Aug 30, 10 10:31AM
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I’ve decided I will not be discussing AG’s Outdoor Lab trip in December (DECEMBER) with any other local parents until I absolutely have to. In fact, Mr. Asthma Mom may end up attending the first informational parent meeting by himself this Thursday night so I can continue avoiding the conversations that include alarming statements like [...]
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Sign in nowI think it’s a step in the right direction either way – the inhaler thing, I mean, not the air-freshened landfill.
I’d LOVE to maintain AG’s lungs on a lower dose of inhaled steroids. Not that she’s on a huge dose now or anything, but less medicine with no loss of health is, in general, a good thing, you know?
No idea what’s with the asthma deaths in Alberta this summer, but it’s definitely not the heat! We literally have only gone above 30 C ONCE this whole summer!
Great Friday links this week!
It’s been cold here in NB as well… I think we’ve been 5-10 degrees below seasonal for pretty much all of Spring and most of Summer (though we did get above seasonal a bit in July and we’re expected to again this weekend).
This has been one of those years that has definitely followed the Canadian seasonal pattern, as laid out by a comedian I forget the name of: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and Construction.
My 3 year old was recently diagnosed with asthma. Her triggers are dust mites, cat dander and outdoor allergens like Kochia and ragweed. The poor thing coughed randomly, on-and-off, for 5-6 months, undiagnosed, before she had a terrible flare-up and ended up in the ER twice within a 10 day period. In those 5-6 months of coughing, we had her checked out several times and even had a chest x-ray done (all clear). I wish I had done more research and known that coughing was the #1 symptom of asthma. I never knew it before this happened. I will be visiting your site again in the future for information and support. Thank you!
its been nightmarishly hot here. And I do mean nightmarishly. highs of 104-107F, actual temp mind you, and heat indexes of 110F+…
Here, too, Samantha–only without the high/humidity & heat index. I remember those days on the Gulf Coast, though…..dunno about you, but I’m ready for some of Danielle’s and Sarah’s weather.
HI there, and thanks for stopping by!
I know what you mean about wishing you’d done more research…definitely been there.
I hope you’ll stick around & hope you find help here.
[...] decided I will not be discussing AG’s Outdoor Lab trip in December (DECEMBER) with any other local parents until I absolutely have to. In fact, Mr. Asthma Mom may end up [...]
Qvar is not a 1 for 1 switch out with Flovent, especially if you need higher doses of steroids.
I’m not sure why Qvar doesn’t accommodate higher doses, but from what I’ve been told by docs, it’s not like everyone can or should switch. Since I have not so cooperative asthma, this probably means anyone with persistent asthma and significant flare ups is probably not going to be able to use Qvar.
Maybe during those times my asthma was perfectly controlled, I could do it. But I would always need Pulmicort (Flovent’s competitor) on hand which would probably add expense. And I also need the long acting bronchodilator which Qvar does not contain.
I wonder who financed the study? Or what the disclosed conflicts of interest were?
M
To clarify, I was in a strict HMO that pushed people into Qvar. I was willing to try it, but was told by the docs that the amount of steroid I was using (Flovent at the time) was higher than what Qvar provided.
M
Seriously, they will be FINE. Like you said, they do this every year. As long as you go prepared and know what you’re doing, winter is nothing to be scared of. AG will have so much fun! I’m pumped to hear about it.
can you offer to chaperon? (really, that word doesn’t have an ‘e’ on it…it looks so wrong) When M is old enough to go to overnight camp, I’m totally volunteering to be a counselor-for a different program…just so that I will be on-site.
She WILL be fine. We did something very similar, in the winter…we even slept in igloos…it was a ton of fun!
M is on Symbi AND QVar (along with Atrovent) she gets a pulmicort kicker when she’s sick as well (so we keep it in the house all the time)
At this point, though, I think her doc is grasping at straws just trying to keep her under some sort of control.
I wonder if you can add puffs of Qvar the way M’s original pulmo added puffs of Flovent. At one point, she was on 12 puffs of flovent a day…and if you can add puffs of flovent, I wonder why you wouldn’t be able to do the same with qvar (not suggesting 12 puffs a day…that’s why I fired her original pulmo)
Interesting article, though.
Danielle–One thing I LOVE: the kids can’t bring any electronics with them. No DS, no iPod, etc.
Sara–No, parents can’t chaperone. (It DOES look weird. I refuse!) I wouldn’t, anyway, because AG wouldn’t want me to. We can’t talk to the kids on the phone while they’re gone, either, because they don’t a bunch of kids who are otherwise fine and having fun to get homesick when they talk to their parents. That’s the hard part. I understand the reasoning behind it, though.
One thing I have to find out is if I can call to make sure she’s doing her maintenance inhaler. Even if I can’t talk to her, I need to make sure it’s getting done.
We have the meeting at the school this week and then an open house up at the site in the mountains in September. So I’ll know more about the whole thing soon.
