With an action plan and help of Norton Children’s team of specialists, Lucas is thriving without continuous coughing or emergency room visits.
With an action plan and help of Norton Children’s team of specialists, Lucas is thriving without continuous coughing or emergency room visits.
Published: October 30, 2026
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
When Lucas Golden of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was 18 months old, he had his first coughing episode. Lucas’ mom, Amanda Golden, called it a “wolf cough” that never really went away. He always seemed to have a cough.
“We went through all the usual things you’d expect when a child has an ongoing cough,” Amanda said. “Nothing was ever seriously wrong, but for about two years we repeated the same routine with our local pediatrician. Finally, he said, ‘You know what? We agree this is something bigger than a normal childhood cough.”
Many nights were spent doing breathing treatments with albuterol, a medicine that helps open the airways. According to Amanda, sometimes the albuterol seemed to help, and other times it seemed to make things worse. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.
“Our pediatrician referred Lucas to a local ear, nose and throat physician, who ordered a CT scan,” Amanda said. “The CT scan appeared to show a narrowing esophagus, and we were told he needed to see a pediatric specialist.”
Lucas was referred to Vicki L. Owczarzak, M.D., pediatric otolaryngologist with Norton Children’s ENT & Audiology.
Dr. Owczarzak took the approach of trying various treatments to see how Lucas responded to each one. She also used small cameras on thin, flexible tubes to examine Lucas’ esophagus and nasal passages.
“She was phenomenal,” Amanda said. “I’ll never forget the look on her face when she came out afterward. She said she had never seen so much mucus. Her exact word was ‘remarkable.’ The amount of mucus built up in his nasal passages was incredible.”
According to Dr. Owczarzak, Lukas’ airway was “anatomically normal,” but affected by inflammation and mucus.
“Every time Lucas got a viral illness, the airway would narrow, causing his symptoms of croup and cough due to the inflammation,” Dr. Owczarzak said. “Once we were able to medically treat his chronic rhinosinusitis, the inflammation, and therefore his symptoms, occurred less frequently.”
According to Amanda, Lucas never really had a runny nose — so there were no obvious signs of congestion, yet everything seemed to be trapped.
After the scoping procedures, things immediately started getting better for Lucas. The narrowing appearance of his esophagus on the CT scan was actually inflammation caused by years of coughing. His entire esophagus was bright red from the constant coughing.
“Around age 4, Lucas started doing nasal rinses, which is pretty brave for a 4-year-old,” Amanda said. “He’s 10 now and manages a lot of it himself. He knows when something doesn’t feel right and when he needs treatment.”
At the same time or as a result of follow-ups, Lucas was under the care of several pediatric specialty teams, including Norton Children’s Allergy & Immunology, Norton Children’s Endocrinology and Norton Children’s Pulmonology.
“The staff amazed me,” Amanda said. “They were kid-centered and compassionate. They knew exactly how to distract children, keep them calm and make them feel safe.
“The way they approached blood draws, CT scans and procedures made an enormous difference. They really knew how to make children comfortable.”
As a result of testing, Lucas’ care team determined that his response to the pneumonia vaccine was lower than expected. He received an additional pneumonia vaccine, similar to those given to older adults.
At that point, things improved dramatically.
“Every specialty gave us a plan,” Amanda said. “Pulmonology developed a ‘green-light, yellow-light, red-light’ system that helped Lucas understand his symptoms. He could tell when everything was fine, when he was entering a caution zone and when it was time to start treatment such as the nebulizer.”
A nebulizer is a machine that creates a mist to deliver medicine to the airways.
“What impressed me most was how well all the teams communicated and worked together,” Amanda said. “Every provider seemed genuinely invested in our family. The coordination was extremely beneficial. Being able to have appointments with multiple specialties on the same day and in the same building made a huge difference.”
Even when Lucas did not have an appointment, Amanda was able to reach out to his providers through Norton MyChart, an online medical record and messaging platform.
“One thing that was especially helpful was MyChart,” Amanda said. “It’s not like we could call and get a same-day appointment, but we could message ‘Dr. O,’ and she was always responsive. Living in Bowling Green … yet we felt connected to each provider.”
According to Amanda, it’s now been nearly two years without an emergency department visit for Lucas.
“Throughout the time I cared for Lucas, I got to know him and his family both personally and professionally,” Dr. Owczarzak said. “This is the true privilege taking care of patients, and it is a pleasure to know that Lucas is thriving.”