My Life as an Asthma Mom

Screenshot from Vitals   It seems like my Facebook feed is full of stories about the rising price of Epi Pens by Mylan. I blogged about it last week.  Mylan may be feeling the heat, because they are increasing the number of people that can use their co-pay assistance for Epi Pens. It would be better if they would just DROP the price on the Epi Pen. For anyone that has had to ask for help with co-pays from companies, it's not always easy. We had to get co-pay help for 7 years when Son #2 was on Xolair injections (the serum was about $1500 a month.) It takes a lot of work to fill out paperwork and fax in proof of income. I'm afraid there are a lot of people who just won't ask for co-pay help and will skip getting an Epi Pen and HOPE they don't have a reaction. That really worries me. We will never get another Epi Pen through Mylan. (We have 3 family members who need Epi Pens and they have lost our business.) . I just don't see how they can...

Like many people, I am in shock about the price of Epi Pens. In our family of 5,  three of us need Epi Pens. I am allergic to seafood. Son #2 has a tree nut allergy (not to be confused with peanuts - which are NOT a nut - but from the 'legume family'.)  Son #1 had anaphylaxis (a SEVERE allergic reaction) after getting his weekly allergy shot. The scary thing is that we don't know WHAT part of his allergy serum caused the reaction.  I can avoid seafood, and Son #2 can avoid tree nuts, but Son #1 doesn't know what he needs to avoid - it could have been anything in his allergy serum. So we need 3 sets of Epi Pen twin packs.  If we had a high deductible health insurance (thankfully we don't) it would cost us $1800. I'm not sure how much it will cost us, guess I'll find out when I go to the pharmacy. You may have seen news articles about the crazy price increase for Epi Pens. In 2009,  a twin pack was about $100, today the exact s...

This is how my life looks lately.  I have had an endless stream of BUSY (read: stressed) weeks. Hubby's rock band concerts (it's just a hobby....), college graduation for Son #1, dinner parties, migraines and then some idiot who hit my car in a parking garage and took off. Yep, true story.  Did you know that stress can trigger asthma attacks ?! I'm not the best at handling stress. And just when I think I have one situation under control, something else happens. It seems to be a vicious cycle. Because stress can trigger an asthma attack. And anyone that has had an asthma attack knows how stressful that can be. And around and around we go. The weird thing I have noticed is that when I have an asthma attack from stress, my chest gets tight. If I have an attack from another trigger (like cats, someone mowing their lawn, etc) I have a hard cough that won't stop until I use my inhaler. But if it's from stress, my chest gets tight. Gotta love as...

This summer has been sooooo hot. Locally, we had almost a month of temperatures above 100 degrees. (I know....first world problems) So, we picked up Son #1 and Son #2 and went out for ice cream with daughter Kitty. I am not above bribing my kids to spend time with me! I will also take them out to dinner or a movie so I can see them! My favorite ice cream is Baskin Robbins. However, we always have to be careful because Son #2 is allergic to tree nuts.    By the way.......tree nuts are NOT the same as peanuts  -  a peanut is from the legume family and is grown underground.     So it is not a nut.     Fun fact for the day! The University of Iowa has information for their students to learn the difference between peanuts and tree nuts.    It might be helpful for some others to read it too!   Anyway, Son #2 is careful to watch for tree nuts in food. He asked the employee to use a clean scoop and the employee sa...