I apparently missed the memo that I would be involved in a game of bumpers cars yesterday...
Pierce had an appointment with pulmonology at Children's. He had a clear (!) chest x-ray with NO sign of lung disease. He still has a residual cough (mainly at night) from his upper respiratory infection. Dr. L thinks it's one of two things: (1) he's had multiple lung infections and he wheezes from time to time (especially when he's sick) - so the night-time cough could be an asthma-like cough or (2) with viral (respiratory) infections you can experience asthma like symptoms for 4-5 weeks after the infection subsides... so for now, he will receive a breathing treatment at night, before bed. Dr. L wants to see us back in September when "lung season" begins. I am imagining that we will be on a 2-4 times a year checkup pattern with him. He stated that if he ever sees a problem cropping up that he will let us know how he thinks it will play out ahead of time so that we can make a decision in a non-stressful environment. He reminded me (in a kind, not fear-mongering way) of the down sides of mitochondrial disease (ie G-tubes, serious breathing difficulties, etc). He seems to be very intelligent (you can tell he knows that he is but he reels himself in avoiding arrogance) - he was the Director of ICU at Children's for 25+ years. Long story short - I REALLY like him and I am glad to have him on Pierce's team.
On our way home, literally about 1 mile from our house, we were rear-ended --- seriously, being in a car accident with my child had always ranked in my top 5 mommy fears. With this accident, I knew it was going to happen when I looked in my rear view mirror. Poor Pierce was sound asleep - the scream my baby let out on impact was horrifying. When I knew the impact was inevitable, I kept thinking "I am going to get out of this car and give that person a piece of my mind... how could he hit me? And with my baby in the car? What part of stopping couldn't he understand?!" --- and after Pierce screamed all I thought was "How quickly can I get out of my seatbelt and get him out of his carseat?" It took a good 10 minutes to console him and it broke this mama's heart. A state trooper came out and wrote a report.
Pierce seems to be having some anxiety with getting into his carseat. It has happened four times now - he freaks out and doesn't want to get into his seat. I am a little sore. I must have clenched my teeth because my jaw hurts in addition to my neck, shoulders and lower back.
I filed a claim this morning. At first the (at-fault) driver's insurance company did not want to replace both carseats but one simple statement changed their mind: "... that's fine. I would like a written statement from your company accepting full liability and responsibility in the even that Brice's carseat were to fail us in the future." Carseat safety is a huge thing to me - I refuse to take any risks with my children's lives.
At the end of the day, I am so thankful that our car was significantly damaged and that my baby and I were not seriously injured.
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