A little (okay, big) health scare

I got a call yesterday morning from my mom. The gas company had just left their home and the carbon monoxide level had been 500 parts-per-million. That's enough to kill a healthy adult in about 8 hours. The scare - other than the fact that my parents, brother, and 2 1/2 year old niece were all subjected to this level - was that Luke and I had been at their home this weekend.

Mom helped me out and kept Luke on Saturday so that I could drive Miss Trussville's Outstanding Teen in the Trussville Christmas parade. She met me in Springville and took Luke back to her house. Other than going to church Sunday morning, Luke was there from Saturday around one until 2PM Sunday afternoon. In hindsight, we can see that his irritability and lethargy were probably caused by the carbon monoxide exposure. As were my severe headache and nausea, my mom's dizzyness and fall, my father's severe heart pain, and my brother's flu-like symptoms. We can only pray that Charli and Luke don't suffer any long-term effects of the exposure.

I called Luke's pediatrician as soon as I found-out and we ended-up getting checked-out at Children's. His blood gases revealed that he had a signifigant exposure, but was recovered to the point that they didn't need to treat him.

The only thing I can tell anyone is that a carbon monoxide detector is a wise investment. None of us even thought to link our symptoms until after we found-out about the exposure. If you live in an older home its also a good idea to have the furnace flue cleaned regularly. That was the root of the problem.

Here's a link to some information about carbon monoxide poisoning:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/carbon_monoxide_poisoning/article_em.htm

During our trip to Children's, I found-out that Luke's weight is up to 13 lbs 10 oz! No wonder my back has been hurting!