My Life as an Asthma Mom

  Follow up from Monday's post.  I was ABSOLUTELY NOT going to send my daughter to girl's camp. There is a 40,000 acre fire in the area around the campsite, and I wasn't worried about the fire getting close to the camp-it's the smoke that gets you when you have asthma. My friend called from the campsite and said that it was clear of smoke, and that we should consider sending daughter Kitty up to the camp. She also assured us that Kitty could call every night and let us know that she was okay.  We decided to drive up to the campsite-2 hours away. We drove through a lot of smoke, but when we reached the camp, it was clear. I met with all of the leaders, and made sure they would keep a close eye on Kitty. Then I met with the camp nurse, who works in the ICU and explained all the medications Kitty was on. She assured us that Kitty would be fine, and that if she needed to leave, they would quickly send her out with one of the leaders. ...

(Spenser Heaps, Provo Daily Herald) No sooner is Friday's fire out than another one is started. This one just happens to be near Girl's Camp where daughter, Kitty, is supposed to be going tomorrow morning. It's several miles away from the campsite itself, but we all know how smoke can travel. To say I am stressed out is an understatement. I sent an email to our local meteorologist to ask about the fire and see if they could track the smoke with their Doppler radar. She said the smoke is traveling north now, but will shift the day the girls head to camp and will most likely drift into the camp. She also said canyons act very differently with wind flow, they have their own sort of "current". So the fire can be miles away, but the smoke can drift all over the mountains and fill the canyons. We have had BAD experiences with smoke from forest fires. There was a fire here about 10 years ago that almost cost Son #2 his life. So the smoke + asthma makes me a VERY s...

I knew this day would be coming- fires! We have had a very pathetic winter and spring, which means everything is bone dry. There's a lot of brush on the mountains, and it burns like crazy. I can't get a good photo of the fire from my house, if I get a better one, I'll add that to the blog. Even though they have been warning people on the news to NOT TARGET SHOOT, some people decided to shoot their guns anyway. And of course they started a fire. This isn't the first fire this month, there was one a few weeks ago-also caused by someone target shooting. That fire was quickly put out. Then the TV news stations aired reports urging people to not to go into the foothills and target shoot with their guns, but they obviously didn't listen. I can see the plums of smoke from my house, but luckily I am far enough away that we don't have worry about being evacuated. But so far this morning, they have evacuated 8,000 people so far (in the first 24 hours). But the fir...

I spent $200 for two meds at the pharmacy last week - and that wasn't including Son #2's epi pen that they had to order in. Pharmacist wisely suggested ordering an epi pen, because it would have a longer shelf life. If I'm going to pay $50 for an epi-pen (and most likely not have to use it) I would rather have it last as long as I can. But buying prescriptions for our family adds up. Hubby and I and all three kids have allergies, and the kids and I all have asthma. So things get a little expensive.  Add to that a monthly fee for Xolair injections ($150 copay on the $1000 injection), and we really spend a lot on medicine! Singulair is supposed to be going generic this year, but until it does, the co-pay seems to be going up and up. I used to pay $28 for Singulair, now I am paying about $45 a month (times three-for my three kids). I found a $20 off coupon on the Singulair website. To print your own coupon, click here.   The coupon says, " Limit 1 coupon per pa...

(Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America) Is your city one of the 10 worst cities for asthma? What makes your city get on the list? The 100 biggest cities in America are evaluated in 12 different areas, some of those are: No public smoking bans High pollen counts Frequent ozone days Poor air quality High use of asthma medication Poverty levels After displaying the Top 10 cites, the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America tells people not to move , but improve where they are living. If you live in one of the cities listed, can you push for smoking bans in parks and public places? Can you use public transportation? Can you meet with your doctor to make sure you are on the right medication? My asthma doctor said, "there is no safe place to live with asthma." Everywhere you go, there will be allergens (trees, flowers, bushes, grass, animals, etc.) There will also be irritants (cigarette smoke, cleaning sprays, scented candles, bad air quality, etc) There...