Holla obsessive back-to-school hand-washing!
See also: stashing rescue inhalers in various school backpacks/messenger bags, lockers and pockets.
My Fall tip: There is nothing shameful about stacking an entire box of kleenex in your backpack so that you know you won’t run out if/when your allergies act up (I’ve done it). Ragweed season tends to hit me hard in mid-September, and even if it’s not ragweed, there’s fall colds and flu season. If you use your own, you don’t get germs from other people’s sneezes on your kleenex, plus you don’t have to worry about sneezing all over yourself and then being embarrassed as you slink away to the bathroom to clean up (done that too – bad allergies suck, and not just because they make you feel like crap)…
Also, definitely agree about keeping hand sanitizer on hand at all times. Would like to add: bring a bottle of hand moisturizer as well, if you’re like me and get dry skin super easily.
You guys are funny.
My tip for asthma kids (and all kids, really): with back-to-school, Halloween and everything else, make sure your children get to sleep at a decent hour when you don’t have anything going on, to make up for the times when they won’t get enough sleep & keep their immune systems functioning.
I’ve been known to send even my 11 yo to bed with a book at 7:30 on nights after volleyball practice. B/c volleyball nights, she doesn’t even get home until 10:15 pm. And that’s a school night.
when I chaperon, I’ll likely not even SEE M, except at mealtimes. unless things drastically change (and who knows, they might) we’ve had to go to the ER too many times for me to be comfortable with her being over an hour away..it’s one thing if she’s with family, another totally to be at camp with virtual strangers.
It’s obviously something that can be re-visited when she’s actually old enough to go.
I’ll bet there is a nurse that will be going (or is employed by the outdoor lab) who will be in charge of all medications. I can guarantee that AG isn’t the only one on daily meds.
We’re big on bedtime here too, and routine. Its a lot easier to keep her on her meds, and to notice changes in her if she’s on her normal routine/schedule.
Flu Shots and handwashing can really help out. I was the only one not to get H1N1 on my floor in the ResHall last year(and I shared a communal bathroom with the whole wing)… A little preventive isolation can go a long way. Bed times are also very important even into college
. As is staying hydrated to make up for all the mucus that is coming out of you.
No, you’re right. It’s a tiny school–only 2 sixth grade classes, total–but a couple of other kids take stuff.
Actually, Outdoor Lab even has handicapped facilities and that’s very reassuring. If they can handle wheelchairs, they can handle asthma, you know?
Here in Vermont, Sept & Oct are everyone’s favorite months. BUT, they are also the worst time for my asthma boy. Back to school germs combined with the molds we get this time of year always get him. My big tip is to hit any hint of a flare hard. Take no prisoners. We go back to Advair twice a day in August, give ventolin at bedtime or before school at the first hint of a cough. And this time of the year, we give in to prednisone early. We’ve learned to bite that bullet in order to avoid the ER. We’ve used the net pot a lot this summer — seemed to be an extra long grass pollen season here. But we usually use it in the fall at the first sign of a cold. And I make sure the albuterol for his nebulizer hasn’t expired!
Lots of Autumn Tips but they’re all pretty usual! With the onset of September…
Get the school meds sorted
Purchase new wet wipes/hand gels
Make sure coats etc are drycleaned and ready to wear, and never be embarrassed about being the first person back in scarves, gloves, and in a typically English way, tights (hose)!
Make sure you’re prepared-stock up on seasonal sniffle stuffs-((however I tend not to get colds etc, my Flu shot is always in October, and I get called automatically for it-))
But my hardest thing in Autumn here is leaf mould. It starts to get me as soon as those leaves start falling. Nothing I can do-just grin and bear it until the leaves and the mould is all gone.
Do you know, I think more about preparing for the Fall in the garden than in my lungs-I’ve already bought the lawn dressing, rose feed and various organic winter type fertilisers! And I still have a massive bunch of vegetables out there waiting to ripen-long may Summer continue here!
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I went to speak to an allergist today, and in two week having a allergy test. The nurse explained that during the “build up phase” (after six weeks starting the injections) they can teach the patients, or family member to give injections, and in the paper work it also states it. I have never had any experience with allergy shots, so I’m a little nervious about it, after reading about the reactions the allergy shots can do(not sure if I want to).
But to answer your question, the allergist I went to will allow us to administer allergy shots to kids at home.
Samantha & Kat–I’ll tell AG she’s not the only one. She views the random early bedtime as a punishment, no matter how much I talk up the benefits!
Allison–Take no prisoners! That should be the motto for like, everyone with asthma.
Susannah–I’m the first one in winter gear here, but then–I am from Florida, more or less. Your garden sounds fabulous.
Thank you!
After reading all this and if I were facing allergy shots for either of my kids, I’d search high and low for an allergist who’d let me administer them myself. Thanks again for your input, everyone.
