Equality

We strive for equality at our house.

If one child gets something, we hear relentless crying until the other gets one as well.

It's really annoying, but none the less, its my life!

A while ago Liv and Cole got really sick.  So sick that I had to drag them to the ER at 1am.  Ethan was a good sport and came along for the ride, but he must have secretly wanted his turn with all the attention because last night it was his turn.  We finally achieved equality and everyone has had a chance to go to the ER at 1am.

Ethan had been doing this weird breathing thing for the past few weeks.  It was driving me nuts and I kept telling him to knock it off (I know, I'm such a sensitive mom :))  Yesterday after school he was really complaining about not being able to breath and about pain in his neck.  But everything appeared okay so I gave him some advil for the pain and figured he was good.

I went to work later that evening and got a call at 1am.  It was Shawn.  He never calls when I'm at work.  I was right in the middle of an admission so I called him back a  little bit later.

"Jenn, I need to take Ethan to the ER"

What!!!!  My heart dropped.  Shawn never overreacts about medical issues so when he insisted on going to the ER, I knew it must be serious.  He reported that Ethan woke up several times screaming and writhing in pain.  Shawn pulled out his stethoscope and listened to him.  To make a long story short, he had some concerning sounds coming from his chest.

I left work as quickly as possible, but I have a 40 minute drive so I was doing my best to remain calm.  I finally got home, gave Ethan and Shawn both a hug and sent them on their way.

They only had to wait in the ER for about 3 hours to get the results-which for ER time, that is good.  Ethan got a chest x-ray and was diagnosed with two Pnuemothoraces in his lungs and a Pnuemomediastinum.

Here are the x-rays:

A Pnuemothorax is basically a collection of abnormal air that collects around the lung.  It interferes with normal breathing and causes lots of pain.

There isn't much you can do for a Pnuemothroax, and the hope is that it will go away with time and rest.  Otherwise it requires needles, tubes and other stuff like that; and I am not even going to go there.

Ethan and Shawn came home from the hospital around 4am, and then Shawn showered and went back to work.  He is like a walking zombie today!  Ethan slept unto 10am and said he felt great.  I went and bought him doughnuts and got a few movies so he could rest up on the couch.  It looks like he won't be going out for recess or gym for a while as the only way this will heal is with minimal activity for a while.

It made for a long night for all of us and I'm hoping it will clear quickly and that Ethan can resume his loud, crazy, and active lifestyle!