My Children's Lungs: Part You are Fracking Kidding Me

So let me start this by recognizing that YOUR children do not get as sick as mine.

I get it.

I fully understand that you and the vast majority of children in these United States do not get sick.  Or at least, they do not get the funky lung problems that our children do.  Your children don't get hospitalized.  Your children don't get multiple bouts of pneumonia. I get it.

I also get that you might think that we are hypochondriacs.  That I take my kids to the doctor more than usual.  Or that I demand antibiotics for every cold they get.

I. Do. Not.

I am health conscious in that we try very hard not to eat processed foods and we use natural remedies for whatevs and I fracking HATE going to the doctor for a "virus."  I can handle colic by myself.  I can handle hand-foot-and-mouth and gladly check it off the list of childhood illnesses. We don't do ipuprofen for less than 101.5*. I know fever isn't dangerous until 107.  (I think; I would call the doc at 105+, but I wouldn't worry too much until 106+) I don't need a doctor to tell me what is going on with most illnesses.  I pride myself on not over-reacting.  ((I heard that cackle you just made.  I swear I did!!))  :->

Nonetheless.

I understand that my kids aren't normal.  And they have been hospitalized a lot.  And I don't even post about ALL the colds, coughs, fevers and general illnesses we have.

But here is the part that makes me want to smack someone.

CONOR HAD PNEUMONIA.

FOR THE SECOND TIME.

I AM YELLING.  YES.  YES, I AM.

Conor is the healthy kid.  Conor is the kid whose enactment of a bad stomach bug is that he doesn't eat all of his dinner.  (As opposed to me, who can gleefully lose 7 lbs in 3 days!!)  Conor doesn't get fevers.  Conor doesn't get sick.  And now Conor has pneumonia.  FOR THE SECOND TIME!!

I keep shouting this because although all of my children have been diagnosed with pneumonia, only Conor has actually had it.  Kit had RSV with 5 days hospitalization.  Bridget has her atypical reactive airways disease ("asthma"), but she's been kicking her lung issues like a champ for 20+ months.

Conor had pneumonia when he was 3 years old.  Only indication?  Clinging-to-mommy fatigue.

Conor has pneumonia now--after catching this virus from Bridget who LAUGHED in the face of this wimpy virus.  HA!!! HAAAAA!!!  HAHHAHAHAHAAA!!  She said!

Apparently, this virus is biting a few older elementary kids in the butt.  I don't know how this works and my nurse friends might be saying "no, you've got this all wrong" but the doc thinks this has turned bacterial with weird spiking HIGH temps (104.3 this morning!! I said ugly words at that one, but I didn't rush to ER or immediately call the doc) and serious fatigue and opaque X-Rays spots.

Can someone tell me if this could still be viral?  The doc says that it will take about 48 to 72 hours for the antibiotic to start working.  Is that the same time viral pneumonia should get better or are we really dealing with a bacterial one now?

The part that pushes that soft spot in my soul is that Conor doesn't have lung problems.  Conor is healthy as a horse.  And now all three of our kids have odd things that YOUR KIDS DON'T GET.

My response to the universe is: YOU ARE FRACKING KIDDING ME.

Dave wonders if there is something environmental in our house.  Dave and I don't have lung problems.  Is there something in this old house that we need to figure out?  Statistically speaking, something seems off and I SWEAR TO YOU, it's not our paranoia nor our insistence on western medical treatment.

Sweet baby lemur.  This is funky ash.

I may update this in the morning after a good  night's sleep.

ETA:  I realized quite a bit through the night that even though Conor has pneumonia, we have a pulse oximeter and his O2 is *great.*  Like, he was hanging at 96% O2 this morning for a bit, but generally he is really around 97 to 98% most of the time.  Those are great numbers and nothing to worry about.  He is starting to cough more and Dave and I keep telling him this is just the beginning of coughing.  That does not make him happy.  But overall, he is doing Just Fine.  He's so tired he can barely move. But he's *not* hospital bound.