Pneumonia

Little Man somehow caught pneumonia and was definitively diagnosed early this morning. Can I vent for just a moment and say that I hate not having medical insurance! It is agonizing as a parent to weigh medical risk against financial cost. Last evening we could tell that Little Man was clearly uncomfortable. He had had a fairly high fever all day and a cough for several days. He began complaining of pain in his side and then began to hold his breath for several seconds with each breath he took, as if he didn't want to inhale again. I interpreted this to mean that it hurt to inhale, which in fact it did. We nearly took him to the ER last night, but once he fell into a deep sleep his breathing was more normal and we decided to wait and take him to our regular pediatrician this morning (thus saving probably thousands of dollars). They have a radiology department in their building and we were able to get his chest x-rays taken there which clearly showed pneumonia pretty packed in to one lung. It was so packed that the Dr couldn't hear any "rattling" when he listened to his chest with a stethoscope.

Please pray with us that Little Man responds well to his antibiotic, and that the pain in his chest will begin to subside quickly. I am thankful that it is a treatable illness, and that he is no worse off for waiting through the night. He slept in our bed with us last night so that I could monitor his breathing, and I am thankful that he slept well, probably the best of the 3 of us. :-) Right now he is asleep on the couch so I am grabbing a minute to post here for prayer. For the past two days when he is awake he wants to be on me, so I imagine I will be holding and rocking him again soon. Thank you for your prayers!