Should I Go To The Hospital?

 

One of the most important things I teach families in my asthma education workshops, is that if you ever think to yourself:

 "I wonder if I should go to the hospital?" The answer is YES!

Like many places this summer, our state is full of heavy, thick smoke from the California fire (Dixie fire.) We have had smoke in our state several times this last month. On Friday, our air quality was listed as the #1 Worse Air Quality in the World. Yes, the world. 

That day, I was at a work meeting, and I thought I could smell smoke. I glanced out the door and saw that the valley was suddenly full of smoke. And that smoke was coming into the building. I quickly took two puffs of my inhaler, excused myself, and drove to my office. But, when I got to my office, I could smell smoke in there too. 

I headed home because I knew it safe with a clean furnace filter and free standing air purifiers. 

But the damage to my lungs was already done. 

I didn't feel well and continued using my Albuterol. It seemed to be helping for a day or two, and I closely monitored my symptoms. But by Sunday morning I found myself thinking "I wonder if I should go to the hospital?" 

I knew the answer was YES!

I couldn't believe this was happening. The Hubby quickly drove me to the closest ER, and they immediately took me back and began treating me. 

I know that my ER trip saved my life. 

There are times with asthma when the medical staff need to take over, and this is one of them. 

How do you know if you should go to the hospital?

This is Mayo Clinic's list of "When to seek emergency medical treatment"

• Severe breathlessness or wheezing, especially at night or in the early morning
• The inability to speak more than short phrases due to shortness of breath
• Having to strain your chest muscles to breathe
• Low peak flow readings when you use a peak flow meter
• No improvement after using a quick-acting (rescue) inhaler

I teach families to watch for times when they can't speak without stopping to take a breathe. It's called "clipped speech" because each word or phrase is clipped because you have to take a breathe before you can say another word of phrase. 

That's what I was doing Sunday - and I knew that was an emergency!

I'm glad I went to the ER. 

Sadly, many people think they will "be okay" and won't go to the hospital. And they may not live to see another day.

Did you know that 10 people die from asthma every day in the U.S.?  

 Don't be one of those 10. If you have any of the symptoms listed above from Mayo Clinic, get help - FAST!