another 'scare' with Porter...

We arrived home after being out all afternoon, CHKD visit for Porter, a stop at the mall and then dinner out....but as we arrived home, the house was on the warmish side. James looked at the thermostat and it read 78 degrees...too warm for Porter, so as James got Porter hooked up to his TPN and gave him his meds, he opened some windows to cool the house down faster, since apparently our air conditioning unit is acting up once again (freezing over). About 10 minutes after James put Porter to bed, I heard him coughing uncontrollably...he was crying, coughing and gagging, but we could not find a reason....except he was clammy and hot and exhausted...so I stripped him down and we applied ice packs to his chest and back and tried to get him to gulp down some ice water (no such luck) he gasped for air over and over and clung to me as I rocked him, pounding on his back to help unclog his lungs and then patted him gently until he calmed down and started to cool off.

After 30 minutes Porter was fast asleep and James had gotten the temp in the house down to 71 degrees, although we still need to maintain a little cooler level, about 69 degrees for safety and Porter's sake. To some people, 69 degrees may seem down right chilly, but when you have a son who has proven time and time again that he can not tolerate heat....we do what we have to do!

I am finally calmer myself. We are calling the AC dude in the morning! This is a medical issue, so they always come out right away...but this has happened several times and it's not even wicked hot out yet. We may have to replace this unit. Now I REALLY need to learn to SEW, so I can make some Cool Vests for my son! I'm asking this gal at church to help me...she sews like the wind! This is the vest he will need to wear: Cool Vests

(you know I'll be checking on Porter every hour throughout the night too)....Porter having Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia.....it's a scarey thing.

Comments

[Dar]

Poor P-man, poor you, bet that was scary. You need to get the AC guy out there right away.

[Linda]

I'm really glad that everything turned out to be just fine!! You guysare in my thoughts and prayers and hope that nothing like that ever happens again!!!