It's A Miracle!

I'm one of those parents that have fortunately never had to have an experience with Blair E. Batson Hospital For Children. Until this past Saturday.

My wife and I were startled at 4:10am by our youngest son (Collin, 2) who woke up wheezing. Gasping for air. We get him to down some cough medicine and wait for a few minutes. Wheezing continues and mild panic ensues. I page our pediatrician and get an immediate response from the on-call nurse at children's hospital. Twenty minutes later we're at triage at Blair E. Batson.

Turns out that the little guy just had the croupe (sp?) but it sure scared the daylights out of us. Did you know that they now make a decadron (sp?) shot in liquid form for kids? Turns out the cherry flavor goes down like a champ. Half an hour later I have a new child. Neither of my other children had the croupe, so we had no idea how to treat Collin. Now I know and I'm happy to share with you that there are a few things you can do in the event your child ever wakes up gasping for air.

1. If it's cold outside, walk outside with the child. According to the ER docs at Batson Hospital, the change in the air temp, consistency, and humidity can help immediately.

2. Get in a steamy shower with the little one. The steam will help to loosen their bronchial passages. I know...can you believe I can spell bronchial but not croupe?

3. Open the freezer door and hold your child's head in the freezer for a few seconds. Usually the change in the air temp and moisture level alone will work wonders.

With that said, please sign up today to become a Miracle Worker for our annual Mississippi Miracles Radiothon coming up March 5-7, 2008. Help out by raising $100 dollars for us. Details here. Thanks again for all you do and have a great day!