Overly effective medication

It's been a few weeks now since Sam started his daily inhaler. It does seem to be helping. Over the weekend, I commented to Bill that I was pleased with the fact that Sam hadn't had a single breathing episode since we started the daily inhaler.

THAT VERY NIGHT (Coincidence? Or does God have a sense of humor?) I heard Sam coughing after I put him in bed. Every minute or so, he was doing his gaspy, frantic-sounding cough. I listened for awhile and then went to check on him. He was asleep but moving around restlessly and coughing often. I got out his albuterol inhaler, which is stronger and to be used in instances like this. I read the box and saw that Sam could have 1-2 puffs every 4-6 hours. I figured I'd start with two puffs since he was having such a hard time. It's a bit tricky to wake up a sleeping child, convince him to breathe in his medication and then get him to drink water (the medicine isn't good for his teeth) before he nods back off. I did it and slipped back out of the room.

About a half hour later, I noticed it was perfectly silent in his room. I opened the door and peeked in. I was surprised at how still Sam was. I went over to his bed and tucked him in. Typically, he rolls over when I do this. He didn't move. I bent down over him and listened. Nothing. At this point, I have a tiny bit of panic in the back of mind. What have I done to this child??? Finally, I held my hand over his mouth and was able to detect breathing on my hand. Whew. He was still alive! I can not believe how soundly he was sleeping after I gave him that albuterol. It definitely works...almost too well!

Four days of albuterol twice daily and Sam was as good as new. Not one single breathing treatment with the nebulizer, which everyone was pleased about!