Atta-boy for Dr Felton

I took Kubota into the Emergency Room at Eaton Rapids Medical Center last night.

Kubota lost his rescue inhaler yesterday while snowmobiling over at a friend's house.  He has been recovering from a virus that hit about two weeks ago. One of this virus's hallmarks is that it settles in the lungs.  Even after the patient whips this virus there is so much foreign DNA and alien protein in the lungs that the body keeps mounting an immune response.  Inflammation, bronchial spasms, etc. 

Picture from HERE

It resembles a small cytokine storm.  Ironically, young people with healthy immune systems are most vulnerable to cytokine storms....one reason for the unusual mortality patterns of the 1918 Spanish flu.

Kubota's breath was shallow, rapid and whistling when I picked him up.  Most alarming, the kid did not have enough breath to engage in light banter (aka, complaining and arguing:  Ya gotta know your kids).

We walked into the ER, albeit slowly.  I told the receptionist we had "shortness of breath".  Ninety seconds later we were in an examination room.  Sixty seconds later Dr Felton breezed in, asked a couple of questions, looked at the heart rate/blood oxygen monitor and told us what was going to happen.

The kid got an hour of albuterol nebulizer.  A chest X-Ray showed some fluid in the wrong place.  We left with scripts for another rescue inhaler, albuterol, an antibiotic and a prednisone burst.

I got to watch a TV show called Cleveland Brown.

My hat is off to Dr Felton, Jesse, Megan and the rest of the staff at the Eaton Rapids Medical Center Emergency Room.  They moved quickly.  They were calm, poised and friendly.  They took great care of us.

Thanks guys!