My Life as an Asthma Mom

If you have kids with asthma, you probably already know that they tend to get REALLY sick. A cold to a "normal" kid is just that - a cold. To a kid with asthma, it can turn into pneumonia. And for us, that would mean another hospitalization.  My youngest 2 kids (now teenagers) were hospitalized 12 times with pneumonia. ( Yes, that was AFTER getting the pneumonia vaccine!!) One of the doctors gave us a little advice along the way. He told us about a "numbing cream" that can be applied to the back of the hand before an IV needs to be inserted. The brand our hospital used was EMLA.   Why use a numbing cream? Well, when our kids were admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, their oxygen level was usually around 89, it should be closer to 100. If there isn't enough oxygen in the blood, it makes it VERY difficult to get an IV in the vein.  You (or a child) may have experienced the same thing if you were dehydrated. Being dehydrated or having a low oxyge...

This is an all too familiar sight with my kids, since they've been in the hospital 14 times (12 of those were for asthma.) Now that my kids are older, things are better. But for a while, every time they would start to cough or their nose would run, I would panic. For us, a simple cold can go easily turn into pneumonia (thanks to asthma.) That would mean another hospitalization. And we spent WAY too much time at our Pediatrics Ward in the hospital. When you start to know all the nurses and respiratory therapists by name, you know you've been there too many times! But our family mantra is " Things Can Always Be Worse! "  I was reminded about that when I was listening to the radio on the way to work. A Brad Paisley song came on, called "One of Those Lives." In the song, he is complaining about it being "one of those days" - because his boss yelled at him, he is stuck in rush hour traffic, and a Cadillac just cut him off. Then his w...

  I just read a story in the Houston Chronicle about a new law in Tennessee. It makes it legal for schools to stock Epi pens for use on any student who may need it. (In the past, it's been difficult for schools to use an Epi Pen unless that student had a prescription.)     It also provides legal protection for the staff member who uses it. If anyone in the school has an allergic reaction, a staff member can use the Epi Pen to save their life.    Way to go Tennessee!!!!  You may think, "Well, my son or daughter doesn't have food allergies, so I'm not going to worry about it!" Yeah, that's what I thought once too! Boy, was I wrong! The Chronicle article states that: " About a quarter of anaphylaxis cases in schools occur among students who are not aware that they have an allergy."   Yikes!!!!!  We didn't know that our son was allergic to tree nuts until one day about 10 years ago, when he ate a piece of bread at a family member...

I am always on the look out for anything new about asthma. I saw a silly little video about some puppets, The Breathe Easies, who call themselves " the world's most famous (and only) asthma-rock band, here to tell you all about asthma triggers in your home!" You can find the videos on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website called Attack Asthma.   They have several short videos on their page, each one is less than a minute long. You can watch "Clean Up the Mold", "Don't Smoke in the House" and "Vacuum the floor." If there's one thing I've learned over the years about asthma, it is how everything around me can affect my asthma, and my three teenager's asthma. I know that making your home and office a safe allergy and asthma friendly place to be is sooooo important!! You can take all the asthma medicine you want, but if someone in the home smokes/ it's not being vacuumed/ things are dusty/you ha...

                                                                              This weekend, I met with a group of other moms who had kids with asthma. It's interesting to talk to other moms and find out all the things we have in common.  One problem is that when they start their teenage years, they don't tell you what is going on . Unless you hear them coughing, you may not know they are sick/having an asthma attack. They won't tell you that their chest is tight, they are feeling really weak, or that they don't feel well. Why? Good questions. Teenagers are a strange! I think part of it that they don't want to feel "different." Think ab...

We spend A LOT of money at the pharmacy. In fact, I just walk up to the counter, and the pharmacy technician (who knows me and all of my family by name) will see me, turn around and grab my multiple prescriptions out of the bin and ring them up. So, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Should I be a frequent customer? It's kind of like that with my mechanic. Hubby will call, and as soon as they hear his voice, they will say "Which one do you need to bring in? The truck or the van?" Sometimes we trick them and say "Ha!! It's the Jeep this time!!" So, knowing your pharmacy and mechanic well may not be the best thing, because that means you are probably spending WAY too much time and money there. But, having good relationships with them is important, because they help take care of us. They can let you know about generic version, or even coupons that are available. They are also good listeners. I used to spend a lot of time talking with Pharmac...

  All 3 of my kids have had allergy testing when they were younger. Followed by years of allergy shots Before you can do the scratch test (allergy test), you have to stop taking all antihistamines for a week beforehand. My kids are absolutely miserable. Son #1 could only last a couple of days before his hands swelled up and were itching like crazy. Poor guy :(  So we had to postpone doing the testing until Christmastime, when most of the fall allergens had died down. At our doctor's office, Shot Nurse brings in her container of serums which have a sharp plastic tip. She marks the kid's back in 3 rows according to category ( food, plants, animals, etc.) Then she does a quick scratch of the skin in that row. She goes across all three rows, and then the fun starts!!  The kids have to lay still on their stomach for 20 loooooong minutes while the welts develop. Then Shot Nurse measures the welts and gives a report to Asthma Doc.The hardest part is getting the ...