I just can't do it...

So, there we sat in the doctor's office. The nurse had been in, and asked too many questions. When did this start, does he have any allergies, how about your parents, how about her parents, brothers? Is he on any medications currently? Does he have his vaccinations current? The list goes on and on.

Through it all, Zach sat patiently. He was tired, and yes, his breathing was labored. I guess that is why we brought him in. The night had been long, on work and short on sleep. To make matters worse it was hot out, and little did we know smoke was in the air.

It had been the worst night yet with Zach sleeping in 15 to 40 minute segments, and us parents not sleeping at all. So, finally after all the sleeplessness, we decided to take him in to find out what he really had.

After all the blood work, x-rays, looking in his ears and even a nebulizer treatment, the doctor came back with a diagnosis. Allergy triggered Asthma. WOW, what a relief. Control the allergies, and no more asthma. How awesome is that.

Then came the scary part. We'll put him on Xenophil, Singlair, and Pediapred(Prednisolone). When we heard the word prednisolone, we about walked out. You see, that was part of the reason Tiff's brother is no longer with us. We expressed our hesitation at giving pediapred. But the doctor stepped up the urgency of giving it stating that Zach's condition was much much worse than we could tell. (Ya, we thought. His wheezing was gone and he was getting back to his active self already.) When we told the doctor that we didn't want to give pediapred, she continued to tell us that kids still die from asthma and that we could even give half the dosing requirements.
We said, ok, and left for the pharmacy. At the pharmacy, we asked if there were alternatives to steroidal anti-inflamitory drugs. Yes, there are others on the marked, but since we did not have a prescription, we would have to use the over-the-counter strenths. Ibuprophin is what we opted for.

You see, we just couldn't do it. We just couldn't give our child steroids. It would appear that our choice has been the right one. Today we have our normal, talkative, energetic, enthusiastic and sometimes loud child back. He's such a joy to be around. We spent time in church where we always have trouble, the wind was blowing and he's been running around. No issue yet. We know that we'll have to manage things, but thanks to some good advise from health care professionals, we have tools in hand to keep this thing under control.

There is a place for steroidal anti-inflamitory medications. Yes, they are needed, but this time, we don't need to go that far. Thanks again God for your wisdom and for helping us to take as good care of our kids as we do ourselves.