Back from Chicago

There are a few conversations SRH and I could have had before Chicago that might have made the trip much better for all involved. To be clear, these are conversations that we could have had, not conversations that we actually did have. More’s the pity.

Imaginary Pre-Chicago Conversation A

SRH: You know, everyone’s talking about what a great city Chicago is and what a great time we’re going to have there, but I think Columbus is really great, too.

Me: Yeah, I do really like Columbus, but won’t it be nice to go to a new city and see new stuff?

SRH: Yeah, but I mean, Columbus is good, too, right? After all, our Children’s Hospital’s Emergency Room was voted 2^nd in the nation – can Chicago beat that? I don’t think so.

Me: Probably not, but - hey, are you trying to start a competition between Columbus and Chicago’s Children’s Hospitals? Because that’s just weird.

SRH: I’m just saying – we may be in a position to judge their relative merits. We’ve visited the Columbus hospital at least 15 times in the past two years, and if Zane’s breathing doesn’t get better…we may get to check out the competition in Chi-Town.

Me: Chi-Town? Huh? No, I refuse to view Zane’s breathing difficulties as anything other than a medical issue. If we do have to go to the ER, I’m sure that Chicago’s Children’s Hospital will handle it just fine. It’s asthma for goodness sake. It’s a fairly common condition.

SRH: What are you defending Chicago for? I’m just saying that they probably can’t bring the top quality medical care that we’re used to. If they can, then they should just bring it.

Me: Are you humming West Side Story?

While this competitive mindset feels alien to my nature, it may have helped me cope with the asthma-induced madness which characterized the first two days of our trip. It might have helped when we had to stop at a mall during our drive to give Zane a breathing treatment - oh why, oh why, didn’t I buy that $150 mobile nebulizer when I had the chance? Or it might have helped me not have a major conniption in the car when we were stuck in incredibly heavy traffic on a TOLL road when his breathing difficulties started escalating again.

A competitive attitude might have been able to turn my thoughts to something like, Columbus Children’s ER wouldn’t blink an eye at this retraction, go ahead Zane, keep getting worse. We want to see what Chicago’s docs are made of.

A competitive outlook might have helped when we had to give him breathing treatments every 2-3 hours the next day. Or it might have helped when we actually got to Chicago’s Children’s ER at the end of that day.

All I’m saying is that a little competitive spirit might have saved me much anguish. As it was, I was a basket case when we finally rolled into the hospital. Zane, however, took the opportunity to finally breathe a little easier – the best he’d been breathing in over 48 hours – and we didn’t even have to see the doctor. It appears that the mere threat of seeing a doctor was enough to make his little lungs act right and start moving air properly.

His breathing was relatively problem-free for the remainder of the week. I don’t think I relaxed about it until at least Friday.

Tomorrow: Imaginary Pre-Chicago Conversation B.