For Future Research Purposes
First I’ll need to start off with some keywords so if I search this blog in a year I’ll be able to find what I’m looking for (that means using proper spellings and the incorrect spellings which is what I’ll probably start with): croup, croupe, kroop, “that damn cough that scared the hell out of me last night” (I quoted that because it’s a phrase), Ben.
As you might have guessed, I’m noting the local weather patterns like any good scientist would do when Ben gets croup. Unlike Ben’s previous bouts with croup, it came on awfully fast this time. I started hearing hints of it in the evening but in just a few hours things escalated, or more accurately, degenerated to the point where we nearly to him to the E.R.
I consider myself fairly well prepared and knowledgeable in the ways of this croup monster so I wasn’t terribly worried when things first started going south. But then it happened: That croup shit tossed some new shit in the mix and scared the shit out of me (and that’s no shit!).
At 11pm or so Ben started hacking pretty badly but his body was inclined to inhale a large amount of air in order to get a final hack out. The problem was, he couldn’t get half a breath in before a cough would be forced out so his body would immediately try again. In fairly short order he was gasping for air but unable to get much before his violent exhale in the form of a cough. This vicious circle last for 20 minutes or so, long enough for us to wake the doctor on call and get ready to take him to the E.R. As I watched his neck muscles flex furiously with each attempt for breath my heart began to race — It’s close to what I always imagined an Asthma attack would look like.
When I was 7 years old my pal Aaron, who I used to see every day, disappeared for nearly a week. When he returned I found that he had had an asthma attack in the middle of the night and ended up in the hospital. That information has been seared into my memory and I’m sure is something I’ll perpetually worry about (because, you know, I don’t worry enough about crazy things).
Back to the weather: It has been foggy for the past few days but this morning things rapidly switched to dry and windy. In the past we’ve seen Ben have problems when it went from dry to foggy in a rapid manner. I wonder if it’s just the “switch” in humidity levels that causes this monster to appear? Or if it is all just pure coincidence.
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