  We're one of those unlucky families that has allergies and asthma. My husband and I and all 3 kids have allergies, and everyone except Hubby has asthma. Needless to say, we don't have any pets. However, Neighbor Dog loves to come over and see Hubby. Hubby says it's because they have the same I.Q. level..... Neighbor's kitties also love us. Probably because I give them a bowl of milk every morning. Well, you know, they're just sitting on my porch being cute. And meowing. I can't resist, I have to give them a little bowl of milk for breakfast! But the problem is petting or holding Neighbor Dog or Neighbor's Kitties. They look at you with those big eyes, how can you resist petting them? Well, I usually can't resist, so I pet them. Then I head straight inside to wash my hands. On occasion, I'll pet Neighbor's Kitties on the way out the door to work. If I don't want to wash my hands, I'll use my pop up canister of Handi Wipes. Some...

(Allergy and Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics-AANMA) I was reading an article in the latest Allergy and Asthma Today Magazine about new inventions that have changed the lives of people with asthma. Their group narrowed down their choices to the Top 10 Technologies or Innovations over the last 25 years. (Kind of sounds like a Top 10 list from David Letterman....only this list isn't funny, it's serious when you have asthma! The winners were recognized in Washington DC at Capitol Hill during AANMA's 15th annual Allergy & Asthma Day.   To find out who they chose, click here .   Our family uses 4 of the top 10 innovations. But by far, my favorite is Xolair. It's for patients whose asthma is hard to control-even though they are on a daily maintenance medication. Son #2 was on daily maintenance medications, allergy medication, was having allergy shots, and would still end up in the hospital when he got sick. In fact, he was hospitalized 8 times and almost ...

I read an article about a mob of people in Hyderabad, India who are desperate to cure their asthma. A family there, the Gouds, offer their "cure" annually on a special day chosen by astrologers.  The "cure" consists of swallowing live sardines that are smeared with a yellow herbal paste. They believe it will cure people of all of their breathing problems. The Gouds claim that a Hindu saint gave the family the secret formula 170 years ago. Every year, they give away the herb smeared fish for free but they won't tell what's in the mix because the Hindu saint said it wouldn't be as strong if it was made commercially. Apparently, 70,000 other people believed it too, because they rushed the stadium where the Goud's were holding the special ceremony. On a sad note, one man died of a heart attack. Several other people had to get medical treatment because they were having a hard time breathing. For the others in the crowd, after they swallow the ...

(Ventolin.com) Son #2 needed a new inhaler, and I REALLY wanted one with a counter on it. It's very hard to know how many puffs are left in an inhaler-unless you use a marker and put hash marks on the canister holder every time you use it. And if an inhaler has 200 doses, that can be a lot of hash marks! Ventolin has a counter on the inhaler, but for some strange reason, my insurance company won't cover it. I had to call them to find out which rescue inhaler they WILL cover. The only one is ProAir. So I was excited to learn in Allergy & Asthma Today magazine that ProAir also has an inhaler with a counter.The link listed above will take you to the "Top Ten Innovations in Technology Awards"on the website. It's a shorter story than the magazine article.)  The magazine article says that the ProAir inhaler came out in March of 2012, but when I got mine from the pharmacy, it didn't have a counter on it. I asked the pharmacist why my ProAir didn't ...

 (Utah Division of Air Quality) I just received an alert on Facebook from my local health department. The alert states that today is a "Yellow Air Quality Day" here in our county. My county is a unique geographical area, I live in the bottom of a "bowl" or valley that is surrounded by mountains. That means the air gets trapped in the valley and builds up ozone levels. This can make asthma and other lung conditions worse. It also affects people with heart conditions. High ozone levels can cause red eyes, nose and throat irritation, coughing and wheezing. The Utah Division of Air Quality website helps you learn when to limit your outdoor activity. It also encourages people to use mass transit, or reduce traveling time in your car. Click here for a link to the Utah Division of Air Quality (DAQ) website. If the link doesn't work, the web address is http://www.airquality.utah.gov/  It has some easy-to-understand tutorials about air quality and how they can...

This is what I saw on my way home from work last night. Smoke in the valley makes me VERY nervous!  The area I live in is surrounded by mountains, and the valley has a lot of farms. So fires are always a concern here. This past winter was pathetic, we didn't get much snow at all.  The license plates covers for our state say, "Greatest Snow on Earth." But not this year! We didn't get much snow in the valleys, and now I am worried about a drought. This fire was started in a remote area by two men who were shooting guns. It's burned about 200 acres so far, but it doesn't look too bad this morning. I was worried that this was just the start, and that it was going to spread quickly. I could smell the smoke last night, so we made sure all of the windows were closed and that no family members were outside. We've had fires here that were MUCH worse. This valley where half a million people live was thick with smoke. And Son #2 almost "crashed" or s...