I read about that. It seems that once a year or so, there’s an instance of someone who has a duty to help those in need utterly blowing it off and totally screwing up one or more peoples’ lives as a result. Case in point: This moron, or the paramedics who denied help to an asthmatic, pregnant woman resulting in her death.
Frankly, I think there’s a difference between being a ordinary member of the public and someone who has trainign in that sort of thing – ESPECIALLY if you’re a qualified first responder. The moment you walk into that classroom, you’re shouldering a duty to anyone you come across in need. I’m trained in First Aid, CPR and AED use. I can’t imagine not lending aid when it’s required. So far as I’m concerned, it’s my duty to use the knowledge I’ve aquired whenever and wherever it’s needed. For someone who’s a qualified first responder (such as a police officer, fire fighter or paramedic), it’s even more so. Lending aid isn’t just a good idea and an unspoken duty, it’s their job. If you don’t want to lend aid, don’t take the training, and don’t take the job. Period, as far as I’m concerned.
People like this (regardless of whether it was active malice or simple incompetence) give a bad name to all trained first responders out there, and they cause real harm. People like this shouldn’t be in their job, pure and simple.
Am I being judgemental? Yes, and justifiably so. I happen to think that our first responders and medical professionals put themselves in a position where they should be held to a higher standard than Joe Public – because they have more training, better equipment and better preparation. And if you’re not prepared or not comfortable with that, don’t take the job or training in the first place. I won’t hold that against someone. I will hold it against them if they take the job and/or training, and then refuse to use it.
Stuff like this just makes me rage.
To end on a positive note, the NYPD is reacting appropriately, and hopefully, they’ll institute changes to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Too often, police departments tend to have a “blame the victim” mentality in cases of police misconduct.
I dunno…I ate an entire bag of licorice yesterday, and it didn’t help anything…but it DID make me sick.
I actually HAVE heard of licorice helping digestion…and fennel root (which has a licorice flavor, if I remember correctly) is used with colicky babies (which I really think is reflux…my “colicky baby” stopped being colicky when I insisted they treat her for reflux)
you know, perhaps it’s because I know someone who’s ex-husband is a psychotic jerk who shouldn’t be allowed to carry a gun, however, in reality was the “face” of a large police department, during a very stressful and scary time…but this incidence doesn’t surprise me.
I’m not sure that “suspension” is enough of an action. Perhaps that’s the mommy in me talking, I’m not sure…but I’d like to see him at least fired, and perhaps charged with some sort of negligence.
Would mouth to mouth even help an asthma attack?
Yup these two are spouted around a lot. They sound whacky but look at just how many herbal cough medicine type things have liquorice in them-the purging quality of it also helps you cough up the lung junk as well as aiding poor digestion which the Victorians thought was the reason for their asthma (actually it was the bad London air!)
Marshmallows-yes- well there isn’t any, as you know, in the sugar and glucose and coconut shavings style marshmallows that you tend to get now-but there must be some truth in it, as my Gran said pink marshmallows were good for coughs! Why pink, I have no idea, but I approve-and my Gran knew everything!
But I’ve also heard this from the Mother of a friend of mine who is a generation older than my parents-eat marshmallows if you have asthma. I love them, but I eat the ‘nowadays’ variety so I’m not expecting a miracle!
Sara–Yeah, a whole bag of anything probably negates whatever beneficial aspects it might have–not that I haven’t done the same thing myself, only not with licorice. (Which I hate.)
Susannah–It always comes back to the Victorians! I’m telling you, if I ever get AG over to visit London someday, she’d be in heaven.
Thank you for the links…Steve’s info is great & good timing for me… I guess I now have NO doubt why my AG has asthma.. I caught her bronchitis and have been wheezing and coughing for about 4 weeks now… I have been too afraid to take the prednisone my doctor gave me because my family (even my AG when she was 5) tend to have CRAZY reactions to it (as in crying, yelling, etc.). I guess I need to brave it and at least take half doses. Ugh. I’m not used to dealing with this with myself (’cause it’s never been this bad). I know how to take care of my AG, I’m just so clueless as so how to take care of myself.
The menstruation study…could also just be genetic…whatever genes tend to cause asthma also cause earlier menses… all the girls in my family have started at 12.
Is anyone else able to open the first link? the ALA caregiving coordination one? I keep getting not found but it could just be me lol.
Also my own little miss monkey, seems to have already gotten her first “back to school” cold/flare… been yellow zone-ing for a few days now. Doesnt help that she wont ask for her inhaler in gym even tho she coughs/cant breathe when they run laps (in Kindergarten mind you, laps pushups and situps…) because, and I quote, “we arent allowed to talk when we are running”
*sigh* the one rule she takes seriously…..
Samantha–It’s not you, it’s me. Fixed the link. Thanks for the heads-up!
probably long enough for an ambulance to get there.
It seems like there was a whole lot wrong in that whole situation, culminating with the police officer refusing to help.
