Time

          Finnley playing about a day before the cold really hit her hard

Sometimes it gets away from you. Such is the case when it comes to me keeping up with the blog this past week.  I have only good excuses for that, though, I can assure you.  Finnley was sick.  Again.  And, no matter what, Finnley comes first.  So, I guess it really isn't as much an excuse as it is a declaration of my position as her mother.  As it should be, right?

Another cold unwelcomely invaded the temple of Finnley.  Another cold in a season that has proven unforgiving when it comes to toddler illness.  And, for Finnley a cold is not just a "cold".  She was diagnosed a few months ago with "reactive airways disease".  This is a catch all diagnosis for a condition in which the airways overact when faced with an illness.  For most children, a cold that produces a cough generally lasts for a week or so.  For Finnley, the cold itself might only last that long, but the accompanying cough might last a month or more (and it might not completely go away at all).  This is a condition that all affected children in time will outgrow.  It might happen in a year.  It might happen in 11 years.  We won't know until that time actually comes.

 In the beginning Finn was a "borderline case for treatment".  She has now crossed over into the category of "requires treatment".  Treatment comes in the form of a noisy nebulizer / mask / inhalants (albuterol) / and the like.  Has anyone else been faced with the task of "explaining" to a 1.5 year old that they must sit quietly for 10 minutes with a mask held up to their face (completely covering their mouth and nose), and they must breathe in a mist for that duration, all while the machine to which the mask is connected noisily pumps along???  Well, if you haven't, it just isn't possible.  Not at all possible to explain.  At first Finnley was curious, and she also didn't feel well in the least.  This allowed us to get some decent treatments in for a few days (which is when it was most "critical").  Now that she is feeling better overall, she "politely declines" (read:  outright refuses) treatment altogether.  We as her parents follow her lead because we have tried the alternative (forcing treatment), and it does no one any good...in fact, I believe more harm comes from it than anything else.  As she gets older and can actually understand its purpose, I think the nebulizer will be a great tool in our battle against "RAD".  For now, it is just is what it is...and that is whatever Finnley wants it to be and when.

So, there you have that.  As a parent we make choices.   Not all of them will align with what the professionals want all of the time.  Nor will they align with what other parents might advise.  We make those choices for ourselves and our family based upon each individual situation, and we choose what we feel is the least of all evils after reviewing them all.  That is all we can do.  That is what we will continue to do.

Now the nasty beast of a cold is mostly gone.  The cough still lingers.  The sinuses still drain.  My baby is mostly back to normal.  The world goes on.  And, I get back to the blog.  Just another week in the life...