[RBSVARCHER]

We have had David home from Siberia, Russia since November, 2004. Since that time he has had bronchitis 4 times and which caused him to be sick with a bad cough, fever, wheezing and a green runny nose. PLUS, he has also had viral croup that turned into bronchitis.

Even though David is on a daily multi vitamin, an extra 500 mg of vitamin C, Rynatan (RX drug 2 times a day) and Pedi-Sure, he is still getting sick. When wheezing starts, he has a RX of an Albuterol inhaler that helps him breathe easier. David eats 3 well rounded meals, juices and fruit every day. He is dressed each day for the weather and does not go to bed with a wet head. He also sleeps under cool mist when he is sick. There are no animals inside or outside our home and we have no indoor carpet -and I try to keep the dust to a minimum.

David has also gone from 10 percentile to the 50 - 75 percentile in weight and height so he is doing well in that area of his little life - so that is not a contributing factor.

Last but definately not least - my DH and I pray over him every morning and night.

Am I not doing something that I could possibly do to avoid his sickness?? I have spoken with his Dr. and she could not suggest anything else for me to try.

Am I in this boat alone - or are others out there in the same boat I am in?

I might add that although David is in daycare, he is only there 3 days a week and home with me 4 days a week. There are no trade off's on the work situation - I must work 3 days a week to pay for my part of the household bills.

Any advice would be appreciated!!!!!

Thanks,
Susan
Bham AL

[skiboo]

Our Alex has had problems with what our pedi diagnosed as Reactive Airways for the first 8-10 months that he was home. We have have not had any instances in the last 2 months...

He was on 2 different types of inhalers and he would often have labored breathing-- esp. when he was teething. He never got bronchitis, but he did have a constant runny nose for a few months along with the wheezing and difficulty getting a breath ("sucking wind" is what the doctor called it). He had to have a few treatments with a mask at the pedi's office when it got bad.

I have spoken with someone else who had the same problem with their child when they came home. Her doctor said it is because their lungs didn't develop to capacity due to being kept inside so much for the first few months of their lives and being in a warm environment all the time. My pedi is unsure if this is the reason why... but in any case, it seemed to clear up in our both of our children after about year.

I hope you will find the same...

[boatsun]

My child has the same thing. John was hospitilzed for a week with it. Our IA doc called bronchilitis, not bronchitis. I probably can't spell either condition. It is caused by reactive airways and high levels of ozone make it worse. Here in the Dallas area we have high ozone alerts frequently in the summer. That is when you make sure that your kid stays and limit his exposure when he is outside. Tell the daycare on those days not to take him outside to play at all.

Also he may have a reservoir of this virus that re-infects his ears and nose, throat and lungs. His immune system may be too immature to handle it right now by he will probably outgrow it in a year or so. I should let you know that according to our doctor that 25% of these kids develop asthma. Have your son's ears checked for infection, ours had a persistant infection that was finally resolved with tubes.

Check with your ped about the dosage of vitamin C because it sounds awfully high to me. Some vitamins build up and become toxic at high levels such as vitamin A does or better yet they are just urinated away. What you might want to try is a good multivitamin at a recommended dosage instead.

[waitinginnj]

My little one wasn't sick much the first year home, she went to my sister's. This past year she was sick a lot more and in daycare 3 days per week. My pedi swears she won't be sick as much next year.

I tend to get bronchitis. I had a horrible year with it this year. 4 or 5 times. I am asthmatic, but don't have chronic attacks. Usually once every 4 - 5 years since adulthood.

He may outgrow things or build a better immune system.

Best of luck.

[waiting4babies]

I have much information to share with you that you may want to consider. Although my child was not adopted he did suffer from bronchitis and was later diagnosed with having chronic asthma.

Please, please find a pediatrician who specializes in asthma or bronchial problems because a regular peditrician will not know what to look for and treat.
I took my son to three different pediatricians until I found one specializing in respiratory problems who changed my sons life.

This is what I had to do for my child for 12 years of his life.

One thing you need to know is that weather changes can really affect a child. Going from hot to cold or cold to hot. Drafts of cold air can cause bronchial problems immediatley. Something to avoid.

When you visit a respiratory specialist, they should be telling you that children or adults with bronchial problems must be on a maintenance plan to rid the bronchial problems. This may take years as it did with my son.

The pediatrician put my son on what is called a Nebulizer. This little machine contains a cup in which you place medication and then your child breathes into it. If the child is very small then you have to hold the mouthpiece for him/her to breathe in the meds. This literally has to be taken at least three to four times a day, but it works wonders. May cause child to be hyper, but it works.

Second, the inhalers that are given by the specialist must be given to the child on a daily basis not just when they are ill. You are trying to prevent the wheezing, bronchial problems etc... from occuring therefore, taking the inhalers peridoically on a daily maintenance schedule is a must.

All medications that are prescribed by a specialist are to be given throughout the day, again on a maintenance shcedule given to you by the physician.

If you follow the maintenance plan of a respiatory specialist your child will most likely continue to progress slowly until the immune system builds up and believe me it will.

I spent 12 long years taking care of a child that was at one time diagnosed with emphysema by an emergency care doctor at 2 years of age. It turned out that he had chronic asthma. He had bronchitis all of the time and had pneumonia 50 percent of the time. He was in the hospital every holiday for the first five years of his life. I know how draining it can be and I always asked the lord "why me, why did I have to have a child who was suffering so much". One day he answered my question.
This beautiful child was given to me "because only I had the strength to take care of a child this ill". I knew that was true because when my child was ill he only wanted to be with me because he knew that when he could not breathe I would get into action and begin doing everything I could to help him breathe again.