However, and forgive me for what might seem to be “blaming the victim” because I’m not….if traffic is SO bad that someone thinks they need to go the wrong way on a one way street…I’ll bet the ambulance would have gotten to the park faster than she could drive. However, I know how my brain shuts off when M is just having a little trouble…I’m sure she thought she was doing the best thing. Imagine, though, if she had hit another car head on…
It’s just such a tragic situation, made worse because someone who should have helped refused to
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I am a young adult who is getting regular allergy shots. For the first five weeks of getting them, I went into the doctor’s office to get them done. After that, I was trained on how to do them and have been self-injecting since then. I am also a nurse, so I know what to look for and how to correctly administer the shots. My doctor prescribed me EpiPen to keep with me in case I do have a reaction. I always have someone with me when I do the shots and for at least 30 minutes afterwards. That person knows how to use the EpiPen in case I need it. I am so happy I can do them at home. It is better than driving 20 minutes to the office, sitting there for 20 minutes, and then driving home another 20 minutes.
I think allergy shots at home are fine as long as the someone is trained to give the shots and an EpiPen is prescribed to keep at home.
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I have a nasty milk sensitivity, turns out im allergic or at least reactive to not lactose but milk protein as lactose free milk does nothing…. The “Avoiding Milk Blog” i have in my rss reader is pretty interesting, and they cover all food allergies, articles, products, and places that sell vegan/dairy free/nut free/gluten free etc food products as well.
I finally get a chance to swing by here again, and look what you’ve posted! It’s almost like you put out a little welcome mat for me….
OK, my best suggestion is the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (foodallergy.org). If you are new to fa’s, start with their list of local support groups to hook you up with others dealing with schools, doctors, restaurants, etc. specific to your area.
Another good comprehensive site is AllergyMoms.com from Gina Clowes. A lot of parents swear by kidswithfoodallergies.org, but they’ve got a paid membership firewall (boo!), so I don’t know myself.
Linda Coss’s books (both cooking and managing fa’s) are excellent. I haven’t read Food Allergies for Dummies, but the author, Dr. Robert Wood, is THE leading specialist on food allergies and an outstanding advocate, so I would suggest it as another good place to start..
Alisa from GoDairyFree.org just put out a free ecookbook that a lot of us food allergy cooks/bloggers contributed to. You can download it here:
http://www.onefrugalfoodie.com/2010/09/01/free-school-time-recipes/
Finally, you are more than welcome to visit my blog, http://www.allergickid.blogspot.com, where I’ve just been motivated to finally finish up that page about food allergy resources!
My local ED really does have free valet parking. (I just wish they gave out frequent flyer miles…) When my son was younger, the beyond insulting question was “How do you know he has food allergies?” Umm, he goes into anaphylaxis? Or is that too technical for ya? How ’bout, if he eats food he’s allergic to, he projectile vomits, his entire body is covered in hives, and if we wait too long to medicate him, his throat will close up and he’ll stop breathing? It still irritates me…grrrrr.
Thanks, guys. Terrific suggestions!
Keep ‘em coming, everyone–I get LOTS of email questions about food allergies, so plenty of readers want this information.
I wish I knew some, we really only have a red dye 40 sensitivity…and that’s fairly easily avoided, if you read. Of course it’s in the weirdest places…to I have to read EVERYTHING…(yellow cake mix, pillsbury crescent rolls, chocolate sprinkles, candy, not to mention so many medications.) It’s a tough one, because all but the most progressive pediatricians in the US don’t recognize it as an allergy or sensitivity…so when you ask them to make sure the med they prescribe is Red Dye free, they scoff at you.
If you have a ragweed allergy, be careful with chamomile. I learned the hard way that they are in the same family. I never gave much thought to how it made me feel until I drank a whole pitcher of chamomile iced tea last summer and felt awful for a day or two. Not everyone who has a ragweed issue will have problems, but, apparently i am one of the lucky ones.
No danger of that over here – chamomile tea gives me crazy, CRAZY dreams. (Although maybe that’s why?)
But good to know – thanks!
Thankfully, the peanut allergy spell I had in my 20s, is now non existent! Who would have thought it was possible to grow in and out of such a severe allergy! I was a PB and jam sandwich child in the States, but suffered a severe reaction aged 25! I was retested after about 7 years of total avoidance and I’m now able to eat PB again-but not safe to do so when I’m alone!
However, I’ve known I had a wheat intolerance since the age of about 16 when I was covered in eczema and the hospital specialist I was under suggested giving up wheat. Then about 5 years ago when I was having the worst severe asthma spell of my life, I was tested for Coeliac disease, and found out my wheat intolerance was full blown allergy to Gliadin-the wheat protein.
I also have a few crazy oral allergies-Paprika, red food colouring, apple skin, sweet and sour sauce, and have random lip tingling/swelling/itching type moments almost every week, but who knows what from.
