it makes him appear much worse than he is...and my favorite part, we need to do breathing treatments and steroids to help him get over it (i cant even count how many times this was the routine for ian). so basically, any time tysen has congestion (even allergies) he could develop a cough that sounds horrid, and then gets better, but takes awhile to get it gone. this is like reading an autobiography of ian! he's always been the sick one....and everytime he gets even a little sick, it sounded horrible! and i always had to do treatment after treatment after treatment!!!!! and here i was thinking that he must have asthma because why else would he wheeze so much...but, that's actually another symptom of tracheomalacia. have ya'll ever had that feeling of wanting to squeeze someone (like your dr) and say, "need the info!!!"

you know, i had thought that ian was doing so much better these days, and all of the sudden, i see about tracheomalacia that they tend to outgrow it somewhat about 2 years. hmm... once again i can't wait to take ian to the new peditrician for his 3 yr checkup...she's amazing!

ok, on a lighter note... i'm learning to just let go of trying to make my boys be kind and gentle all the time. who am i kidding? they are boys! as nervous as i am, i'm trying to allow them a little freedom as long as they are both participants. see the video for a little piece of my world...24-7! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZRMl8OJcw8