Sad and pathetic

Connor had a ROUGH night Friday night. Lots of coughing (terrible, gagging, barking-sounding coughs), very labored breathing. Three separate times I was convinced we needed to rush to the ER and then he'd settle back into a better pattern (still very labored, but not to the point where I was panicking, you know?) and then I'd opt to stay home. We went to the Urgent Care in our area right as it opened Saturday morning and they got him started on a nebulizer after checking his vitals and listening to his lungs. They didn't hear anything his lungs, so whatever it was, was focused in his throat. They wrote us an Rx for albuteral and the nebulizer machine, which we had to go to two separate pharmacies before we found a place that had the machines in stock. The doc and the pharmacist made it sound like we should see some significant improvement after the first at-home breathing treatment, but two hours later, he was still wheezing BADLY, so I called to question if that was okay, and they said him bring him back in immediately. When we arrived, an x-ray tech was waiting at the door and rushed us back to do some chest x-rays (which ended up coming back clear). They gave us an Rx for an oral steroid hoping that, on top of the albuterol, would get him breathing better. They checked his temp several times (normal), checked his pulse several times (a little fast), checked his oxygen levels MANY times (within normal ranges every time). The doc said based on how he SOUNDED, they should be sending us straight to the ER, but since he wasn't blue in his lips and his oxygen levels were good, the doc said he'd probably be more comfortable at home, but we were to keep a very close eye on him (sleep next to him, etc). We did the albuterol every four hours during the waking hours, the oral steroid twice a day, and cough meds every six hours during the waking hours, and he's SLIGHTLY better today. The wheeze isn't as loud, he isn't coughing nearly as much, but he's clearly still wheezing. Today is his last day of the oral steroids, and we have a few more days of the albuterol. Their best guess, in the end, is that it was/is croup, except he never had any cold or flu symptoms AT ALL (and normally croup is associated with either a cold or the flu). He's hardly eaten a thing all weekend (I think, all together since Saturday morning, he's had a half a banana, a half a slice of cheese, 2-3 grapes, a few bites of toast, 4oz of hot cocoa, 5oz water, and a few peanuts.), but seems perky enough despite not eating and not breathing well.

How sad and pathetic is this??