I’m just an allergic person-sometimes I get hives on my face if I blow my nose on certain brands of kleenex-it’s a bit bizarre, but I make sure I always have both the liquid and tablet form anti histamines with me, and I carry an Epipen.
Thankfully I am not stil amongst the nut avoidance brigade. I’m just careful. Nuts make me cough/gag anyway so I’ happy to not eat them!
This is a topic quite near to me for several years now. There are a LOT more resources out there about fa than there were 5-6 years ago, and I’m amazed at what there’s out there now.
My favorite fa website is allergicchild.com. They also have a monthly newsletter with fa info, research links, advocacy, and personal experiences on how they manage.
I’ve looked around, and it’s not that hard to find other stuff if you google. Finding blogs about just one fa isn’t that difficult, it’s when you have multiple food allergies that makes it harder. They are out there, but much harder to find. Out of frustration that I couldn’t find recipes for stuff that I could eat, I started my own fa blog and started playing with ingredients and creating my own recipes (including muffin pie). foodallergyfroggie.wordpress.com I keep forgetting to post the latest recipes, but they’re written down, so as I have time, I slowly add to them. I do talk about fa on my main blog, but not all the time.
And remember that you still can live with fa… AND still eat stuff that tastes good. The rest of my family likes most of the recipes I’ve been coming up with recently.
The only one I’ve been able to find is Please Don’t Pass The Nuts, but then, I’m not nearly as affected by food allergies as I am environmental allergies and asthma. Thankfully I have only one true food allergy, to a preservative used in some brands of chocolate bar, and it’s very easy to avoid.
Food allergies run in my family, though: My father is allergic to hazelnuts (he probably should carry an epipen since his reaction affects his breathing but he refuses). My mother is allergic to wheat. My sister is allergic to MSG (she has an epipen), and my neice is allergic to eggs (my sister is trying to get an epipen for my neice as she has risk factors for anaphylaxis). My sister’s always getting hit by MSG… you’d be surprised at all the stuff it’s in! Luckily, she has yet to have a life-threatening reaction, but she does have a lot of risk factors for one, so she has to be careful.
Incidentally, if anyone has any good egg-free recipes to recommend, I’d like them so that I can cook stuff for my neice the next time my sister visits!
Sarah, I have a severe sensitivity to MSG, it doesn’t cause anaphylaxsis, but the migraine I get, within minutes of exposure to it makes me WANT to die. It’s in SO much stuff. Seriously, between Abby and me, grocery shopping takes a really long time…because we discovered once that just because something we’ve bought before was safe, doesn’t mean it’s always safe.
It also used to be impossible to find foods like canned soups, or things like chicken broth without MSG in it…which sort of forces you to cook from scratch…but it’s not always convenient.
Sarah, eggs are one of the things I’m allergic to, so I’ve been working on recipes without eggs in them. They’re harder to do, but I do have a few, and I keep thinking of more and posting them to my fa blog. Egg replacer is helpful, but doesn’t always quite work like real eggs, but it does help with baking without eggs.
Susannah, you mentioned stocking up on hand wipes/hand sanitizer. This can be a great idea… as long as they don’t trigger you. I learned this the hard way last week when a friend cleaned something in the car with hand sanitizer.
Amy, the early bed time is one of my favorite things to do.
I actually appreciate when people send me to be early, probably because I know they care for me and know that I especially need sleep at that time.
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Regarding bronchodialators for illness, I do that too. Actually, I’ve been told by my doctor to step up to yellow zone treatment and start scheduled bronchodialators every four hours the moment I think I’m coming down with a cold (before I start flaring from it). I’m not so good at scheduled bronchodialators (I tend to lose track of time), but I do my best with it. It doesn’t prevent me from flaring with illness, but it does typically keep me below the prednisone mark.
Exactly–AG never gets through an illness w/out flaring (it’s her biggest trigger, after all), but starting the bronchodilator early makes a huge difference in how the flare progresses. If I wait until the flare starts, we just end up chasing it and playing catch-up.
Yeah, I hear you! I nip a cold-flare in the bud, and I feel sick for two weeks (since it always takes my lungs an extra week or so to get over illnesses, even with yellow zone treatment). I let it get going, and optimistically, I’m looking at six weeks of uncontrolled asthma. Pessimistically, eight weeks or more… or worse, a course of orals or an ER visit. Plus, if I don’t stay on top of a cold-flare, I get bronchitis more easily. I’m not sure if there’s any science to back that up, but I’ve noticed it in myself.
My AG’s asthma doctor has advised as soon as she has ANY sign of any cold to immediately double her flovent. She’s been good – so good i didn’t do it last time, thinking she was getting better….then bronchitis and a steroid burst…so, yeah…i’ll be remembering next time to increase her inhalers immediately. BTW, I have heard it is better protection for the peak of flu season to wait for shot until about november…does anyone know?
