There are productive coughs and unproductive coughs. Productive coughs are wet sounding. They bring up mucus from the throat and lungs. Unproductive coughs are dry and can tear the throat and cause pain.

Our kids have been sick with this aweful cough for months. It's gone into their lungs and I've been at my wits end trying to help their bodies heal. My mother-in-law (an incredibly strong and wise woman who grew up in the jungles of Peru) has this incredible gift: praying. She prays about everything. And she's been praying for me and for the kids. All praying really is is talking to God...and the funny thing is, when you talk to him, he starts talking back. She woke up one morning with what she would call, "a sense that things aren't right with the kids." She was worried about the mucus she could hear in their lungs. So she'd been praying about it. All morning.