Aaron's New Companion . . . Asthma

I was dining on fresh seafood and fluffly chocolate mousse in the basement of the downtown Portland Hilton Monday night--in company of co-workers--when unbeknownst to me Meg was rushing Aaron to the hospital. Fortunately, Meg and the boys were at the Booren's house--first, we didn't have to worry about Edward, and second Grandma correctly diagonsed Aaron's symptoms and told Meg to get Aaron to the hospital immediately (Meg's older brother Josh had asthma in his youth). Meg felt somewhat overprotective taking him when he didn't appear to be in any immediate danger, but the medical professionals all reassured her that this decision was imperative to Aaron's well-being.

Meg knew that I was going to be working late on Monday, but I never thought to tell her that I was going off-site. I don't own or carry a cell phone, so she had left a message on my office phone around 8:00 p.m., which I wouldn't listen to until after the fact. But, around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, I was awoken from sleep by the phone ringing--the ring of terror. By this time Aaron was admitted to the hospital and being worked on. My initial reaction was that there was nothing I could do at that minute, so I went right back to sleep--maybe it was just a dream. But Meg called again a few minutes after I woke up and relayed the doctor's assessment that he had pneumonia and asthma. Now I was worried and upset. I debated whether to drive to work or take the vanpool, but decided against it since I had class that night. I quickly scrounged up some things to take to Aaron that would brighten his stay--specifically, the N64 games that just came in the mail--Mario Golf and Mario Party 2), and his recent favorite from the library, The Whingdingdilly.

Working that morning was difficult, as I was anxious to visit Aaron. Near lunch time I ran, in street clothes, the mile or two to the MAX stop that is only 10 minutes away from St. Vincent's (quicker than trying to ride the bus, which routes all traffic to Pioneer Square). It was a relatively cool day, and I was dresshed in shorts and t-shirt, so I didn't break too much of a sweat. After arriving at the Sunset Transit Center, I jogged five minutes to the hospital, and rode the elevator to the 8th floor. Just before I was going to grab the door handle and enter Aaron's room, three nurses accosted me, tagged me, and let me enter.

Despite lying in a miniature hospital bed--dressed in standard hospital garb, oxygen tubing stuffed up his nostrils, and IV pierced in his arm--Aaron warmly greeted me, and immediately moved over in his bed so I could lie down next to him. Aaron is usually sweet-natured, but he was so much more right now. I gave him the two N64 games, which proved to exciting--but not so much as me actually being there. He thoroughly looked over the boxes and the instruction books, and then immediately made plans to play the games as soon as he got home. After an hour or so of cuddling and talking and reading stories, it pained me to leave. We still didn't know if he would be able to go home soon, even though he seemed perfectly all right. Somehow I managed to walk out the door, and rode/ran my way back to the office.

On Wednesday I drove up to Sherwood and "worked" from the Booren's house while helping take care of Edward, who was very happy to see me again (as was I to see him), and he told me all about his experiences (I have no idea what he says, but I try to think what he might be trying to express, and then respond accordingly). I spoke with Meg around 9:00 a.m., and the doctor had just cleared Aaron to leave--he was fine again, and I was beyond relief. They arrived in Sherwood within an hour or two, and it was so rewarding to see Aaron running around again, almost as if nothing unusual had happened in the past few days . . .

I feel really bad that I treated Aaron's asthma symptoms so lightly. Just a few weeks ago I publicly decried his last race effort at Bush Park when the last half of the race he cryed out in pain because it was hard to breath. He wasn't just wimping out--he was having an asthma attack--and I feel horrible for treating it lightly and for not being sympathetic. Meg feels bad that Aaron has so many problems (eczema, allergies to peanuts and egg whites, and now this), relative to Edward (i.e., why couldn't they share the problems--but who's to say Edward won't develop the same or that other problems might manifest themselves?); however, I feel fortunate that Aaron is so tough and able to deal with all his genetic shortcomings in such a positive way.