My Life as an Asthma Mom

What a weird world we live in!  Many of you have probably heard about "thunderstorm asthma" that hit Melbourne, Australia last week and left so many people unable to breathe.   What is thunderstorm asthma? The Age, an Australian news source, explained it this way: "In Melbourne, this phenomenon occurs when moisture-charged winds immediately before a storm whip up rye grass pollen from the pastures north and west of town, sweeping them into the city. Rye grass is the pollen that causes most cases of hay fever in Melbourne." For those of you with allergies and asthma, you probably know what it's like to have hay fever cause an asthma attack.    Ragweed, grass, flowers or trees are in bloom - you inhale the pollen and instantly you start sneezing and your chest tightens. Then the cough starts and you frantically paw through your purse to get your inhaler. (That's what I do anyway.......)   On Good Morning America...

And.....the fun begins of trying to avoid food allergies with holiday parties. Son #2 is allergic to tree nuts, and I am allergic to seafood . So we are always on the lookout for cross contamination as restaurants, family parties and work parties. As careful as we try to be, we both had an accidental exposure last month, which makes me really nervous. Because the next allergic reaction to either of us will be anaphylaxis.  This week, a family member gave us a loaf of delicious looking pumpkin bread, and when Hubby cut a slice -  I saw walnuts. I quickly turned to Son #2 and said, "Don't touch it!!!"  Then I wrapped it up tightly, moved it to the back of the counter and sanitized the counter top. Sigh. Here we go again.... We have told family members several times about our food allergies, but it just goes in one ear and out the other. I'm not sure why - maybe because they don't have to deal with it, so they forget. For us, it is life t...

I just attended a national allergy and asthma conference for doctors. As a Certified Asthma Educator (AE-C), I was hoping to learn as much as I could about new research, treatment plans. I want to make sure I am up to date when I help families understand more about asthma. Since I work in Public Health, I felt like an outsider there. But it was interesting to see things from the doctor's point of view.  Did you know that (gasp!) they aren't perfect?! (Seriously.....who IS perfect? No one!) Did you know that they lose sleep worrying about patients? They worry: Is there a different diagnosis?  Did they miss something on a medical test?  Is their patient going to be okay?  Could they have done more? The list of what they worry about can go on and on. Not only are they doctors, but they are also parents and have their own families to worry about. The EMR (electronic medical record) that they are required to use takes a LOT of time. It...