Kelley, I’m no immunologist, but from what I know, flu shots contain killed virus, which allows your body to build up make its own antibodies to the disease. Immunity from this sort of vaccine tends to last much longer than immunity from a vaccine that just gives you the antibodies (for example, the rabies emergency shot), but shorter than from a vaccine with attenuated (live) bacteria or virus. That said, it also has fewer risks than an attenuated vaccine. So, as a nerdy layperson, I don’t think it would matter too much when in the season you get vaccinated.
The CDC recommends that vaccinations begin as soon as possible, so I’m guessing that my conjecture is in-line with what the experts think on the subject.
That said, I’m no health professional… I wonder if any medical professionals follow this blog who could comment with the actual education and research backing them up?
A couple of years ago, when there was a flu shot shortage and I was mildly freaking out at an appointment, our pediatrician said something along the lines of, “Don’t worry. Most flu starts ramping up mid-season, and since outbreaks can sometimes last til late spring, a later shot will actually protect all the way to the end of flu season.”
Having said that, last year H1N1 hit me in Sept, AG in early Oct. and her sister in late Oct. – though pandemics like that are, of course, a special case.
Finally, in our own family history, if my kids end up with something nasty, it’ll usually hit between Nov. and early March and I can’t remember any serious illness as late as April or May, so I’ve always tried to time flu shots for Oct.
Hope that helps!
I get miss monkeys flu shot as soon as its available. and *knock on wood* we havent had any flu issues. It may be better with the nasal vaccine which is live Id imagine, but since they dont recommend that for kids under 2 or asthmatics (boy child is not 2 yet and older sister has asthma) I wouldnt swear to that since we havent ever used it.
Ooh, that’s a good way to sell it to AG: “I’m sending you to bed BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, DAMMIT.” (Maybe I’ll leave out that last word.)
MC, one of my friends has a son with multiple food allergies, and she sometimes will substitute a can of soda in a cake mix for the eggs, oil and water. I don’t know how or why it works…but it does. She always brings these kinds of cupcakes to birthday parties. (and this is one of the many reasons I’m glad to be friends with her…because I always bring an Abby-friendly treat to birthday parties…either a donut, or cupcakes or whatever..so I know she can have something.)
I don’t know if you could do it with a from scratch recipe…but you could try it. Mix all the dry ingredients, then add a can of soda (cola for chocolate, lemon-lime for yellow or white cake)
My girls are scheduled for the flu shot on Sept 25th (they are not happy about it at all…OH WELL)
We also have a “sick plan” We add pulmicort and q4 nebs by the clock…I’ll typically even do them overnight, because she will sleep through a neb treatment. Following the sick plan to the letter has kept her off pred for the most part, for 2 years. (I think she’s needed pred 4 times in 2 years)
I’m psychotic about handwashing, and we DO use sanitizers, in places or times we just can’t wash. (Mariella is too short for many public bathroom sinks…so she’ll sanitize instead, for example)
Totally with you on the overnight treatments during something like the flu – unless AG just desperately needs sleep, I’d rather get up with her in the middle of the night to keep the bronchodilators in her system than subject her to prednisone. Besides, when she’s on round-the-clock treatments, an 8 pm and then a midnight or 1 am one will usually see her through to 6 am.
Oh, and if you sucuumb to flu/cold/etc. Remember to clean your spacer/inhaler mouth piece/peak flow meter. You can ask my friend who got strep from his inhaler twice before he took my advice and took some rubbing alcohol to it. Also tossing the tooth brush after getting sick helps with re-infection.
How on earth do you get her to sleep through a neb? I can get mine to fall asleep once its on, sometimes, but… it is ALWAYS a fight to get her on it to start with
Wow. I never knew that. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome tip, Kat. Thank you! I do the toothbrush thing, but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned cleaning spacers & PFMs before. It’s so important.
Samantha, I think she’s just SO used to it by now. It’s only just recently that she hasn’t needed at least one treatment during the night since before she was 2, so it’s been 4 years…she might stir…and there have been times she’s even talked to me…but she never remembers them in the morning. I also do it “blow by” rather than a mask (when she’s awake, she just puts the mouthpiece in.) When my oldest was a newborn, she had RSV and spent 12 days in PICU, and the mask distressed her to the point she stopped breathing…so the RT said the blow by was not quite effective, but nearly so…and it seems to work well enough for M.
I’ll probably write more about this and there have been a few new developments since this post, but a few thoughts right now:
- It’s hard to know if CPR would’ve helped this little girl since none of us were there and didn’t see the attack, but for me the issue is that he didn’t even try. This is the NPYD’s mission statement:
“The Mission of the New York City Police Department is to enhance the quality of life in our City by working in partnership with the community and in accordance with constitutional rights to enforce the laws, preserve the peace, reduce fear, and provide for a safe environment.”
