Saturday, November 03, 2007

The Two "A" Words




There are two "A" words in our lives, Autism and Asthma. K.C. has been having breathing problems alot this month and yesterday was the worst day yet. Yesterday night is when it started, he was having a very hard time breathing so we (Big Brother and I) got his little breathing machine out and added the medicine. K.C. will not wear the 'Bubbles the fish mask' for more than a few seconds. The noise that the machine makes (it's a puttering noise) K.C. can't tolerate. The moment he hears it he takes off. I have to try my best to keep him seated at least for a few seconds. Well the next morning he was still not breathing well and I called the doctors. We left for the Dr.s office and was able to get in quickly. The doctor listened to him breath and K.C. tried his best to kick her away. You could actually hear him make a whistling Darth Vader type noise. The doctor said she wanted to give him a shot of Solumedrol to help him. The nurse came in and gave him the shot in his left leg in his thigh. He never cries when he gets a shot, I wonder if he even feels it. Well the shot worked! Thank God it worked.
So we have been dealing with Asthma and our major thing today is to get him to at least have the mask on for short periods of time. Big Brother has been helping me so much lately, I am so proud of this kiddo. I felt kinda guilty yesterday because I keep thinking I am asking too much from a 7 year old. He says he likes to help and wants to help and for the I am so grateful. Still I wonder if other 7 year olds do as much as Big Brother does. I mean having an Autistic brother is sometimes hard for Big Brother. I know alot of (most of my attention) goes to K.C. and trying to keep things even is very hard. Tomorrow I am going to ask my Mother to come and stay with K.C. so I can spend a few hours with Big Brother doing something he'd like to do. So many times when we do want to go out and do something Big Brother wants to do, we end up not being able to do it because K.C. can't handle certain situations. I do remind Big Brother how much K.C. has learned and how far he has come. He does the best he can and we love him very much. Big Brother loves his little brother very much and I know he'll always protect K.C. and of all the people who work with K.C. and even family members, Big Brother knows and understands K.C. best. Two very special little boys that I have and I wouldn't change them for anything, ever.

13 comments:

GClef1970 said...

Poor KC. :-( Hope he feels better soon. Big Brother is an awesome kid. And, you're an even more awesome mommy. :-)

Mom without a manual said...

Glad to hear his breathing got better!

I so understand the dilemma you have with big brother. He really sounds like such a wonderful little guy. No doubt about it...he and KC are lucky to have each other!

Casdok said...

A lovely post and you have every right to be proud!
Very special boys indeed.

Niksmom said...

Tina, this got me all choked up. I am glad KC is doing better after that shot!

Big Brother is such a wonderful boy; it is so evident when you write about the things he says and does with KC how much he loves his little brother. I hope you do get to have some special time alone with him. It is so important...for BOTH of you. Both of those A words have a funny way of bringing out the strengths in family members if allow ourselve to see it. Big brother is a strong boy with a huge heart.

Casdok said...

Thank you for your comment, headbanging is so difficult isnt it. If you do want to get tested for stomach problems the best way we found in the end was with poo samples. Gut problems are apprenlty fairly common in our kids, not sure how true this is, but well worth investigating espcially when non verbal. Good luck, and i do hope you find something as then you can treat it!! x

A Bishops Wife said...

I am happy he is better. Big brothers can be great. It is nice, for mr too, to see the tender side our children can bring out in each other. However, there is alot of the "Mom he is irritating me! He wont go away! He is touching me!" that goes on too....but I think that is normal.

JUST A MOM said...

I am so glad you got the SVN... look how big brother helps out he is a great kid and you have done a great job Tina.

Peggy Lou Morgan said...

Hi Tina:

I have missed you guys and finally getting back to check on you. I so understand about getting KC to keep his Nebulizer on. Billy Ray used to fight like crazy when he had to have it. I tried saying just one minute more and eventually that worked. Also to have something he wanted to do afterwards.

Take care,
Peggy

gretchen said...

Wow Tina- what a challenge for you!!! Trying to get an autistic child to endure a breathing treatment has to be impossible. Don't you wish KC would understand that it will help him feel better?! Hopefully someday he'll understand that.

I know just what you mean about KC's brother. I worry a lot about Henry's little brother- as you said, lots of our outings get messed up because of autism. But then I think that everyone has some kind of challenge in our lives, and hopefully these brothers are just learning to be better people because of it.

Glad to hear the shot helped!

Lora said...

Tina, you are such an awesome mommy and such a strong and wise woman, you never cease to to amaze me! I hope that things get better with K.C. it has got to be really hard for the both of you. Kudos to you girl!!!! You are always taking such wonderful care of the boys please don't forget to do something special for yourself too. We love you guys dearly and send you big hugs!

Melinda said...

very sweet post!

Donetta said...

Hello Tina, Long time. I hope that the breathing is better. We have had a few advisory last week. I just stopped by to say hello. We never got together for that play date. Maybe you might like to try after next week. Dash has A too and it can be hard even with Him. I am amazed at what your doing. I see Gods strength in you. Let me know perhaps you may rather not.

kristi said...

TC has asthma too. For the longest he would fight me on his treatments. But now he will tell me he needs one! Progress!! One day at a time.