My Life as an Asthma Mom

        Many people hear of RSV and think "Meh - it's just a cold." For babies with RSV, it can mean 1 out of 2 babies will end up in the hospital.  Could that happen to your baby?  CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen is an ER doctor, professor in Public Health, and former health commissioner. She is also mother to two young children. She says: "In the US, around 58,000 to 80,000 children younger than 5 years old are hospitalized because of RSV. Newborns and young babies are especially susceptible. For babies younger than 6 months of age, the rate of hospitalization is as high as 1 to 2 out of every 100 kids infected with RSV."  Having a baby in the hospital with breathing problems is no fun. I should know, my kids were in the hospital 12 times (2 ICU's) when they were younger. RSV doesn't just affect babies - adults can also end up in the hospital with RSV.  Did You Know That:  159,000 adults will end up with RSV 10,000 - 13,00 will die Th...

 A friend just sent a photo of her daughter using a nebulizer and asked if it was connected correctly.   Friend knows I'm a Certified Asthma Educator and have been helping other families with asthma for 23 years. Narrator: Friend did not have the nebulizer pieces connected right. In fact, it looked like a highway interchange similar to a spaghetti bowl.  How do you answer someone who is asking of help and they have made a mistake?  Be Kind You can respond to any situation by being kind or tactless. I prefer to be kind. Gently Correct  When people show me how they use a inhaler or nebulizer (also called a compressor unit), I ask them to watch me while I show them the correct technique. Then I ask them if they would do anything differently now that they have seen the proper technique.  If they don't spot the error - I tell them that they are reallllly close - but it would help if they change  xyz"  I tell them that they will actually get more medici...

  I was putting on my makeup one morning and noticed my cheeks looked puffy - like a chipmunk storing it's nuts.  What the......?!  Was the lighting bad? Did I sleep on one side too long?  I went through work all day, and just tried to adjust the lighting on Zoom calls so my face wasn't as visible.  Finally it dawned on me....I was on a new treatment plan using high doses every day. New treatment plan Round Two with COVID was in February, and Allergy & Asthma Doc wanted to try something new.  Those of us with severe asthma often need prednisone when we get sick. We have a habit of getting REALLY sick. I mean - Go Big or Go Home!  This time, she wanted me to add another controller inhaler to my regular, daily controller.  I take 2 puffs (morning and night) or my regular controller inhaler.  Then, she wanted me to add ANOTHER corticosteroid controller inhaler on top of that. 4 puffs morning and night.  Yep - a combined total of 6 puff...

  I'm old, so my car radio is set to NPR. As I am driving to the Allergist's office, I am listening to NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Goss.  Today he is interviewing Theresa MacPhail (a Medical Anthropologist), who wrote a book titled, " Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World" Well, that's ironic, isn't it? I'm listening to an interview about allergies as I am driving to my Allergist's Office....... As I was driving, Theresa MacPhail was talking about the "Farm Theory" (also called the Hygiene Hypothesis). Have you ever heard of that?  The theory is that kids are less likely to develop allergies and asthma if they grow up in rural areas, around animals, and in big families.  Why? The idea behind this is that when kids are young, they are exposed to lots of germs and infections from older siblings, farm animals and pets, and that helps them build up their immune system.  How? The constant exposure to bacteria, viruses, ...

  There are a LOT of awareness month, but this one is the most important to me.  It literally changed my life, and the life of my 3 kids. 23 years ago, our lives were forever changed when my middle son ended up in the hospital, and the respiratory therapist told  us that he has asthma.  What??!! But I asked my pediatrician if Son #2 has asthma, and he said no. He said it was "just a virus". The respiratory therapist said, "It's asthma alright - that's why he's being admitted to the hospital.." And life took a left when I had planned to go right.  Eventually, all 3 kids (and I) were diagnosed with asthma.  We are a family of 5. All 5 have allergies (year-round), 4 have asthma, and 2 of us have food allergies. I went back to college to get another degree, then changed professions to work full time as a Health Educator and Certified Asthma Educator. I now work for a national non profit and provide allergy & asthma education to people across the U.S.  ...

  Now that we're in year 3 of COVID, I know most people have gone back to Life as Normal. But, I am still afraid of getting sick.  There's good reason for that! We are a family of 5, and 4 of us have asthma. Severe asthma. When my kids were little, they were in the hospital 12 times - and 2 of those were ICU. They had the "crash cart" outside my kid's room - and I still have PTSD because of the reoccurring stress and trauma.  The cause of being in the hospital so many times? Pneumonia (for most of them), and a few of the times the culprit was wildfire smoke.  Now that my kids are adults we still battle respiratory diseases. They haven't been in the hospital for 15 years - but we all still have Urgent Care and ER visits for asthma.  And we will - for the rest of our lives. Asthma doesn't go away. If pneumonia wasn't bad enough for us, along comes COVID. Both times we have had COVID, we have been very sick - and almost ended up back in the hospital.  Man...

  A few years ago, I coordinate an Asthma Home Visit Program.  I provided in-depth asthma education to families.I know that doctors would like to spend more time providing education to their patients, but they just don't have time.  You may have been diagnosed with asthma while in the hospital, or at a doctor's office. And the doctor can explain a LOT of things - all at once. It's like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant. When I meet with families, I try to reinforce what the doctor explained to them, and then fill in the gaps about how to control their asthma.  It's good to learn about medications and asthma triggers, but it's also important to learn how to make a home allergy & asthma friendly. When I say "home", that can mean apartment, house, trailer home, condo, whatever they consider a home. During one visit, a woman answered the door and said, "If you are going to tell me to get rid of my dog, you can just turn around and walk back out th...