Contact a specialist imemdiately because I know from experience you may be going to a pediatrician who does not know how to treat chronic bronchial problems. If you need any other information, please let me know. I have so much more to tell you, but it would take a long time to write about it. You can PM me if you would like.

[tbristow]

This was timed well becase I was planning to post and ask pretty much the same thing.

Hunter has been home 5 months and has been off antibiotics at the most 2 weeks at a shot. The doctors are still trying to figure out what to do. It starts with the green runny nose and then goes to the fever, cough, and chest congestion. I still think that living in the allergy capital of the U. S. has something to do with it. I'm pretty sure that St. Pete had nowhere near the pollen that we do.

Like David, Hunter has gained weight well and his height has come up some. I suppose in another two years I'll know if he's just going to be short. Hunter is in day care 5 days a week and that can't change as I am the main breadwinner in the house.

The doctor is already talking about a referral to the children's hospital and the ENT specialist. I went through a similar situation with my youngest bio dd and ear infections so I may have a little different outlook on this. She had the tonsils, tubes, adenoids thing at 5 and has been sick less in the last 4 years than she was the last 6 months before surgery.

Can you get a recommendation to an ENT specialist? Will they allergy test him? With where you live, outdoor mold could be a BIG factor if he's allergic (both my youngest dd and I have a severe allergy to it). I hope David gets to feeling better soon. Keep us posted.

[lakimnafite]

I had major respiratory infections as a child. I almost had to have surgery as a result of sinuses so swollen they were causing black outs. I had bronchitis every winter, to the point of coughing up blood. YEARS later, we figured out I was allergic to dairy. I have been off dairy for years and have not had any problems.

DS had a number of respiratory infections the first 12 months of his life. He had a constant stuffy nose when he came into my life. We did allergy testing through a naturopath, and found allergies to dairy and wheat. He's been off both for 4 years, and he has not had one episode of respiratory infections. He doesn't even get colds.

This is not to discount any of the other posts. All have great ideas. However, sometimes it's as simple as a dietary change.

Good luck and do keep us posted!

[snpharrington]

Hello- We met our lillte guy, Victor, in June, and are going to het him in 2 weeks or so. When we saw him, he had labored breathing and sounded like a 70 year old man. The doctor at the orphanage said he was fine and not to worry.
We will definately bring him to a respiratory specialist when we get him home, however does anyone have any suggestions on what we can bring him during our next trip to help him out before we get him home?

[angelkisses0102]

I posted this same question a month or so ago...here's the link.

Breathing/Asthma/Lung Problems??

Arianna was diagniosed with Reactive Airway Disease right before we picked Alex up last March...one thing that may not be helping David is the mist...the ped. told us because of her issues...not expelling the fluid from her lungs...to not put more moisture in the air. Also, she had had a sinus infection and was putting vaseline under her nose...a big no no for kids with breathing problems...

Here's Alex...it breaks my heart...
http://forums.adoption.com/attachmen...id=15368&stc=1

Right now...we are waiting on referrals to a pulminologist for both kids...and right now...both are OK...not on the nebulizer.

I am still curious about this subject myself.

[LilyMoon]

I just wanted to add that sometimes kids with asthma or breathing problems are reacting to chemicals in their environment. Some of these culprits can range from carpet cleaners to household cleaners. It is certainly worth a try for those of you whose kids suffer to try replacing chemical cleaners with all natural products. I am doing it in my home.
There have been kids who have severe reactions to these chemicals....adults too! But the concentration of the chemicals is higher for the kids.

Best of luck to you all,
LilyMoon

[sak9645]

The fact that your child has green nasal mucus CAN suggest that he has a chronic sinus infection. This is an often-undiagnosed problem. Some people go for years thinking that they are "sickly", always getting colds or bronchitis, or that they are allergic, when, in fact, they have raging chronic sinus infections.

Interestingly, this happened to me, but mine went on so long that it damaged lots of structures in my nose and was virtually untreatable, even with long courses of heavy-duty antibiotics, once the diagnosis was finally confirmed by CT scan. It also resulted in things like two severe episode of hives that were an allergic reaction to the ongoing infection.

I finally wound up having to have delicate, computer-assisted surgery to clean out all the sinuses, cut down enlarged turbinates, and so on. It was not fun. But the good news is that I am almost never sick now.

At your son's young age, it may still be possible to treat a chronic sinus infection medically. It may take more than one antibiotic, but you should be able to see the results quickly, if the infection is, indeed, chronic sinusitis. Consult a good pediatric ENT or pediatric allergist, and suggest the possibility of a chronic sinus infection.

Sharon

[RBSVARCHER]

Thanks everyone for your words of advice. David has an appointment this Thursday with a Pediatric Pulmonary/Allergy Doctor.

Everyone's advice got me thinking that I need to have David more prepared for this winter and have him evaluated now before anything comes up that we could have avoided.

Thanks again - your advice is greatly appreciated and well taken!

Susan Archer
B'ham AL

[angelkisses0102]

Thanks for the update...please let us know what happens with David...

We are taking both of our kids to the doctors on the 23rd to start trying to figure out what is making them sick...as they are both sick and on the nebulizers again... My gut says is warning my head that we are looking at asthma for both and allergies for DD...I hope, hope, hope I am wrong!

Good Luck!!!