My Life as an Asthma Mom

Halloween can be a scary time of year - not because of scary costumes and spook alleys, but because I have a son with a tree nut allergy! There are a LOT of different kinds of candy out there with tree nuts. Every year at Halloween, I would have to carefully go through Son #2's candy and make sure his candy was safe for him to eat. (Mom bonus: if there WAS a candy bar that had tree nuts, I would have to "take it for safe keeping"........ya - I would eat it!) The Food Allergy Research and Education website  (FARE) has a fun idea to help families of kids with food allergies. They are asking families to place teal colored pumpkins on their porch (and the sign pictured above) and hand out non-candy treats instead. You can paint a real or plastic pumpkin teal, then print out the sign  to hang on the front door. You can also print out fliers to help spread the word.   There are a lot of things you can hand out instead of candy, FARE suggests: vampire teeth ...

I just read a story on Webmd (dated September 29th, 2014) about potential problems with omalizumab (Xolair). The makers of Xolair were conducting a safety test, and their study showed a "slightly increased but serious" risk for heart attack and mini-stroke (called TIA's or transient ischemic attacks.) Uh oh!!  Xolair is used for patients whose allergic asthma can't be controlled by using other asthma medications. Some doctors also use Xolair to treat chronic hives. Son #2 has had Xolair injections for the last 7 years. He is one of the small percentage of people with asthma who has severe asthma.   Son #2 has been hospitalized 8 times, and two of those hospitalizations were ICU admissions. We did EVERYTHING the doctor would outline -what medications to take/when/how much - but he would still end up in the hospital. He would suddenly go from bad to worse. I remember one time when Son #2 suddenly became worse in the Emergency Room - it even scare...

All inhalers look the same, but are just different colors. How do you tell which one you should use every day (maintenance/controller inhaler), and which one you use if you are having a hard time breathing (rescue inhaler)? They may look the same, but the medicine inside is VERY different! Here is a link from American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) to see lists of photos of maintenance medications (inhaled corticosteroids) Examples of these are: Qvar Pulmicort Alvesco Aerobid Aerospan Asthmanex Flovent Azmacort  (The medicines listed above are meant to be taken EVERY DAY!!!!!) Here is a link from AAAAI for photos of  long-acting beta-agonists (LABA's) It's important to know that the FDA recommends that these medications (LABA's) must ALWAYS be taken with the inhaler corticosteroids (listed above)  Examples of these are: Foradil Serevent (These are also meant to be taken EVERY DAY!!!!!)  OR.......You ca...

I'm back to blogging! Have you ever had one of those HUGE projects due at work and you are really stressed out? Yeah, it's been one of THOSE kind of months. So I have neglected my asthma blog.  But I was always thinking about it - a story would be on the news, and I would think "I should blog about that!!"  ABC News has had a few reports lately about how some kids who have the fast moving Enterovirus 68 have also had paralysis. Of course I am worried about my 3 kids because they all have asthma and have had repeated hospitalizations.  They are older now, so when they get sick, it's not as bad as when they were younger. But I still worry. I have seen my kids go from bad to worse in a few hours - it's VERY scary to watch them struggling to breathe. Now there are kids who have contracted Enterovirus 68 and can't move their arms and legs. It affects a small number of kids. The report from ABC News last week said that there are 277 confirmed case...

So, it was only a matter of time until one of my teenagers came down with a cold.  Colds are miserable enough, but with colds can come sinus infections. How do you know if you have a sinus infection? Well, it may feel like a cold, but Webmd explains it as: Some of the primary symptoms of acute sinusitis include: Facial pain/pressure Nasal stuffiness Nasal discharge Loss of smell Cough/congestion Additional symptoms may include: Fever Bad breath Fatigue Dental pain The Webmd page lists these symptoms for an acute infection (meaning it will only last for a short time.) It says if you have two or more of these symptoms, and also have a thick, yellow or green discharge - you may have a sinus infection.  When that happens to us, we call asthma doc to see what he says. There are different ways to treat sinus infections   Some doctors will suggest you use a decongestant, steam inhalation, nasal sprays or antibiotics. Your doctor will dec...

Yes, I am ALWAYS reading...anything and everything. The latest article I read was in Family Circle magazine's September issue. It's called "The September Epidemic." The website version is called "Everything You Need to Know About Asthma" In the article, Dr. Stanley Szefler, director of the Pediatric Asthma Research Program at the Aurora's Children's Hospital Colorado said that:  "More schoolkids are admitted to the hospital for asthma attacks in September than in any other month." Dr. Szefler says that it is known as the September Epidemic . There are a few reasons they mention:   It could be because kids head back to school and share germs with all the other kids in school.  It could also be because kids go on vacation during the summer, not just from school, but from using their maintenance medications. They are not in a school routine, so they forget about it. Or maybe Mom thinks she can keep an eye on the ki...

I am REALLY worried about a new virus that has hit 10 states already,  made over 1,000 kids sick so far and hospitalized numerous kids - including many in ICU (the intensive care unit.) My stomach has butterflies in after watching the story on ABC news called "Unidentified Respiratory Virus Likely To Hit Kids Across Country." I have asthma, as do all three of my teenagers. When they were younger, Son #2 and daughter Kitty were hospitalized 12 separate times for asthma - 2 of those were in ICU. So when I hear about a new virus that is affecting kids with asthma, I am VERY nervous. The story says that children under 5 are at the highest risk of being hospitalized, but even teenagers are ending up in ICU.  One teenager interviewed in this story, was a little sick one day (he had a runny nose and a cough) and the next day he was in ICU. That teenager turned blue on day 2, was rushed to the ICU and was given an emergency breathing tube (a ventilator.) Scary stuff...