My Life as an Asthma Mom

It's funny the things that kids can remember.  When my kids were little, they were hospitalized 12 times for asthma. Even though daughter Kitty is in high school now, she told me she can still remember the last time she was hospitalized at age 7. She said she was SO MAD that she had to be in the hospital AGAIN! Kitty and Son #2 both had pneumonia (as is our usual winter activity...) and were both VERY sick. We had already: bumped up their maintenance inhalers ( long term controller meds )  started breathing treatments every 4-6 hours with the nebulizer  started oral steroids (Prednisone)  started antibiotics then had steroid shot (Decadron)   And they were still getting worse. Son #2 was the first to end up in the hospital. He was admitted one night around 3am (they always get worse during the night.....) Neighbor was at home while we were getting Son #2 admitted. and she was watching Kitty. When I returned from the hospital...

The short answer is YES! Your child can carry an inhaler at school.  Some parents say, "What about the drug-free zone at schools? I thought they can't have ANY medicine at school." Nope.  American Lung Association says: "All 50 states have laws in place that allow students with asthma to carry and self administer asthma quick relief inhalers and other lifesaving medicine. The laws vary by state and each school district may have its own policy and paperwork requirements. Contact your school nurse or school officials and ask about the self-carry/self-administration policy in your school district." We  have a state law that allows ANY student to carry and use their inhaler IF they have a form filled out at the beginning of the school year. Our form is a combination form. The front side is an Asthma Action Plan and the back side is the permission form that allows the kiddos to carry their inhaler. For those of you that have asthma, you...

We attended a local 9-11 anniversary memorial, and it was emotional. It was the 15th anniversary and most of the news programs talked about stories of those who had passed away. Stories about dads who had kissed their kids goodbye - not knowing that the kids would never see their dad again. There were stories about others who had died - moms, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and friends. All who died too young. And then there were stories about first responders that helped that day and were later diagnosed with asthma. Hubby looked at me after watching the news story and said, "You should blog about that." Great minds think alike. It doesn't surprise me that people that helped in New York City developed asthma. There was such a think layer of dust. How could it NOT damage someone's lungs? There's a story from ABC news, called 9-11 First Responders Plagued by Health Problems From Toxic Dust   A clip from the story says: "It is ...

We have learned a LOT traveling with 3 kids with asthma over the years. I have learned to ALWAYS checked our destination for Urgent Care centers BEFORE we leave on vacation. Just in case. Need to know what’s available by Disneyland? I can tell you! How about the Grand Canyon? Washington DC? Grandma’s house? I can tell you that too! I’m one of those believer’s in Murphy’s Law (If anything can go wrong, it will.) I’ve decided to outsmart Murphy over the years. It seems like if I am prepared for something, it WON’T happen. If I’m NOT prepared, something WILL happen. So, I always look BEFORE we travel to find the closest hospital or urgent care. If there is an accident or illness while we are traveling, the last thing I want to do is try to try to find medical help while we are in a strange place and in a panic. (We learned that lesson the hard way while we were in Hawaii on vacation…..but that story is for another time.) Over the holiday weekend, we went to see ...