And one of its values:
“Value human life, respect the dignity of each individual and render our services with courtesy and civility.”
(Source: http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/home/mission.shtml)
- In some of the comments sections on New York blogs about this incident, I’ve read criticism of the mother for both endangering the public by driving the wrong way and for not knowing CPR herself and relying on this officer to save her daughter’s life instead.
As Sara mentions, when your child is suffering a severe attack or any serious health risk, it is very natural to panic or for your brain to shut off. For all we know, this mother may have known CPR but been too panicked to perform or even remember it.
Plus, if a parent does everything right, if they have a good handle on their child’s condition – whether asthma or otherwise – if they know CPR and other emergency procedures, does that negate the responsibility of community workers?
And as Sarah mentions in that first comment, if police officers, EMTs, or other first responders don’t want that responsibility, why did they choose these jobs in the first place?
pei pa koa is pretty decent cough medicine (from herbal as I remembered), great non alcoholic medicine, some western cough medicine are more effective, but this is non drowsy.
You can access info online @
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nin_Jiom_Pei_Pa_Koa
ninjiom.50webs.com
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.
I know I’m a little off topic and sorry for that. I just wanted to say that I love your blog design, got few very good ideas, thanks for this and thanks for nice post.
911 once again, will be by now nine many years I can even now bear in mind everthing, fairly Say day, Wish the whole lot can come to be earlier tense with me.
[...] my surprise when I came upon the wise words of my friend Amy, who is The Asthma Mom. Amy wrote an article last year about packing a sick box that contains all the supplies you’d need were a short-term illness [...]
It’s chilly enough here in my part of Canada that I wouldn’t be surprised if the first frost is before the end of September at this rate (which is a little early, even for a Southern Canadian climate… normally first frost isn’t ’till mid October).
Hard to believe that two weeks ago, it was 40+degrees Celcius out… now it’s barely reaching the mid teens in Celcius.
We’re not that chilly yet, and in fact today has warmed up to sundress weather, but our temps fluctuate a LOT here. Last year our first major snowfall, about a foot, happened right before Halloween. I was talking to the the Sidekick’s best friend’s dad the other day, and he said “Can you believe we’ll be shoveling snow again in an month?” Of course here, with our crazy weather, we could easily be back in t-shirts the week after a snowfall.
[...] Cough drops and, on very rare and extreme occasions, cough medicine came back into AG’s life under these conditions. Vapor rub makes her cough more, though, so it’s stuck firmly in the trigger [...]
Hi there, Are you going to be posting a follow up page? The hubby and me have spent some time browsing over your web site and funnily enough you touched on a little something we were referring to only the other day with our daughter. We very often find ourselves arguing with the smallest of issues, isn’t it childish?
My girl is 5 and still learning to recognize her own symptoms, by which i mean she doesnt yet tell me consistently when she is having a problem. With that in mind, we dont use cough drops at all. In fact when her school sent home a form asking me what medications (otc stuff like tylenol and such) they could give her, I said tylenol and such were ok, but cough drops are a no go. We also do not generally use any type of cough medicine except under a very specific circumstance. If she is flaring, and has already been to her primary doc (who let me say once more is *amazing* we are so very lucky), he will sometimes give her a script for a short course of codeine cough syrup along with her increased nebulizer treatments or steroids so that she can get some sleep. But that she gets only at night and in as small a dose for as short a time as possible, for the reasons listed above. Her main symptom is a cough, so I try not to stifle the cough so I can keep track of how shes doing.
As to vapor rub, honestly, we have never tried it, but a lot of strong scents bother her so i suspect it wouldnt go well if we did.
Do you use cough drops and/or cough medicine? What type? In what scenarios?
I’ll sometimes use Halls or something of the sort if I’ve coughed enough to irritate my throat. Otherwise, I don’t take cough medicine: Sometimes my cough is my only symptom even down to a red zone peak flow, and I definitely don’t want to mess that up! if I have a cold so I’m not sure whether a cough is an asthma cough or a throat cough because my peak flow is good and I’m not feeling tight, I’ll try a cough drop and see if that clears it up. If I’m still coughing in five minutes, I’ll take my inhaler.
I definitely don’t want to suppress my cough with cough suppressants since it’s really my main symptom (I do get tight chest and soreness and shortness of breath, but I don’t notice those if I’m concentrating on something else), but sometimes I’ll take an expectorant if I feel like I need to cough something up but it’s too thick to cough up (usually after I’ve had a cold, usually when I’m coming down with bronchitis, and usually around when I make a mental note to drop in to the doctor’s office if what I cough up is funky-colored).
