Before we brushed the dust of the ER off our feet for good, we had to make a stop at the pharmacy. I was given a bag of four medicines. Surely one or two of them held the secret to my recovery. There was cough syrup with codeine, a pill that acted as another cough suppressant, an aulbuterol inhaler in case I had trouble breathing again, and prednisone, again, to open up my lungs until my body could rid itself of the stuff that was clogging my bronchial passageways. I was so giddy with the thought of finally getting a good night’s rest that I didn’t let the weird sound in my chest bother me a bit. In fact, it was kind of amusing, a sound a lot like rice krispies in fresh poured milk right there in my sternum. “Hear that honey?” I said gleefully. “You don’t even need a stethoscope!”

Oh, yes, I was so sure that tonight would be the night that I would actually get to sleep that I practically jumped into bed. Sure, I was wheezing, sure I was coughing like crazy, but I was certain that once all the meds kicked in, I would sleep through it all. What I underestimated were the balls of multi-colored yuck that would soon be hurling themselves from my lungs and over my tongue like chemical warfare projectiles every 90 seconds. Why, why, WHY wasn’t my cough being supressed? Wasn’t that what the meds were for? It got so bad that my husband and I got out of bed in the middle of the night to watch TV while I had dark thoughts about doctors who feed their patients fairytales about nice medicines that would make them feel better.

The next day, I called the doctor. I was told that there were no appointments available, I just had a virus (silly child!) and, oh, if I had trouble breathing again, to go to the ER. Again. Two more days of total and utter abject misery (yes, I drank plenty of fluids, I used a warm mist vaporizer, I did everything we could think of!) I was so fortunate as to develop a sinus infection. Again, I called the doctor, again, no appointments were available, but the doctor did agree to prescribe me an antibiotic. Happy Day! Or was it? .