While that doctor is nice enough, Teri says, it is hard to see him because he's so busy. Two years ago, before Teri got a breathing machine for the boys, they sometimes were in the emergency room three or four times a month. And when one child goes to the emergency room, the entire family has to go. The other kids sleep on the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. Most of the medicine comes from sample packets.
Someone is always on antibiotics for bronchitis or an ear infection.
The boys are supposed to take Claritin for their allergies, says Ferguson, but Mercy Care won't cover it, either. It's hard . . . At the stove, Elizabeth and Kevin are turning meatballs in two big frying pans with wooden spoons. These winter months are the worst for the boys' asthma. Just after Halloween, Kody had an attack that took him out of school, and two days later, Roger had one.