My Life as an Asthma Mom

I am a big believer in Flu Shots. I know that some people try to avoid shots (who really likes needles anyway?!) If you don't have asthma, you can have the flu mist. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the flu mist is for "healthy people."  "Healthy" indicates persons who do not have an underlying medical condition that predisposes them to influenza complications. Asthma is one of those conditions that "predisposes people to influenza complications." The flu mist is made with a live, weakened virus. That's not good for people with asthma, especially if you use corticosteroids. One of the side effects of steroids is that it impairs your immune system. The Free Dictionary by Farlex says that: "...patients being treated with corticosteroids should avoid receiving live virus vaccines." So check with your doctor, but we have always been told that if you have asthma, you can't have the flu mist. My kids are used to

    It's been a while since daughter Kitty has been really sick. But school started last week, so here we go with the first illness of the school year (what do you expect when you're around 1200 other kids in a school...) She was coughing and didn't sound very good, so I knew she needed a breathing treatment with the nebulizer. She used to be pretty good at putting the nebulizer kit together and doing her own treatment, but she couldn't remember how. This is our nebulizer, canister and tubing kit. Our canister comes apart so it can be easily cleaned. I showed Kitty how to pull it apart and add the Albuterol to the 'green volcano' and put it back together. She's old enough to sit still and read or watch TV while she does her treatment.    With little kids, you may have to distract them or let them give 'teddy' or whatever stuffed animal they love a 'treatment' first. I know moms that put a little water in the canister to mimic the mist f

(WinningwithAsthma.org) Today I just sent an email to all of my daughter teachers. It's a new school and I need all of them to know about the problems Kitty has with her asthma. She may not have any problems while she's in class, but what if she does? Will they know what to do? Have they ever seen an asthma attack?! It's scarey!!!!!!! There is an online training, called Winning with Asthma. It's supposed to be for coaches, but it's a good 'Asthma 101' video for anyone to watch. I sent the link to Kitty's teachers and asked them if they would please watch the training. It talks about asthma and shows how to treat an asthma attack.   I also need to send an email to Son #2's teachers about his asthma. His asthma is much worse. He misses a lot of school which causes problems when teachers are going to give him an incomplete for missing so many days each semester. Last year, we had to call Asthma Doc and have him fax a paper over saying tha

    Generic Singulaire is here! I know, I need a life.     I am excited because generic Singulair is in pharmacies now!    I was picking up another prescription and casually asked the pharmacist when they would be getting the generic Singulair.    I knew the FDA had approved it, but I thought it would take a while to be produced and be on store shelves.    Wrong! You can ask your pharmacist for it today.    I thought I would have to get another prescription, but my pharmacist said unless the doctor has written "no generic substitutions" we could switch to the generic version.    I excitedly asked the pharmacist to run it through to see how much it would be.    He said it was $10.    I gasped and he asked how much I normally pay for Singulair. My copay is almost $50 a month, and since all 3 of my kids take Singulair.... I pay $150 a month     That's in addition to me paying for albuterol inhalers, daily controller inhalers, vials of albuterol for the nebulizer, and Ep

      I live in a high altitude location, it's about 5,000 feet above sea level. I'm used to it, but many people who visit here have a hard time. Our friend recently scaled Mount McKinley (also known as Denali) in Alaska. This is one of those climbs that takes 3 weeks and requires you to stop at different elevations along the way and to let your body adjust.  Since the peak of Denali is at 20,000 feet, the altitude causes a lot of problems. Our friend was telling us how hard it is to breathe during the climb.    He said even the smallest chore was difficult and he would have to stop and try to catch his breath. At one point, he was trying to cut a small block of snow that he would use to stack up and create a wall (to block the wind.)    He was having such a hard time breathing that he could only saw the snow three times with his knife, before having to stop. He was so exhausted and low on oxygen that he gave up and huddled in his tent.  I wondered what it would be like t

(American Lung Association) I signed up to get monthly newsletters from American Lung Association, and found this on their website. It looks like a fun video game for kids! Here's what the website says: The city of Lungtropolis is under attack from the mucus mob, and it’s up to your child to save it! When kids visit Lungtropolis, they become asthma control agents and conquer the mucus mob. While playing, they watch videos and get helpful tips to learn how to control their asthma. I started playing the game to see what it was like. It's high quality and very entertaining! And I think kids will learn a lot on here. If you want to try it, click here. There's also a site for parents on the same page. So if you want something to keep your kids busy this summer, let them try the game. You might want to try it too, to see how much you know about asthma! Have fun!

I heard a story about Singulair on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Anytime I hear anything about allergies or asthma, my ears perk up. This was good news indeed, I've been waiting for Singulair to go generic.  With 3 kids taking Singulair year round, the cost really eats into our budget. When the kids first started on Singulair years ago, it was only $28 per month, now I am paying almost $50 a month per prescription, so a total of $150.00 And then there's all of the other allergy and asthma medication they take..... The story on the NBC Nightly News said that the FDA has approved 10 companies to market a generic form of Singulair.  No news on when it will actually hit the market and be available for us to buy at the pharmacy. To read more on the story, click here. I'm not sure if Asthma Doc will have to re-write the kid's prescriptions so we can get the generic version instead of the brand name?  We're at Asthma Doc's office once a week anyway g

  I noticed the paint surrounding the tub in my historic home was a little bubbly. Hubby assured me that "he was keeping an eye on it."    Since we had a leaking ceiling in our last home, which lead to a ceiling and walls filled with mold, I am a little paranoid about water leaks. The damage took several months to fix......after which our insurance company cancelled us for filing a claim for black mold 😡 So this week, I decided to pull off the paint and wet plaster so Hubby could fix the bathroom wall. That's easier said than done. We have an access panel on the wall behind the tub, which you can't get to because the toilet is there. So this will not be an easy fix. Hubby will have to pull out the toilet to get to the access panel behind the shower. THEN he gets to see where it is leaking and if he can fix it. Hubby can fix just about anything. He's a handy guy to have around! Water leaks can lead to mold, which is NEVER good when you have asthma. To see wha

    In a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and reported yesterday in Science Daily, it was found that asthma is the most common chronic condition among Olympic athletes. ( I could have told them that!) They studied athletes during the last 5 Winter and Summer Olympics, from 2002-2012. Their study shows 8% of athletes have asthma.   That's the same rate as the rest of the population. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 8.2 % of American adults have asthma (that's 18.7 million people!) 9.4% of kids have asthma, (that's another 7 million kids!)   The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of American says that "asthma is the most common chronic illness among children." Asthma also the #1 cause of missed school days among children every year-causing about 13 million missed days of school. For those of us with asthma, we're in good company with Olympic athletes! Many of them have asthma too, but they can still trai