Mother of the Year

So I have a kid who is hyper aware of every little thing on her body. She points out red marks, raised patches, itchy ears, aches, pains, bruises, etc. This is daily. As in, several times a day she tells me something she has noticed or that allegedly hurts her "really bad" before she resumes normal activities. I fail to pay attention to her often because she is one of five children and has met her quota for ailments that may or may not exist.

I took her in for a physical two months ago and mentioned allergies and breathing complaints. The doctor noted she was pretty close to a sinus infection and recognized her lungs were impacted as well so she prescribed appropriate allergy medication and asked us to give it a month. Two months later I saw Kate trying to catch her breath after taking two laps up and down the stairs in a relatively short period of time. Given this kids' typical activity level, I was cautiously worried and took her back in for an evaluation.

As soon as the doctor listened to her lungs, I saw concern in her eyes. Kate's pulse oxygen levels were below normal. They immediately did a breathing treatment with two different medications and her oxygen level was retested as perfect shortly after. Kate was left shaky and unsettled but quietly reported how nice it was to take a deep breath. My heart sank.

The urgency in the doctor's office left me unnerved. I was not paying attention and it was scary to realize how serious this was. I am grateful we caught it before we had an emergency but I still feel horrible I hadn't listened to her.

On Monday she was tested for asthma and both the pulmonologist and respiratory therapist confirmed Kate does in fact have asthma. She is now on maintenance medication twice a day and also uses an additional inhaler for athletics.

We had a serious conversation about her need to point out all.the.things and how important it is for me to be able to hear her when it really matters. In other words, stop crying wolf. Despite feeling like a total failure as her mom, she does carry a little of the responsibility and I pray we have hit a reset button on our level of communication.

In other news, she grew a solid inch in those same two months. Oh, and my mother of the year nomination has been revoked. Shew! I am glad that pressure is off. (insert sarcastic eye roll here). When I called Anne to lament this fact, she casually mentioned that particular award was likely off the table back in 2009 for me anyway. It's good to surround yourself with people who keep you humble.