My Life as an Asthma Mom

I was talking to someone the other day, and they just had their doctor prescribe an inhaler "for an emergency." The wording "emergency" really bothers me because people think they have to be gasping for air before they use their inhaler. I wish Doctors wouldn't call it that! Most doctors are moving away from "emergency inhaler" and instead using the term "reliever or rescue inhaler". It's surprising to me how many people won't use their Albuterol inhaler because they think "it's not an emergency......." In a perfect world, you would have an Asthma Action Plan (AAP) that TELLS you when you use your reliever inhaler. American Lung Association has an AAP that says if you have: Some problems breathing:   Cough, wheeze, or chest tight   Problems working or playing   Wake at night Peak Flow Meter Between 50% - 79% of your personal best then Quick-reliefMedicine(s) Use: Albuterol/levalbuterol

Today, a young co-worker was complaining about losing sleep over a new baby (his first.) I had to snicker because - this is only the beginning!  I laugh about how new parents think that once their baby sleeps through the night, things will be all better. You seasoned parents are probably laughing right along with me at this point..... You wish for the next stage of your child's development. If only they would sleep through the night as a newborn. If they could just roll over! Sit up! Walk! etc. Then these new parents remark about how nice it must be to have kids in college. They think we have raised them, so we don't have to worry about adult children, right?  Wrong. Adult children still get sick and yes, they still call their mom. My mom used to say, "Once you are a parent, you are a parent for the rest of your life." So it was no surprise when Middle Son was sick and wanted to talk to me. He wanted to tell me all of his symptoms, and as

  Everyone who thinks inhalers are expensive, raise your hand. (My hand is up in the air!)   Since all three of my college aged kids and I have asthma, we have spent a LOT of money over the last 19 years on asthma inhalers.  So, I was excited to see that GSK will soon release a generic Albuterol inhaler!.       And it's estimated to cost less than $36!   I often hear from families that have 3 or 4 kids with asthma and families can only afford one inhaler. So, they send one inhaler to school for the kids to share.    I hope that it will help families be able to afford the inhalers they need for each person.    Fingers crossed!