Monday night Kellan woke up around midnight Gasping for air. All he was doing was making a youbarking noise every time he inhaled, he was trying to cry & begging mommy/MomMom help in the scariest, wheezing, gasping for air voice I've ever heard. His color wasn't good, a sort of grayish-blue so we decided he needed to go to the hospital. We didn't want to wake the other 2 boys so I took him while Donna stayed home with Caden & Garren & tried to get some sleep.
It's actually been a little while since any of us have been sick. We had a rough start to the Fall & have a history of staying sick through the Fall & Winter. We all suffer seasonal allergies & have had constant colds, sinus & ear infections the past few years. This year I decided something had to give & while researching essential oils for something else I learned it has great immune boosting effects too! I didn't need much convincing since none of the allergy medications were doing the trick & I was spending what the start-up kit cost every month on over the counter medications & prescriptions trying to keep us well.
We were all still sick when our start-up kit arrived & I immediately set up the diffuser & added some theives essential oil to it while I read up on what else we could use & what benefits they would have. The bugs we had had to run their course while the oils went to work boosting our immune systems but since then, early September, we have been bug free here, well until now.
I've seen a lot of friends posting on fb about them or their children having the flu or pneumonia or just reoccurring coughs & colds. I have to say, Kellan having croup was kind of a surprise. He had a fever over the weekend but no other symptoms, he just woke up Monday night in a bad way & since being treated at the hospital with steroids & an epinephrine breathing treatment he's been fine other than a croup cough, not that it's any fun.
Kellan in the ER
Compared to the previous 3 years Sept to January is a pretty good run for our family. There isn't a medication for croup as its a virus & they only treat breathing difficulties if they present so since being in the ER, I've been running the diffuser with oils to help breathing, healing & keep our immune systems up. Obviously essential oils don't keep us from ever getting sick but they sure have cut down on the frequency we do & have kept us from passing stuff around & around between us.
Considering the ineffectiveness of this years flu vaccines & the severity of the flu, I feel good knowing we have the added protection on essential oils.
Kellan relaxing the day after his late night excursion
If you're interested in essential oils or would like to chat about them feel free to shoot me an email, I'd love to chat & even share some samples :)
How scary! My son had croup once and it was terrible hearing that barking cough and gasping for air. We would sit with him in the bathroom running a hot shower so he could calm down. Sticking his head in the freezer helps too to help him catch his breath. I'm glad he's better! We love our essential oils and have been diffusing peppermint and lavender nightly to help him breathe better and relax. We use doterra oils but I'm going to look up thieves now too!
ReplyDeleteWe've been hanging out in steamy bathrooms too & taking hot baths in eucalyptus. Aren't essential oils amazing?! I'm sure doTerra has a blend that is equivalent to Theives. I've been keeping Theives & another YL blend, RC in our diffuser. It's helped him sleep so much better without coughing all night long.
DeleteThe freezer works even better than the bathroom -- the dryness of colder air actually helps a lot.
ReplyDeleteAbby (peds NP)
I'm intrigued yet highly skeptical about the essential oils...
I have noticed that he coughs less when we go out in the cool air. It's actually cold in N FL right now :)
DeleteThere are actually hospitals using therapeutic grade essential oils in their pre-op & recovery rooms to help patients with anxiety & nausea. I'd love to send you some samples if you're interested. Just shoot me an email springaling77 at gmail dot com :)
How scary for you all! We ended up in A&E with croup last year too. Unfortunately, once one gets it they all seem to get it...they do in our house anyway. Wishing Kellan a very speedy recovery :)
ReplyDelete