My Life as an Asthma Mom

      I was listening to The Today Show while I was getting ready for work. I stopped in my tracks when I heard them talking about Medical Gaslighting.  That was a new term, so I had to listen to see what they were talking about. I have heard of gaslighting before, but not MEDICAL gaslighting. Psychology Today says gaslighting is a form of manipulation and psychological control. Victims are deliberately given false information that leads them to question what they know about themselves. They may end up doubting their memory, perception, and sanity.  The Today Show segment focused on how women are not believed when they go to their doctor. Some doctors may not listen to the patient - and instead just chalk up the symptoms to a woman being depressed, anxious, or just fat. New flash - you can be overweight and STILL have medical problems.... One woman was overweight and her doctor repeatedly dismissed her complaints of stomach and back pain. She went through thi...

  As I look back over the last 22 years (when our asthma journey began) all I can think is WOW. How did I make it through all those years?? My introduction to being an asthma mom was having my then 5 year old admitted to the hospital....and then finding out he had asthma. What?! Trying to learn the asthma lingo (what's a controller inhaler, reliever inhaler, spacer, nebulizer and a breathing treatment?!) Trying to make my home allergy & asthma friendly. See ya carpet! Trying to find the right doctor (Asthma Doc definitely managed their asthma differently than the pediatrician!) Hovering to make sure my kids took their controller inhaler every morning and every night   Calling dibs as room parent so I could see what was going on in my kid's classrooms. (Looking for class pets, stinky art projects, or anything else that could set off their asthma.) Volunteering to go on field trips (yeah.....they're not going to the zoo or state fair without me. I KNOW my son or daughte...

  Is it OK to ask my doctor for a different inhaler?  Well....the short answer is yes.  Don't like your inhaler? Want to try a different kind? It's perfectly OK to ask your doctor about that! Some organizations are trying to encourage doctors to slow down and listen to patients preferences. And part of that is deciding WITH your doctor what is best for you. Shared Decision Making  Allergy & Asthma Network and CHEST have created a tool that allows clinicians and patients to work together to find the best treatment.  The patient tells the doctor their preferences, and the doctor figures out their labs and bio markers.  That helps them figure out the best medicine for their asthma.  They say: "Targeted therapies + shared decision = personalized medicine" Here's an example of what you fill out as a patient Pretty easy, right?  Having a say in what inhaler you take for your asthma is important.  If you don't like it, you won't use it - right?...

 This is one of those words that can strike fear in people  Mold For those of you who have had mold in an apartment or home, I get it. I do.  I had black mold in my first two homes.   I've attended many in-depth trainings for my environmental health job. And I now help other families with evidence based interventions. (And a few stories about our experiences thrown in.) Here are some basic things I learned along the way: Health Effects of Mold Mold can irritate the throat, lungs, eyes, skin and nose. It can also cause an asthma flare. When we  found black mold in our play room, our daughter had just been discharged from the hospital after a battle with pneumonia.  Can I link it to the mold? Maybe? You don't need to "test for mold"  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says: "In most cases, if visible mold growth is present, sampling is unnecessary." When we had mold in our first home (20 years ago), the disaster cleanup company wouldn't allo...

  It seems weird that the Winter Olympics are starting in February. Didn't we just have the Summer Olympics?! Oh right....the Summer Olympics were postponed for a year due to the pandemic.  Some people wonder if athletes can compete at the Olympic level if they have asthma. Can someone with asthma be the Best in the World at their sport?  Well.........Yes! About 8% of Olympic Athletes have asthma. That's the same percentage of the general population. So if they can compete on a world level, there's no excuse for us not taking a walk around the block, right? Asthma Triggers for Athletes Exercise Induced Asthma (EIA) or Exercise Induced Bronchospasm (EIB) is a common asthma trigger in athletes, so that can make it extra hard to train for the Olympics. They train for HOURS every day, day after day, year after year. It must be hard battling their exercise trigger. There can also be other asthma triggers that Olympic athletes have to deal with (that their competitors don't...

    When I look back to our 22 journey with allergies and asthma, I wish I would have done things differently. If only I had known what resources were available to our family! Since my kids were ALWAYS sick, I decided to be a stay at home mom. Trying to pay the bills on one income with 3 kids with allergies and asthma was nearly impossible. Especially since we were frequent visitors to the pediatrician, Asthma Doc, After Hours Clinics, Urgent Care, ER and hospital.  Hospital Bills   My kids were in the hospital a total of 15 times (12 for asthma), plus they had several surgeries. So we  had a LOT of medical bills. We had an ongoing payment plan at our local hospital.  I would call their billing department to ask them to add our portion of the hospital bill to my tab - and the employee would laugh. I would tell them, "I'm not kidding. We have a payment plan, and I need my 20% of the bill added to our tab." Then the employee would say, "Ohhhhh." Mmhmmm. ...

  I'm into podcasts these days (I know...I'm always late to the game!) I was listening to "Chasing Life" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.  They had an episode called "In the Blink of an Eye" and talked about how their producer received a traumatic brain injury.  The producer was involved in a bad car accident and doesn't remember much about it. The doctors didn't hold out hope that she would come out of the coma.  But - she's ready to go back to work about a year after her accident, lengthy hospitalization, and physical therapy.  It was interesting to hear about Dr. Gupta and his producer talk about being resilient. Life happens and many times there are things outside our control.  So....how do you handle life when it throws you a curve ball? I loved this quote from Dr. Gupta: "We will all one day find ourselves in circumstances we would not have chosen. And when we do, we must remind ourselves that what is in our control is how we react to the hand w...