Albuterol induced psychosis

Well, I suppose I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, with poor J. As I totally called it, his stupid runny nose became a lot more than that, very quickly. Urgh. We left the house for the first time yesterday. I guess this is just payback for all my weird health issues growing up. Sorry Mom and Dad. I get it now.

Have you ever done nebulizer treatments with an-almost-two-year-old? Side note: I hate the whole "age" thing after a kid is one. When people ask how old J is, I always fumble around, ending up saying something rather intelligent like, "He turned one and a half in December", or better yet, "He turns two in June..." leaving said person standing there, dumbfounded with my ridicules response. I mean, who even knows when June is? When was December? Come on lady, just tell me how old the kid is. I know, I know. I just can't find it in my soul to say 21 months. Just can't do it.

Ok, J is not really almost two.

And that was a long side note.

Where was I...?

Yes. Nebulizer treatments. Ok. So, I don't know if you know J. But, if you do, you know what I mean when I say the kid doesn't lack energy. He has mastered his 4+ hour nap schedule, with no doing on my part. He just simply goes and goes and goes, then crashes. It works out fairly well. Anyway, (why do I keep getting so side tracked??) nebulizer treatments are simply albuterol. Alubuterol is what they put in enhalers. It's a steroid.

Scary word, eh?

Distracted, again.

Ok, so when J starts hacking up a lung, can't breathe, wheezing, snot in a constant state of "running" (weird word for it, if you ask me), spiking a fever, etc., the only thing that keeps him out of Castle Hospital (which is NOT a Castle. Trust me. But far better than the Kahuku joke-of-a-hospital), are these nebulizer treatments. We are proud owners of our very own shiny machine and everything.

However, it really is a toss up for me. Sometimes I really have to talk myself into hooking him up to the machine. He does generally well, actually, for the first 10 minutes or so. After that, it turns into some what of a circus, but we get 'er done!

Gosh, it's taking me forever to get to my point. Nothing I have said yet is my point. Nothing. Focus lady, focus.

My point is this: When he is sick, he like a sad little puppy dog. He loves to just cuddle and let me hold him (so NOT J style). I love just laying on the couch with him, using him as my little heater. But, unfortuneatly, our calm, quite, cuddling gets interruped by the inevitable nebulizer treatments. They are a necessary evil in our home. You can see how they help him feel better almost instantly, however... THE BOY GOES CRAZY!! Really. Crazy. Nutty. He always starts shaking uncontrollably before the end, but laughs his little head off about it. Then, for the next hour or so, he is just off his rocker. He can't stop laughing, and generally can be found running (really. I mean running.) in circles. Lots and lots of circles. He. simply. can. not. stop. moving.

It's the same kind of reaction I would expect if I gave the kid a cup of sugar and told him to go to town. It's wild. A matter of fact, I should invite you over to my house the next time we have to hook the kid up. If you're feeling down, your bound to leave feeling better about life, simply knowing there is a kid on cloud nine, bouncing off the walls...

...all while snot drips down his face, and he distinctively wipes it off with the back of his hand, dragging it across his face into his hair.

But gosh, he's happy.

Great visual.

I'll remember to invite you over next time.

And now to end this rambling post (ahem), here is a movie for your pleasure.