Smoker’s cough

Last night was bad. LB hacked and coughed and moaned and groaned all evening. We snuggled up and watched Finding Nemo, while sipping chicken soup. Since so many 2-year-olds have OD’d on Dimeatap in the previous years, I bought some organic “all natural” cough syrup at the health food store. Its basically all honey with some marshmallow root in it, so really it does absolutely nothing, except make Mommy feel like she’s got control over the situation.

At bedtime, the cough got worse. I could hear her gagging and crying for me. I wrapped her in a blanket and rocked her to sleep on the couch. When she’s not coughing, her breathing is fine. She doesn’t even inhale sharply after its all over. But its definitely getting worse.

Last week while I was dealing with Strep, I took LB into the doctor to get her cough checked out. After listening to her lungs, the Dr. said, “They sound clear as a bell. Its probably just a cold,” and sent us on our merry way. Its been more than 10 days since the cough started, and I have no idea what it is.

I scoured the online symptom checker at Parenting.com and listened to the audio clips of “dry cough” vs “whooping cough” and “crop cough”. I went through other related symptoms for flu, bronchitis, pneumonia…all negative. No fever. No running nose. No congestion. No body aches. No spots on back of tongue. No pain in throat. No wheezing. No turning blue. No vomiting.

Then I looked at the bottom where it said “Smoker’s cough” and “Asthma”:

Inflammation of the airways is the common finding in all asthma patients.  This inflammation is produced by allergies, viral respiratory infections, and airborne irritants among other causes. Exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with increased asthma severity and worsened lung function in children with asthma.

The first time I met with Roofie, they both were smoking cigarettes inside, while the kids played in the next room. Rooferman has smoked since he was 14. I have witnessed him picking up our daughter from visitation with a cigarette in his mouth. I doubt he put it out on the way back to his car.

They both claim they don’t smoke around the kids. But honestly, I don’t think Rooferman considers smoking his his truck while our daughter is in the backseat “second hand smoke.”

LB has never come home reeking of cigarettes (just feces and urine). There is no real evidence besides the instances where I’ve seen them smoking. But what about this cough? What if she IS developing asthma? What if Roofie’s Camel lights are the cause of it? If this cough doesn’t go away, I’m taking her back to the doctor and asking for another diagnosis. If she’s getting Asthma (which no one in my family has ever had), you better believe I’m bringing it up in court.

Then again, everyone within a 30-mile radius of a cottonwood tree has been coughing. Maybe its just that time of year.