My Life as an Asthma Mom

livescience has an article titled "9 Myths About Seasonal Allergies" In the article, they interview Dr. John Costa, who is the medical director of the Brigham and Women's Hospital Allergy and Clinical Immunology Practice in Boston. (whew! that's a mouthful!) Have you heard people say any of these things? Everybody has allergies If you didn't have allergies as a child, you won't develop them as an adult Eating local honey can help with allergies Scientists can predict a bad allergy season Moving to a new area can help allergies Flowers are a trigger for allergies Don't use nasal sprays-they are all bad Only take allergy medicine when you feel bad Allergy shots don't work To see what Dr. Costa says about each item, click on the link at the beginning of the blog, it's a REALLY interesting article! Happy reading!! :) 

Ahhh, the beach....what a GREAT vacation!! It seemed like most of the work was getting ready for the trip. If you have allergies and asthma, it's REALLY important to plan ahead.  We made sure we had: Maintenance medication Allergy medicine Epi Pens Out of state coverage insurance cards Location of closest Instacare/Hospital to our location Nebulizer and tubing kits Nebulizer medicine You just never know when an asthma attack may happen. Sometimes when you are traveling, you may experience new plants/animals/etc that can trigger allergy or asthma problems.   I remember asking Asthma Doc if there was anyplace safe to live for people with asthma. He told us that no matter where you live, you may run into something that can cause problems for allergies and asthma.  Awww....I was hoping he would say we should move to Hawaii!!    Our best bet is to just be careful of what's around us. We make sure we take our allergy medicine every day (our allergi

It's Asthma Awareness Month!! You may be thinking, "yeah, I know all about asthma." Well, I know I don't know EVERYTHING there is to know about asthma-even though I have had allergies and asthma all my life.  I also passed on my genetic defect to all three of my teenagers - poor kids!! When my kids were younger, it seemed like we were ALWAYS in the doctor's office.....well, we were. We knew our pediatrician, as well as most of the other pediatricians in the county from seeing them during the after-hours clinics. And after 12 hospitalizations for our kids, we also knew most of the nurses and respiratory therapist in the pediatric wing of the hospital. I'm thinking that's NOT a good thing....it's kind of like being on a first name basis with your mechanic. Hmmm. Most of the situations were beyond our control. Our kids were hospitalized multiple times for pneumonia and also from breathing smoke from forest fires. We did everything the doct

I just read an article in Allergy and Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics website entitled "Deception and Fraud in Allergy Care" I wondered 'WHAT are they talking about?' The article highlights the problem of  primary care doctor's offices who offer allergy testing and treatment. They hire a third party a "technician" who conducts the allergy testing and provides treatment. The problem is (according to the article) that the technicians may not be trained board certified allergists. There are guidelines that must be followed for testing and treatment. Another problem listed in the article is that doctors may prescribe SLIT (sublingual immunotherapy) - where drops are placed under the tongue.The problem is that SLIT is NOT approved by the FDA. So, they may be billing your insurance company for something that is not approved. The article says that is fraud.  Some people also may be sent home with allergy shots or drops. That is VERY d

I was at an event where a woman was selling scented candles in a candle warmer I saw her when she was setting up her display. I was setting up a display (about asthma) at the same event.....which meant that I would be stuck in the same room with her (and her scented candles)  - for 2 days! I approached her and told her that I have asthma, and that her scented candles would trigger an asthma attack for me. She quickly said, "I'll just burn a light scent." She didn't get it! I can't stand ANY scented candles, (or perfumes!) I had to ask the coordinator of the event to talk to the woman and ask her not to burn her candles. I REALLY HATE HAVING ASTHMA!!!! It seems like I am the Kill Joy at events like that. Sigh. I'm sure that woman would have sold more candles if people could smell them burning. And it probably would have made the room smell A LOT better. But no - I have to have asthma. Which means that my body is oversensitive and it will