Lingering Cough

The boy has been sick for almost 3 months already. He's not like seriously sickly or anything but over the past 3 months, he has had about 4 bouts of flu which he doesn't seem to be able to fully recover from. He started with a nasty flu that gave him thick green mucus in his nose and a phlegmy cough. He was given a round of antibiotics which made him better after 1 and a half weeks. Then he finished all his medicine but he still had a very slight cough for a few days and then before we know it, his condition worsens and he's down with another bout of flu. This resulted in another course of antibiotics and the whole cycle begins. Imagine this happening like 4 times over 3 months! Made me wonder what kind of mother am I. (ya, going on the guilt trip)
To make it worse, this boy has got a sensitive nose and the flu caused his nose to be inflamed and according to the doc, it's all red and swollen inside. Well, after 2 courses of antibiotics and after finishing like 8 bottles of medicine, I decided to switch pedi coz the pedi that I went to didn't seem to examine him very thoroughly. She kinda diagnosed and gave out medication based on my assessment.
So, we switched to another pedi that we used to go to, just that it's further away in Sengkang and it's VERY crowded. If you call in the morning, you can forget about getting an appointment for that day or the following two days. And if you walk in, which we did, our waiting time range from 2-3hours. So anyway, desperate to get Caleb well, I took him to see this doc. After the doc examined him, she said the good thing is his lungs are clear. Bad thing is that his nose is really very inflamed and recommended that he be put on a nasal spray for a period of time. She started with more medicine for him to try to clear off his flu and then told me that his lingering cough is probably due to his sensitive nose. The medication for his sensitive nose can't take effect coz each time he starts to get better, it takes some time for the medicine to take effect. But, he'll fall sick and catch another bout of flu and again his sensitivity is heightened again. And so the vicious cycle keeps repeating.
Other than prescribing more medicine, she suggested that I take him out of school for a while to reduce his chances of catching more viruses. And to feed him Vitamin C or Cod Liver oil to boost his immunity. Doc told me that cod liver oil is actually very good for raising immunity, much better than vitamin C, but most children don't really like it.
Well, me and Daddy both HATED cod liver oil as little children. I always felt it had a plastic taste to it and every time I'm asked to eat it, it'll be a BIG struggle between me and my mum. Well, both me and Daddy felt that chances of Caleb liking cod liver oil would be very low given that we both didn't like it so I opted for Vitamin C instead.
Anyway, after another 5 bottles of medicine and nightly struggles with Caleb to spray his nose, his thick green mucus filled nose finally cleared. (This is like after 4 more visits to the 2nd doc) But, the poor boy still has that lingering cough. He doesn't cough throughout the day but maybe 20 times a day. Mostly in the middle of the night when he sleeps and in the mornings when he wakes up.
And he's taking a full range of medicine for sensitive nose, from a Nasonex spray, to Zytec, to antihistamin, to cough mixture and even this super expensive chewy tablet called Singulair. Gosh, I'm perpetually stuffing my son with medication day and night. I feel quite sorry for him actually. He's very active and doesn't quite appear to be sick except for that occasional phlegmy cough which just doesn't go away. The doc advised me to continue with the nose spray and if his cough worsens, which I actually think it did over the last two days, I should go buy more singulair for him to eat.
I did go to the pharmacy to try to buy Singulair and I nearly fainted when I was told of the cost. One tablet cost $3 plus and I'll need to buy 1 box which will cost me $90 each time! Plus it's not readily available and I got to order it.
Well, since I couldn't get the Singulair, in my desperate attempt, I decided to try out cod liver oil as well. Before Caleb even put the cod liver oil into his mouth, he already started to protest and insists that it has a smell. But somehow, after A LOT of persuasion, I managed to get him to eat it over the last two days.
So now, my son has to eat Vitamin C, Cod liver oil, Zrytec, cough mixture, Singulair and a nose spray at night. Imagine this going on for the past 3 months, and the quantity of medication has already been reduced. When he had his thick green mucus, there were more medication to eat.
Eating medicine and knowing that he is sick, is so much a part of him now that every time I deprive him of any food, his first reaction is "I can't eat it coz I'm sick right? I can eat it when I get better?"
Every night when we pray with him, we'll pray that God will heal him completely so that he can eat all the things that he wants and go swimming and do more exciting stuff again.
Poor boy lah, really breaks me and Daddy's heart to see him sick for so long.