My Life as an Asthma Mom

      As I was using my asthma disc the other day, it dawned on my that my asthma has been well controlled lately.     Hhmm. I was looking over the 'step wise' approach listed in the national asthma guidelines a couple of weeks ago. One of the recommendations is to 'step down' medications if your asthma has been in control for 3 months. I think I'll set an appointment with Asthma Doc. I'm on a combination medication right now, sometimes people can step down on their doses or strength of their daily controller inhaler. Or - they may be able to step down to an inhaled corticosteroid.    Check with your doctor and see if they think you are ready. They should do a pulmonary lung function test to see your lung capacity and review your use of Albuterol to determine how your lungs are.    As I look out the window at the snow and cold weather, I wonder if this is a good time for me to step down. We're headed into flu season (and pneumonia season...

More water damage in the house. When we signed on the dotted line for the house we're in now, things started going wrong. We've had numerous floods in the basement, electrical shorts (which have nearly started fires)  gas line leaks, etc.    Looks like the washing machine is leaking now.    I saw a puddle under the washer last week, hubby AKA 'fix it guy' worked on things for a while and we thought we had it fixed. Then Saturday, I noticed a bubble in the paint on the kitchen wall (located next to the laundry room. ) I knew that wasn't a good sign, and as I was feeling the wall to see if there were any soft spots, my hand went right through the wall.    Yep, definite soft spot! So, here we go again. I have this natural aversion to water damage and mold. In our previous house, we had a leak in the roof over our sun room.    It took 3 months to fix.    They had to tear the wall down to the cinder block, then sand it, bleach it, and us...

      Many of you may be traveling during the holidays. The first thing I pack is all of the kid's asthma medications and equipment.    The last thing I want is to get stuck somewhere without the nebulizer. The last time we went on vacation, we packed all the maintenance asthma inhalers, quick relief inhalers, albuterol vials, and the nebulizer. The only thing we forgot was the liquid fever reducer medicine and cough medicine.    And of course, we ended up needing it. It's common to think "'we won't need that". But when you're on vacation, it's difficult to try to find a store, especially when you're in a strange place and don't know where things are located.    So, now we pack everything, and if we don't need it, that's okay. I believe in Murphy's law (if something can go wrong, it will). So, I use my own logic and pack everything, thinking if I bring it, I won't need it. If I don't pack it, I will be kicking myself b...

  I'm volunteering with American Lung Association and teaching an Open Airways class at Kitty's elementary school. It's a 6 week class that teaches kids age 8-11 how to manage their asthma. It's really fun, I know most of the kids from volunteering at the school and working there for a few years.    Since everyone with asthma is different, it's been fun to teach the kids about asthma triggers, when to take their inhaler, how to get help, how to use their inhaler, etc. I hope it helps the school nurse. Since she has so many schools to cover, she's only available on Thursday mornings for a few hours. So I tell the kids "if you're going to have an asthma attack, make sure you do it Thursday mornings!"    Only kidding, things never work out that tidy, do they? With the unpredictable nature of asthma, who knows when an attack will hit. When we are done with this workshop, the students will know they're not alone - other kids in the school have asthm...

      I think it's important to remember that asthma can be unpredictable. I can remember one time when we thought we would take Son #2 to the ER "just to get some chest x-rays and make sure he was okay" An hour later, I was standing in his hospital room in the Pediatrics wing, wearing a skirt and high heels. I hadn't thought to change after work, because I was certain he would be treated and released from the Emergency Department.    Well, that's what I get for doing my own thinking. I had to ask the nurse for a set of scrubs and some slippers that I could sleep in. They also brought a toothbrush and toothpaste and took care of me too.   Since that time, I have learned to plan ahead. If I'm really worried about Son #2 or Kitty, I quickly change into a pair of workout pants, long sleeve t-shirt, sports bra, and socks with sneakers.    It's a comfy out fit to sleep in next to the kid's hospital bed, and I can still be be presentable when the staff ...

I was watching the video "Ever After"and there's a great line from Anjelica Houston. She is the deliciously evil step mother who says to Cinderella (Drew Barrymore): "We must'nt feel sorry for ourselves, must we? No matter how bad things get, they can ALWAYS (insert shrill trill of the tongue sound) get worse" Photo cred: IMBD  https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0120631/mediaviewer/rm710188545/ That has been our family mantra. With three kids with asthma (inherited from me), we have had countless visits to Asthma Doc, Urgent Care, the ER and 12 hospitalizations (2 of those were ICU admissions.)  I sometimes have people ask if we think "Why me?" It always surprises me when people say that. No we don't say 'Why me?' I'm a fixer.  Like most women, when something's wrong, I want to fix it. So, when we're in the doctor's office or pharmacy, or I'm pacing the floor because one of the kids is really bad with their asthma, I think, ...

      Let's face it, many moms have to nag their kids to do things.  I have to be watch my son when he's on a course of Prednisone, I have to make sure he is taking the correct dose morning and night. That's not a medication where you can afford to miss a dose - from what I know, it affects your adrenal gland.  And that can cause some major problems if you stop taking it suddenly. It's important to take it EXACTLY as the doctor prescribes, including tapering off the medication. As for my kid's daily, controller inhalers, I feel like I'm always watching to see that the kids take their inhalers. If their asthma disc or asthma spacer & inhaler are in the exact same position on the kitchen counter for a day or two, I know they're not taking their medicine.  It's hard to get kids to do anything on a regular basis - and all kids want to cut corners. I tell them "nice try, but you can't skip brushing your teeth and chew gum instead". 😑 The s...