The Vaporizer

J.J. woke up in the night wheezing for air a couple nights ago. He caught his breath after Justin held him. It has happened a couple times in the past, and I always thought he was coming down with something. But this time it was worse, and when J.J. woke up, he wasn't sick. I took him to the doctor and he said it could be asthma, which runs in our family.

If it happens again, we're supposed to give him an inhaler. If the medicine is effective, it means he has asthma. In the meantime, he needs to sleep with a vaporizer every night.

When you're a little kid, getting a vaporizer is a big deal. To the boys, it was like Christmas all over again.

They looked at it from every angle and argued about where it should go. J.J. was proud when I put it right by his bed.

"Can I be in charge of filling it with water?" Johnny asked.

"Sure," I said.

"Should I also be in charge of giving J.J. his medicine?"

"Absolutely not. But tell us if you think he needs it."

But they also had concerns.

Richie asked: "Will we be vaporized?"

"Do you want to be?" I asked.

"No."

"Then I don't think so."

Johnny asked: "Will the water form a cloud and rain on us?"

"Do you want to be rained on?"

"Not really."

"Then probably not."

Johnny asked, "Is asthma a serious disease?"

"Well, it's treatable with medicine, so that's good," I said.

The vaporizer seemed to help, as J.J. didn't have any trouble in the night. I hope it was just a fluke, but only time will tell.