My Life as an Asthma Mom

          I have seen some pretty unbelievable flooding videos and photos images from Houston and surrounding areas this past week. They have left me speechless (and that's pretty hard to do....) How can I help?    Well, I have already donated money to the Red Cross. But, as Environmental Health Educator (and nerd for all things science), maybe I can help with a little knowledge about cleaning up.   We had a small flood in our basement a few years ago (nothing like Houston.) We had a 100 year rainstorm that cascaded down our basement stairs, overwhelmed the french drain, and rushed into the basement.  It wasn't even close to the amount of water I am seeing in photos from Houston, but enough that we were overwhelmed. And of course insurance didn't cover it because it was "An Act of God." So, we were on our own. The disaster companies were busy with other homes and businesses who were damaged more than we were, so I recalled my...

Daughter Kitty is running with the cross country team again this year - which can be "interesting" when you have asthma! Like the majority of people with asthma, Kitty also has allergies. It's estimated that 65% - 75% of people who asthma also have allergies.  One of the things she is allergic to (and can trigger an asthma attack) is grass. Another trigger for her is exercise. On top of that, we have been in the yellow air quality zone all summer.  So, add grass, exercise and bad air quality and it can be a recipe for disaster when you have asthma. Since it was her first cross country meet this year, I was a little worried about her asthma. But when I stopped by the house before her meet, I was happy to see that she had used her nebulizer before her race. Sometimes, doctors will tell a patient with asthma to use their Albuterol BEFORE they exercise.  Is that right for everyone? NO! Since using Albuterol can cause heart palpitations a...

Mmmmhhhhmm, it's that time of year again.  The stores are full of notebooks, pencils and cool stuff for lockers. I feel like telling my daughter, "When I was your age....I was lucky I even HAD a locker -  and we didn't have stuff to decorate it!"    Yep, I'm getting old. I should probably take daughter Kitty to the store to get school supplies - since school starts next week. I'm a little slow..... But besides school supplies, there is something else you need for school when you have asthma. Did you know that it's legal in every state in the U.S. for kids to carry their asthma inhalers?   You can look of the laws of some of the states on the CDC's Public Health Law website. You also have to have your doc fill an asthma action plan and permission form EVERY school year. There are different forms for each state. Here's one I found from American Lung Association   My school nurse always sends out an Asthma Actio...

If there's one thing that really bothers my asthma - it's poor air quality. One of my family members who lives on the west coast called to say that he was so sick that he couldn't make it into work. He was really having a hard time breathing. He was staying inside with the doors and windows closed. Of course, I had to nag him and ask if he had used his Albuterol inhaler?!   You can see from the map above that the west coast is being affected by a British Columbia forest fire.  The Seattle Times says : ".....asthma specialist Dr. Matthew Altman, an assistant professor at the University of Washington’s Department of Medicine, says he’s been hearing from some of his 100 patients. 'They’re reporting an aggravation of symptoms, shortness of breath, cough,' he says." The same article also quotes a Colorado State University study about air quality and smoke from the Seattle area wildfires in 2012. T...