My Life as an Asthma Mom

    As mom to three kids with asthma (and having asthma myself), their childhood looked very different from their friends. It's incredibly hard to raise kids with a chronic disease. Their friends were out riding bikes and playing soccer, but my kids were at the doctor's office, Urgent Care, ER, or in the hospital.   They were sick ALL OF THE TIME! Not only did I know EVERY doctor in my pediatrician's office, but I also knew most of the After Hours doctors.  Not to mention the doctors and respiratory therapists in the ER....   I would always worry if I was doing the right thing.  Do any of these worries sound familiar?  They are sick again  Should I take them to the Urgent Care? Or go straight to the ER?  What if they get admitted to the hospital? Is it my fault? Did I wait to long to take them to the doctor? Should I have insisted my child needs oral steroids? What about a chest x-ray?   I'm not a doctor, nurse, or respir...

There are a lot of opinions when it comes to which works better - a nebulizer or an inhaler.   As a Certified Asthma Educator (AE-C), I have been to plenty of national asthma conferences to keep up my continuing education credits.    This topic has come up frequently.    What do the studies say?     There are studies that say that inhalers are just as effective for treating asthma as nebulizers. Researchers say if inhalers are used properly (and used with a spacer), they are a better choice for asthma attacks and asthma flares.    They also say nebulizers are big and bulky and hard to transport. (But there are small handheld units now that run on batteries. Mine is about 3 inches tall and fits in my bag.)     What do patients say?    I have had asthma for over 25 years - and I also raised three children with asthma. We have had countless asthma attacks and respiratory illnesses like pneumonia, RSV, and COVID....