The Asthma Question

We've been wondering for some time now if Ry has developed asthma. He has had a cough that comes and goes and we're never able to pin point what's the cause of it. Sometimes it seems there is something in the air, other times it's after running around and often, we just have no idea. It comes and goes, like the tide, but instead of understanding why the water moves in and out, we have no clue what's at the root of this cough. I've thought it was asthma all summer, only because his chance of developing it is so high. He's been in to the doctor's a few times for it, but no one can give a sure diagnosis of asthma. We have an albuterol inhaler we've been towing around for a year now. Last summer, he also had the cough. It only lasted a month, though, whereas this time it's hung on. So we started him on singulair.

I'm told this is the best way to determine if it's asthma or not- if his cough disappears with the medicine, then it'll be a confirmation of asthma. If it doesn't, I'm not sure what that means. In all honesty, I want it to go away, but I desperately don't want him to have asthma. I just feel like I'd rather know what it is then question it. Today is day 5 and  he seems better, but I don't want to jump to any conclusions because this is how the cough operates. Just when I think, wow, he hasn't coughed in a few days, it returns with a slap in the face. So fingers crossed, it continues its way out of here. Or as Ry and I joke, "tell that cough to run out the door, up the road, and stay away!" "but mom, then it might find someone else and if it goes in them, they'll have to cough it out!"

The minds of three-year olds are incredibly entertaining, but uff-dah, incredibly exhausting :-) On that note, I'm off to bed...it's been a long beginning of the week, perhaps because I'm trying to be uber-domestic. As in, I actually cleaned two days in a row and heated up leftovers for dinner (from a dinner I made) and baked some treats for the boys. It must be the weather- we're actually having a real fall and it's gorgeous, leaves continue to fall, colors are vibrant, frost is here in the early morning and the mountaintops are covered in snow, what a peaceful way to enter winter...I hope it lasts!