My Life as an Asthma Mom

        Asthma Doc just order labs for Son #2, he said the blood can be a good window into what's going on in the body. Son #2's Vitamin D level is WAY below where it should be.    Average levels are between 30-60, and my son is below 30. Low Vitamin D levels can only be  diagnosed from a blood draw, and I know needles are scary for some people. Needlephobia is a real phobia.    But sometimes, that's the only option for a medical test. Asthma Doctor recommends a Vitamin D supplement twice a day for Son #2. We are also encouraging my son to spend as much time outside as possible. I can often be heard saying turn off the video games and go outside - it's a nice day!   This should be an all around 'win' for my pale son who rarely sees the light of day. What?! Leave the computer and World of Warcraft?! For the record-we don't allow computer play on school days, and limit the time on weekends. But he also likes to read -but he can read outsid...

                              Just call me professor. I'm guest lecturing about asthma in a class at a local university. I have all the supplies packed: nebulizer and albuterol vials, peak flow meters, inhalers, discs, Epi pens, etc. I was looking up the latest stats, it's a little surprising what they are. According to Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Every day in the US: 40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma   30,000 people have an asthma attack   5,000 people visit the emergency room due to asthma   1,000 people are admitted to the hospital due to asthma   11 people die from asthma I never want me or my kids to fall in that last statistic.    Two of my kids have been in the hospital for asthma 12 times (and 2 of those were in the ICU.) It's terrifying to have a son in the ICU and watching them struggle to breathe. He came close to dying and I'll never forget i...

        There's a fire about 15-20 miles away and it's making us really nervous. I'm terrified that the smoke would too close to our house. We could smell smoke from another fire that's about 100 miles away, but the smoke has drifted up here. The moon looked really pretty last night, but the smoke is unnerving. I made sure all the windows were closed, the air conditioner is on, and the air purifiers are on full blast. Smoke from a fire about 10 years ago put #2 Son in the hospital with oxygen, IV steroids and a heart monitor. Why the heart monitor?    To give them a little advanced warning because they were worried my son was going to "crash", then he would have been on a ventilator that would breathe for him (life support.) Because I know how dangerous wildfire smoke can be, any new forest fire makes me VERY nervous.    I was watching the live news casts last night wondering how the people near the fire were doing, especially those with asthma. ...

Have you tried using Neti pots?   Neti whats?! They look like a tiny plastic magic lamp (think of the lamp from the movie Aladdin.) Or they can be a squat squeeze bottle with a pointed lid with a hole in it. See the photo above. What is a Neti Pot used for?    It's for all of us plagued by allergies, it's a tool used with a saline rinse that cleans out your sinuses.    Isn't that exciting? Well, not really- but necessary. Sinus infections are really common for those with allergies, and they can trigger asthma attacks. Asthma Doctor said that Neti pots are as effective at antibiotics at clearing up sinus infections.    Who knew?    And since antibiotics are over prescribed and their overuse is causing antibiotic resistant bacteria, it might help to try another option. You simply fill the neti pot with warm STERILE water.    Do not use tap water. You can get a brain infection. Not kidding.     I mix the pu...

          Well, here we go again.    Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!    Sore throats, running noses and coughing. I was hoping at first that it was just allergies and that something in the pollen count was REALLY high, but no such luck. The sore throat started, and I thought here we go again.   Separate tubes of toothpaste  I need to get back to my germiphobe precautions. I noticed Hubby and Kitty and I are all using the same tube of toothpaste. That is going to spread germs, because if they get sick, I'm going to get sick.    I usually use separate tubes of toothpaste for each of us, but we ran out.     Guess it's a little late for that for this cold.   Throw away your toothbrush after you are sick  We also thrown out toothbrushes and use a new one once the cold is over. You don't want to use old germ filled toothbrushes or risk the chance of re-infecting yourself. Also, I keep all the toothbrushes on separa...

            This week, I was lucky enough to join a friend whose daughter was receiving her wish from Make A Wish foundation.    The staff there showed us how the kids decide on a wish, then go inside a tower with a waterfall in the middle of the room to place their wish in a capsule. Some kids wish for trips to Disneyworld or Hawaii. Others want a puppy or a laptop. One cute little toddler wanted his room to look like a fire station. But the hardest part on reading the stories of these children and teenagers is to see why they were there in the first place.    Some wish recipients had bone cancer, brain tumors, cystic fibrosis, leukemia, etc. Some stories ended by listing the child's death date.    Yes, my kids all have severe asthma, but they're still alive! Don't get me wrong - asthma can be deadly. My son was in ICU twice with asthma.    Last month, there was a story on the news about a "48 Hours" news reporter Ha...

   I'm glad it's not this time last year when the big Swine Flu or H1N1 was hitting the news!    There seemed to be a lot of panic and school closings going on. And since asthma complicates any respiratory infection, I was very worried about my kids. (They've already been hospitalized 12 times thanks to asthma) The news kept mentioning the high risk groups to get immunized, which included pregnant women and also anyone with a chronic disease.    But seldom did they say the actual word "asthma". I even had someone from a health department say, "asthma? you're not in the high risk category".    Oh YES WE ARE!   Asthma patients at high risk for complications  The Assistant Surgeon General was in town recently speaking about immunizations at a Public Health conference.     I heard her several times refer to people with asthma as being high risk and needing immunization, especially for the flu.    She also cautioned t...