I’ve had people offer me cough syrup before and then give me a funny look when I refuse, and press me with, “But your cough sounds so bad!” I don’t really want to explain that listening to how bad my cough sounds is part of how I evaluate how bad my lungs are doing since I tried that once, and the person jumped to conclusions: “Oh my gosh! Do you need a drive to the emergency room?! I’ll drive you right now!” No, I’m just monitoring to make sure I medicate before I get to that point. *sigh*
The other thing is, if it’s an asthma cough, I find OTC cough suppressants don’t really work at all. I take one to stop me coughing all night, and then I’m coughing all night and I have poor judgement from sedation. Salbutamol works much better for me, and it addresses part of the underlying problem.
As for Vick’s, I’ll take it when I have junk in my lungs because I find it works well at loosening that stuff up. Beyond that, it irritates my skin. I find it does a much better job of clearing my nasal passages of congestion than calming a cough, actually, so I also use it when I’m too stuffed up to bear. :p
No cough suppressants in any form for my AG (7), but I do give her guifenesin (sp?) when she has a cold to help loosen and realease the enormous amounts of phlegm she gets with colds/sinus infections. I also have found that the nasal rinses she has to do everyday help…decreasing the amount of post-nasal drip defintely helps decrease the need to cough it back out.
I avoid cough medicines, except on a few occasions.
Back in March I ended up in the ER at 3am because I couldn’t breathe, probably because I was sick on top of the asthma. In addition to the antibiotics and pred, they gave me a cough syrup for IF my cough got to be too much to bear. I used it once, and only once: the next night. I had a coughing fit at the all-campus thing where they had a lot of bass and drums and to top it all off, a fog machine. I coughed and coughed the whole hour, despite the inhaler (which did help reduce the cough). As soon as I got back to my room I took the cough syrup and it helped drastically. But I’ve not used it since.
Cough drops are something that I’m still not sure about. I’ve been meaning to ask my docs about this, but haven’t yet. However, I avoid them right now as the last several times I’ve taken them they’ve made my throat swollen and really didn’t help. However, I’ve been trying to find something for when my lungs are having a coughing party that leaves my throat sore (it’s not a throat cough, but really irritates my throat sometimes when I cough a lot or really hard).
I’ve tried taking a cough expectorant when I’m coughing up stuff that’s hard to get up, but I haven’t noticed much help. What I did learn 2 weeks ago when I started up a nasty cough that was getting productive was that hydration really helped. I’m horrible at staying properly hydrated, but when I got plenty of water all day long for a few days it helped more than anything else (besides inhalers) to get rid of it and a few days later I was mostly back to ‘normal’.
I will treat a cough in M (age 6.5) only at night, and only if it’s disrupting her sleep TOO much.
For myself, I don’t bother, nothing works, except codeine, and codeine gives me insomnia…so unless I’m DYING, I don’t take it. (I do keep it in the house, though…just in case not being able to sleep is preferable to hacking up a lung…it’s a fine line)
Neither one of the girls will even put a cough drop in their mouth, since they don’t like the taste.
I sometimes take Simple Syrup-they give it to me in hospital too. There’s nothing in it drug wise-no codeine or suppressant-to set off my asthma-except the red colourant-which doesn’t set off my asthma when all other red colourants do!
I make my own soothing cough helper, with lime juice whiskey and brown sugar boiled up. Obviously you can’t give that to AG!
Cough Drops-never really need them-prefer to guzzle water if my mouth, throat is dry and I’m still coughing.
Menthol Rubs-I can’t use Vicks but I can use Happy Nose! I don’t know if you have that in the States-silly, I should know
And I definitely steer well clear of anything like Olbas Oil or Karvol-those drops you put on your pillow-much too strong an trigger inducing!
The best thing for a bunged up nose and sinus problems if you have a cold is saline. Or use a neti pot!
Lovely Dahlia flowers-they brighten any bed! And I’m really interested in your Hatch chilis. I grow Apache and Jalapeno ones and they are very very hot this year-and red too. Must source some Hatch, of course unless they’re so native I can’t find any here!
Loved the Sidekick’s dress too! x
PS- You’re welcome to your snow-we had enough last winter and don’t want it again!
[...] The Devastation in Haiti (theasthmamom.com) [...]
Thanks, everyone.
AG uses honey-lemon Hall’s when she needs them, but I should add here that even just sucking on a plain piece of candy can help irritated throats for kids that don’t take cough drops (or if you’re not comfortable with them.) Again, though: I only suppress the cough if I know it’s coming from my kid’s throat rather than her lungs.
Most of my regular readers know I swear by nasal washes for stuffiness, but I do wish AG could use Vick’s for overnight nose congestion like her sister does.
Susannah, LOVE the simple syrup idea. I’ve never heard/read that one before!
Heh. If temps would just drop enough to freeze the damn ragweed out of the air, I’d be happy. My poor eyes…
I don’t know if you can find fresh Hatch chiles there, but you may be able to find canned Hatch enchilada sauce, Susannah. This is one of the most popular versions, but I think it has gluten, unfortunately:
http://www.amazon.com/Hatch-Green-Chile-Enchilada-14-Ounce/dp/B000H23V2A