RAD Ryder

Ryder made it 3 years, 8 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days before he had to go to the doctor for being sick.  And, the appointment was really a wasted one - the doctor suspected allergies.  After 6 days of no improvement, we took him in again to a different doctor (his was unavailable) who found that Ryder had a "very severe" ear infection.  The doctor was concerned Ryder's eardrum would burst overnight.  Thankfully, it never did.  The antibiotics (the first of his life) worked well, and we had no further issues.

Until today.  Another month (and 6 days) have passed.  Over the weekend Ryder developed a bit of a cough - nothing to really worry about.  On Monday night I noticed a bit of wheezing as we read a book before bed.  He had played hard that night, and had been coughing - he didn't complain, so we went along as usual.  Tuesday morning we didn't notice anything, but that evening, the wheezing was becoming a bit more prominent.  He woke up this morning wheezing some, but had no other symptoms of sickness.  He still went to daycare.

This afternoon I was able to get an appointment with the doctor who found his ear infection (or so I thought - we were seen, in part, by a Physician Assistant.  A HORRIBLE one).

Ryder was diagnosed with "Reactive Airway Disease" (RAD).  It sounds worse than it is.  Really, it's kind of like asthma in children too young to get an asthma diagnosis.  It is common for children to "outgrow" this.  If it persists with frequency until age 6, Ryder can participate in diagnostic testing to determine if he has asthma.  But, really, given Ryder's near spotless health record, asthma is not likely.

Ryder's treatment includes a steroid, and nebulizer treatments.  Due to his extremely low oxygen levels, they wanted to perform an immediate treatment.  Thankfully, Ryder tolerated it well, although he had the saddest little expression the whole time.  The Medical Assistant was very kind, and helped get Ryder a book to help distract him.  We now have a nebulizer at home, and will give him treatments as needed.  

Ryder insisted that I hold it at first, but I was able to convince him to hold it himself, while I read the book.  He definitely wasn't a fan, but he did an awesome job!