The call from Lisa started with "Don't worry, Stella is ok". Now that's a nice kinda phone call to get!Lisa went on to explain that Stella visited the school nurse's office complaining that she couldn't breathe. The nurse checked her out and couldn't find anything wrong. Stella finished the rest of the day as usual and Lisa set up a doctor appointment to check her out.
The 6:45 p.m. appointment ended up being a 7:30 p.m. appointment at our perpetually late pediatrician. All I have to say is thank goodness for the iPhone! It kept Stella occupied all the way through the process.
When we finally got to see the doc, she asked Stella some questions and then listened to her chest. The prognosis? Some sort of minor bronchial infection that was keeping Stella from exhaling smoothly.
The doc disappeared for a moment and returned with a nebulizing machine in the shape of a yellow race car. She told Stella she would need to wear a mask like an astronaut and breath "clouds" for 10 minutes. Mask on. Machine on. More iPhone games while the clouds made Stella better.
After the treatment, Stella said she felt fine. The doc listened again and said she seemed to be breathing out a little easier.
We left the office with a prescription for some home nebulizing stuff to give Stella over the next few days plus a prescription for a precautionary chest x-ray.
Luckily there has been little drama with the at-home treatments (with the exception of Marni also wanting to breathe into Stella's machine).
The x-ray is happening as I write this and hopefully all will be ok. For now, Stella is happy and no longer complaining about breathing.
Now I can breathe easier.
