Bronchitis

Well, I took Meghan into the doctor today. She has had a cough that got gradually worse, and thus worried Alpha mom Jen. Meghan's cough reminded me of someone who had been a smoker for years. Ick! She is now on Zithromax and hopefully, it should do the trick.

So what I just described probably sounds like normal "mommy" stuff, right? You are right except...

Every time Meghan gets a lung infection, it means she loses healthy lung tissue, too. Since she is a ZZ Alpha, her body is not able to produce enough Alpha-1 in her liver to be sent to the lungs to turn off neutrophil elastase. Those neutrophils are like minature pac-men who come in and eat up the bad stuff hanging out in Meghan's lungs. Unfortunately, Meggie doesn't have enough Ms. Pac-Man (aka Alpha-1 proteins) to nag, nag, nag, nag the heck out of Mr. Pac-Man (aka neutrophils) until he finally backs down and stops destroying healthy lung tissue.

Fortunately, my mommy instincts kicked in about Meg's cough today, and we caught her bronchitis in an early stage. I'm grateful for that, but I can't quite turn off that obsessive thought of how much lung tissue will be destroyed with this infection. These are my inner most thoughts, and well, are now shared with you all in cyberspace. Getting my thoughts out into a narrative is what helps me to feel better.

In any case, Megs was so cute at the doctor. She actually cooperated since I was able to tell her what the doctor would do before he came into the room. When he walked into the room, she told him, "Just listen, right?" Funny...

"I has medcines. Make me fee betta. I go docta's room."

She is growing up so fast now. I can't believe how much she is talking and figuring things out now.