My Life as an Asthma Mom

Do you ever have questions AFTER you  leave your doctor's office? Or on the weekend, and you just want to ask a few questions? Your doctor should be your first go to person. I can usually leave a message with my doctor's nurse and she will call me back with the answer to my question. But maybe you doctor doesn't have a great bedside manner or you want to talk to someone else?  Enter American Lung Association's Lung HelpLine. It's a free resource that is staffed by Registered Nurses and Registered Respiratory Therapists who can answer questions about "lungs, lung disease and lung health, as well as helping people quit tobacco." What is their background? ".....rehabilitation, education, acute care, emergency medicine, public health, neonatal care, home care and adult intensive care. Some staff members are addiction counselors who crossed over from drug and alcohol treatment programs to tobacco cessation, and we have staf...

Wouldn't it be nice if those of us with asthma could have a "simple cold" without it going into bronchitis? Yeah, wishful thinking! This was me 3 weeks ago. I knew it was coming - Hubby had bronchitis first, then it slowly went through all 3 kids and ended with me. Since I am a germaphobe and extremely careful at washing my hands, not touching my face, and disinfecting everything at home, I thought I had escaped the illness. No such luck. I knew I was in trouble one Sunday morning when I woke up and was still struggling to breathe even after I used my nebulizer . I had lost my voice and was also coughing up colored phlegm. I know from my Asthma Action Plan , that doc wants me on prednisone (oral steroid) and an antibiotic when that happens. But, what to do on a Sunday morning? I had a few options: My asthma specialist After Hours My primary care doctor After Hours Telemedicine (where I Facetime or Skype with a doctor) Urgent Care Emerge...

This month, I got bronchitis (again!) It had gone through the whole family and I thought I wasn't going to get it because I am a germaphobe and so careful with washing my hands. But, as soon as the scratchy throat started, I knew I was in for the long haul. With any medical condition that needs a prescription, it's hard to juggle medications and find one that won't interact with another. As my cold turned into bronchitis, I knew it was time for an antibiotic and an oral steroid. How did I know? I have an Asthma Action Plan that Asthma Doc filled out for me.  Asthma Action Plans are like stop lights - green, yellow and red zones. Each zone tells you what to do if you are in that zone. Green means "GO", or you are good and not having symptoms. Yellow means "CAUTION" because you are starting to cough, are short of breathe, wheezing, etc. The Red Zone means "STOP" and call 911 or go to the closest hospital. I was in the b...

For those of you that have kids with food allergies (or maybe you have them yourself!?) You know how scary it to be to try to eat out at times. I don't trust anyone! How do I know if they have the same cooking utensils on my chicken that they used on seafood?  Did they put my chicken on the same area of the grill as the seafood when they cooked it? Are there desserts that have tree nuts on the tray? If so, Son #2 can't eat ANYTHING on the tray because it is all contaminated!   Whew! It can be tiring to always be on the lookout for food allergies. If you have babies or younger kids with food allergies, that can be really scary. Because they didn't make epinephrine auto injectors for them - until now! The FDA has approved the 1st and only auto injector for babies and small kids. The needle length and dose of this auto injector is made just for them.  Kaleo is the same company that makes Auvi-Q, known as "the talking auto injector"...