A Mother's Intuition

I have been meaning to write further about my Skardu trip. But first the rose in Dream Steem caught my attention and now this:

_{About today}

We went to the hospital three days earlier too. I felt that my son was having some asthmatic symptoms. He had the same symptoms last year during these days when wheat crops were being cut through threshers. The pollen in the spring had made his allergy worse. It was his first time being diagnosed with seasonal asthma, and this year, I was keeping a close eye on his symptoms.

The flu-like symptoms had been coming and going for more than a month now. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what the cause was: viral, allergy, asthmatic allergy. So finally, I took him to the hospital some three days ago. I asked the duty doctor to kindly check his oxygen saturation and chest because I felt he was not breathing properly. Based on last year's experience, I didn't want him to go through the same turmoil. It was a two-week-long hospital admission with IVs and loads of medication. But the doctor, I don't know, relied only on his gut feeling and never checked his chest. He just suggested some cough syrup, anti-allergy medication, and a short course of antibiotics.

Long story short, my son couldn't breathe properly all night, and finally, in the morning, he said he couldn't breathe at all. He was reluctant to explain his symptoms because he was afraid after last year's experience. I convinced him that we should visit the same child specialist as last year; there was no other way around it. Thankfully, she was on call, and she immediately detained him after checking his chest, which was making a wheezing sound. She told me that he was under significant oxygen stress and suggested a STAT dose of steroids, along with a cocktail of anti-asthmatic medicines for nebulizer with oxygen.

_{make shift arrangement for nursery. There is some renovation going on in the child ward}

I'm waiting here while he receives all his doses. After that, I'll take him home and continue nebulizing him there. The doctor asked me to come for the review after two days, and I hope that he gets relief and won't need to be admitted again.

My son can't play golf for a couple of days more. It makes him very sad. He hadn't been able to go to the golf course since the last two weeks. And I'm just sitting here thinking that there's something called "mom feeling", and once in a while doctors should listen to it and pay attention to it. I discussed the previous doctor's negligence with my husband, and he said to just let it go. But I can't wrap my head around how time-consuming or difficult it was to check my son's chest with a stethoscope. It wasn't even during rush hour.

I'm home now and reflecting on my experience with this situation and the visits to the hospital. It would have been really difficult to explain the same scenario to a new child specialist today, with all the history and everything. Thankfully, she was aware of my son's history. Otherwise, I would have had to go through the whole process of convincing the doctor about the problem again. It's our small community hospital, and I think these kinds of things are prevalent everywhere to some extent.
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On a side note, today's visit to the hospital made me realize the importance of this thing called "life." The mothers and grandmothers of infants and babies coming in and out of the child ward, some hopeful and some a little less so. There was a mother of an infant, and the moment I made eye contact with her, tears started flowing from her eyes. I thought she was a first-time mother, and getting her baby pricked for a cannula made her emotional. I tried to console her by saying, "See, the baby didn't even feel the prick. Don't cry; he will be okay."

Little did I know that he might not be okay. The response of the staff nurse later, when I inquired about why the mother was crying hinted that he might not make it. Although I prayed for him at the moment and I believe in miracles, the whole incident made me very sad. Such is life!

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_{P.S.: I promise I will try to write about my Skardu adventures in the next post because I'm dying to showcase the " second highest plateau" in the world, Deosai National Park, and also the marmots and some very exciting wildlife that dwell there. I pray my son gets well real soon, and I will write in detail about my adventures in the Highlands.}

A little sneak peak into what follows next: