Chapter 22 - The Next Respiratory Infection
One year later Maisie got sick again.
Of course.
Children do not stop having lungs because adults need closure.
Cough.
Fever.
Wheezing.
I panicked.
Too much.
At home her pulse-oximeter reading dipped during sleep.
Her pediatrician told us to come in.
I packed as if evacuating a country.
Maisie watched.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“You’re weird.”
Accurate.
At the emergency department she needed oxygen for several hours.
Nasal cannula this time.
I stood beside the bed watching every number.
Nurse said:
“She’s stable.”
I nodded.
Kept watching.
Maisie reached up.
Touched cannula.
“Can take?”
“No.”
Too fast.
The nurse said:
“We may trial her off soon.”
“No.”
Everyone looked at me.
There it was.
Control again.
Doctor explained.
Her saturation had improved.
Clinical trial off oxygen appropriate.
I wanted to argue.
Then remembered:
Odette thought she knew better than clinicians.
I did not want to become the opposite version.
More oxygen is not always safer simply because less oxygen once became dangerous.
I asked:
“You’re comfortable?”
“Yes.”
They removed cannula under monitoring.
Maisie breathed.
Numbers stayed good.
I nearly cried.
Not because the oxygen came off.
Because this time:
Clinician decided.
Maisie knew what was happening.
I was present.
No one used the equipment to prove a financial point.
After thirty minutes Maisie said:
“See?”
“What?”
“I breathe.”
I kissed her forehead.
“Yes.”
Then she asked:
“Cost less?”
My heart sank.
Still there.
I answered:
“Not your job.”
She smiled.
“Right.”
Recovery is repetition.
May you like
Children learn through hearing the new rule many times.
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