My Life as an Asthma Mom

     With a family of 5, we find it helpful to shop at the warehouse store and buy in bulk.  I managed to pry Kitty and Son #2 off the computer to go with me. Lucky them, it was free sample day. I glanced at all the samples, none of them seemed a problem.  But I turned around to say something to one of the kids, and noticed Son #2 was about to put a piece of a granola bar/power bar in his mouth.  Picture me in slow motion waving my arms and running towards him, fixated on the sample nearing his mouth, yelling 'nooooooooooo!'  He was a little shocked, and quickly pulled the sample down from his mouth. I panted, 'did you check for tree nuts?'  We examined the bar, but couldn't tell if it had tree nuts. We went back to the vender, but she didn't know what was in the sample. How could she not know what she was serving?! I snatched the box to read the label, and sure enough - there was a tree nut allergy warning. That was a close call, Son #2 is usuall...

    Yes, it's a fact. I try to avoid sick people.  I was talking with a friend online last night about germs and sick people. She has it much worse than I do. She has a daughter with a rare muscular disorder that also affects her breathing. The daughter is dependent on a tracheotomy tube and lives in a wheelchair.  She is also hibernating for the winter inside her nice, safe house-away from sick people. I can't say to her that "I know how you feel" because I don't. I can commiserate to a degree. And I'm not saying what we go through compares with their struggles.  The problem with asthma is that any respiratory infection is magnified. There's no such thing as a simple cold. The minute I hear someone coughing, we get up and leave the movie theater, church, etc.  I know it sounds dramatic, but I can't expose my kids to other sick people. When my kids get sick, it means a trip to Asthma Doc (I love that man for keeping my kids alive the last 11 years!)  O...

          My son with severe asthma is sick again. Or as Son #2 says, "What else is new?" We were out of town and returned to find Son #2 coughing.  I asked him how long he had been coughing, and he said, "I dunno." He seems so used to it, it's not a big deal. Of course for me, it's a warning that he's about to have a big drop on his peak flow meter. When I hear him cough, it instantly makes me anxious, I start quizzing him on his peak flow number and ask him if he's taking all his medications.  About a week later, we were at Asthma Doctor's office, getting Son #2's Xolair shot. Asthma Doctor could tell something was wrong by the way Son #2 was acting. He was listless and not his usual joking self. He was starting to cough up some nasty colored phlegm too. Asthma doctor knows Son #2 all too well. So does Pediatrician. We don't see the pediatrician that often, but he says, "I know what he's like, I wouldn't be too concerned ab...

We were with a family member again in the hospital this weekend. I was happy to see he had a bubbler with his oxygen (it helps keep the nasal passages moist which helps prevent bloody noses and irritation). I also noticed the oxygen tubing now comes with short gray padded coverings which fit over the ear area. Sometimes times the ears can get irritated from the tubing. It reminded me of one of the times one of the kids were in the hospital. When the kids are little, they will have little sticky pads on their cheeks which allows the tubing to adhere. That way, the tubing isn't sliding all over their face. The only problem comes in removing the thick pads from the kid's cheeks. One of the times Son #2 was in the hospital, it came time for discharge. The male nurse came up and grabbed and edge and ripped the pads of Son #2's cheeks. You might imagine how painful it was, it left a welt and a red mark for several days. Of course I complained about it the next time Son #2 was in ...

   I am officially tired of winter, and especially since this is an abnormally cold spell for us. One of my asthma triggers is cold temperatures, not just the cold weather, but anything cold. Ice cream, smoothies, etc. However, I am NOT giving up my beloved Baskin Robbins chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Lately, I have been having a hard time in the mornings, when the temperature is hovering around 10 degrees. I can get about five steps outside my car, and instantly can feel my lungs tighten up and I start coughing.  Usually, I wear a scarf and can breathe through that. I forgot one yesterday, so here's a fun tip. It looks a little strange on adults, but the kids love it. Call it what you will, but you cup one or both hands over your nose and mouth and breath in like Darth Vader. It's just enough to warm up the air before you breath it, which helps stop the coughing and asthma overreaction of my lungs. If you're in a pinch, it works great to allow you to get from your c...

    I am always on the look out for something new, and I found a fun video game called Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus , it's a Super Nintendo video game. This isn't a new game, it came out in 1996, but it's new to me. Players assume the role of a dinosaur with asthma and must keep their asthma under control. But there is always evil lurking, and this comes in the form of deadly dust clouds. There are even cold viruses shot through the air by Sneezers. The dinosaur goes through a series of activities; monitoring their peak flow, taking their medication when needed, using an inhaler correctly, following a sick day plan and avoiding triggers like dust, smoke and pollen. And of course those nasty cold viruses. One study showed that kids with asthma who played this video game at home were able to reduce urgent care and emergency department visits by 40%! Now I wouldn't mind if my kids were playing video games if they were learning at the same time, having better health and less ...

  Flash Back Friday - mold When you let leaking water problems go for too long, you get mold.     We had an attached sun room on our previous house and found out (too late) that the roof was leaking. It affected the ceiling and walls as well. Our historic home was built with cinder block, so the wallboard and insulation were removed so the workers could get to the cinder block.    The cinder block was sanded and bleached, and a negative air pressure machine was installed in the room. (It apparently draws moisture out of a room.) T   hen the cinder block was sanded and bleached again. The sun room was sealed off from the rest of the house, and the outside entrance was covered in heavy duty plastic and the bio-hazard sticker. The workers also wore bio hazard suits and high end respirators.    And my kids used that as a playroom?! I discovered the leak one day while it was raining. Kitty had just been released from the hospital for asthma and pn...

      Cause and effect are a difficult thing to try to figure out. One of the things we still struggle with is what is causing allergies and asthma, often we have little flare ups in sneezing and wheezing. I've noticed that lately I have been waking up every morning with a tight chest and a few coughs. Kitty is also sneezing and wheezing, so I have gone through her room to try and determine the cause. The bed set has been freshly laundered, the curtains have been washed, of course I vacuum a couple of times a week, especially under the bed. I started researching online about how often we should replace our pillows. Most websites recommended replacing pillows once a year. Apparently, body and hair oils accumulate on your pillow. Not to mention sweat and drool. Doesn't that sound fun?! So, I decided to try new pillows. Of course Hubby said, "Didn't we just buy new pillows?" Well, 'just' to him has a different meaning to me. As in, didn't you 'just...

    This may not be for everyone, but it's something that seems to help our family with asthma. Roller shades are simple and functional, and when they roll up, there's no where for dust to settle. The problem with having beautiful plantation shutters or 2" wood blinds, is that the horizontal surface is an unbelievable dust magnet.  I don't know about you, but my weekend to-do list doesn't include 'spend 3 hours cleaning all the blinds in the house'. I do have 2" wood blinds in my kitchen, but they came with the house. It's a little different having them in the kitchen versus having them in a bedroom and sleeping directly underneath them. The roller shades are quick to wipe down, and it's easy to wash the windows too because the blinds roll up most of the way. There are different options for roller shades. Some people adorn them with striped fabric, old maps, etc. I sewed pom pom fringe on the bottom of Kitty's blinds. As long as they can st...