Ayrie has been taking Atrovent for his trachemalacia.  Somehow the drug holds open his trachea making it less ‘floppy’ so it doesn’t close in on itself.

I was talking to the pulmonologist about the atrovant and he told me, “If one of your son’s pupils dilates and the other doesn’t, don’t worry.  He’s not having a stroke!”  I guess the mist from the mask gets into the kids eyes and can make one or both of the pupils dilate.  Luckily Ayrie doesn’t like the feeling of the mist in his eyes so I didn’t have to convince him that it would be a good idea to wear protective eye wear.

Coincidentally, Emily got ‘onion goggles’ for christmas because onions sting her eyes so much and she loves to cook!  So Ayrie wears Emily’s onion goggles while he takes his nebulizer. (If you want a pair for yourself, see the link at the bottom of the page!)

Ayrie is supposed to take the meds on an as needed basis but has been taking it most days.  It hurts me to hear his loud, noisy, squeaky breathing at night.  But he’s not distressed, so I know he’s okay, but I should not be able to hear a 3-year-old breathing from two rooms away!

Below is a movie of ayrie talking about why he uses ‘the mask’.

From Ayrie and Shiya February 2010