Buster diagnosed with asthma



Here's a screen shot from http://pbskids.org/arthur/health/asthma/

I love the PBS show Arthur!! My kids grew up watching it. I love that Arthur, D.W., Buster, Francine, Muffy, The Brain, Binky and all of the other characters would go through many of the things my kids had to go through. 

We watched episodes about chicken pox, being the last kid in your class to loose a tooth, and one of our favorite episodes - where Buster is diagnosed with asthma.

PBS has an Arthur Family Health website with information about asthma, peanut allergy, nutrition, resilience and fitness. The asthma section has a lot of great information, including the original PBS episode where Buster is diagnosed with asthma. It's called "Buster's Breathless".   

My kids loved the video, because they could relate. In the episode, Francine worries that asthma is contagious. Arthur is over-protective and has to wipe off Buster's books (Buster had an asthma attack while he and Arthur were looking at old, dusty books.) Tough guy Binky thinks he should "fake it" and say that he has "plasma" (that's what calls asthma) so he can get out of class.

Buster sees how everyone is treating him differently, so he stops going to the nurse's office during lunch to take his inhaler. So what happens? He has an asthma attack because he's not taking his medicine! (This is a great lesson for your kids about how important it is to take their medicine EVERY day!)

There's even a funny homage to Magic School Bus when Buster has his classmates imagine that they are very small, and he breathes them up his nose. They learn about asthma once they're inside his lungs. 

What a great educational video for kids to learn about asthma! When my kids were little, they didn't want to feel "different" and let their friends see them using their inhaler. And if they were having problems with their asthma, I might not let them go to a friend's house, go camping, etc. So they would hide their asthma symptoms. This video really helps kids see how important it is to manage asthma and let someone know if they're not feeling right.

Watch the episode with your kids, and be sure to check out the other helps on the website. They have sections about asthma basics, games and activities and videos.

And pass the popcorn!!

Comments

  1. When I was 8, I used to watch this cartoon! I loved and I love it :)
    But I didn't remember Buster as asthmatic - maybe as non-asthmatic (in that days...) I wasn't interested in that?
    Or maybe Polish TV didn't have concession for this episode of "Arthur??
    Greetings from sunny south Poland :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love Arthur too! Sometimes we will still watch episodes on Netflix!

      Good times!

      Delete
  2. I still watch Arthur and I'm 20 :). I have a friend who is also a kid at heart who is my age and we would come to each others dorms after our afternoon class and watch it together over lunch. I love how the characters have their imagination flashbacks and they imagine ridiculous scenarios.

    Have you heard about this study?http://www.asthma.org.uk/News/new-research-suggests-parasites-can-reduce-lung-damage-in-people-with-asthma

    apparently secretions from a parasitic worm can reuce lung damage. Go figure!
    Here is a pubmed article
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2814083/

    When did you all get allergy testing and how many antigens were tested? I had one round when I was twelve. 20 were tested and I had no reactions. I was tested again when I was 18 and I reacted to 5 and 50 were tested. It appears I am only allergic to mold, unless they missed something. That's why I asked how many you got tested for.

    Its weird I have lots of symptoms and few allergies, except the symptoms are more cf related than allergy related. I'm assuming all of your kids probably had cf testing because it's good to rule that out if asthma symptoms are constant.

    Have you written about cf? I went undiagnosed for 20 years and I was just labeled as asthmatic and chronic bronchitis and sinusitis. It wasn't until I saw a doctor at my student health center and they did a sputum culture and found a bacteria usually only seen in those with cf. A sweat test confirmed that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Nerdy Gal,

      I STILL love watching Arthur, even after all these years!

      What a strange study - the researchers are always coming up with something new!

      As far as allergy testing for my kids. They were all different ages. At first, my daughter didn't have a reaction (I think she was 5 when we had her tested.) But she continued to be miserable and have symptoms. I asked Asthma Doc to re-test her 2 years later. That time, her reacted to every antigen - except rats!

      Shot Nurse jokingly said that we could get her a pet rat! Like that would EVER happen!

      I can't remember how many antigens they tested. Shot Nurse had 3 or 4 columns going down the kid's backs, each column had multiple antigens. There were at least 20 they tested.

      My kids would have welts on each antigen, only some were VERY big welts, those were what was added to their allergy serum.

      Asthma Doc just tested our youngest daughter for CF with the sweat chloride test. It was the LONGEST weekend of my life waiting for test results!

      Delete
  3. Sorry to hear about your condition Nerdygal but glad it finally got figured out.

    I love that there are educational materials like this blog and people who are taking proactive steps towards their health!

    It's why I would love to share with you all my product, siguides.com/product/siguide-to-asthma/. I'm trying to create medical tools for families to help teach in a fun, educational way!

    I would love to share this with the readers of this blog who I'm sure are intelligence and passionate readers. The first book is on asthma! I would love to get feedback from you all and work with you on creating a valuable resource for future families who have members with asthma!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a great resource! Hopefully parents will check this out!

      Delete
  4. I'm watching that at YouTube - well done episode! And for me it is good lesson of English :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You may get hooked on watching all the other episodes too!

      Aahh, to be a kid again and just have to deal with kid sized problems....

      Delete

Post a Comment