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Adjustments We Make
My attitude and my husband's attitude is to maintain Anthony's asthma and to keep on it, but he still has to be a kid. We have a nebulizer at home and medicines on us all the time. When we travel, the nebulizer travels with us, and the medicines travel with us. And we just went to Disney World in Florida, and we just took everything with us. We never had to use it, but we just kept everything in a little bag, and it was just an extra reassurance. Asthma doesn't stop us from doing anything. I think we've learned to live with it and to not make it a crutch for us. It took me a few years to realize how much healthier Katie would be if we did simple things that our allergist had always suggested or recommended, like saline rinses, nasal rinses, and saltwater rinses of the nasal passages. We'd always been very diligent about making sure her bedroom was pristine, having no rugs in the bedroom, getting her linens washed once a week, and making sure she never wore pollen-covered clothes up to her bedroom. But it took me a while to realize how important it was to do these things on a daily basis. Well sometimes I worry and get a little flustered when I've got to fit the nebulizer into the family's schedule. But mostly, it's just become a way of life. For my one-year-old son, Logan, his nebulizer time is also sit-down-and-cuddle time, or read-a-book time, or playing-games time. Losing work because of my child's asthma I was a single parent for four years and I've had to take a lot of days off work because of Tyson's asthma. I got fired from a job because I had to take time off from work when he had to go to the hospital and be evaluated and go through the treatments. It's hard to lose a job because you're taking care of your kid, because then you have no money. But then there is always MassHealth who has, thank God, helped me through a lot of things. When I've gotten down and had no job they take care of the children which is good. They might not take care of you, but they take care of your children.Eventually said we wouldn't visit if there was smoke in the house Up until her junior high years, winters were really tough for Addison and her asthma. Going to visit my father was hard because he smoked, and Addison would just react to that cigarette smoke. My father is a tough cookie, and even though Addison couldn't handle the smoke, my dad said that it was his house he would smoke if he wanted to. It was especially hard to go visit him during the winter because it would take her days to get over a couple hours visit because of the cigarette smoke in the house. I eventually made the decision that she couldn't be there while he was smoking. My dad did stop smoking in the home, but he'd smoke outside, and he leaves the door open while he smokes.We're more aware of situations we put him in We're more aware of what type of a situation we'll put Brian in. If there's bad air quality outside during the summer, for example, I'll keep him indoors instead of letting him play outdoors. I listen more carefully to his breathing- I'll take him to the doctor quicker for colds. Most people wait four or five days for a cold to pass, but if he's sick for two days and not getting any better I'll take him in and have him checked out. So, I would say it's affected us in those ways, but we still get out and do things and pretty much treat him just like everybody else.I changed my diet; we don't go around cats Jason has several food allergies, which are his biggest asthma triggers. So I've had to change my diet to accommodate his. I am someone who likes peanut butter snacks, but Jason's asthma could flare up if I did that because he's allergic to peanut butter. He's allergic to nuts, and they usually cause him to have an asthma attack. So, I've had to change my entire diet. You can't bring him anywhere where there are cats; he's allergic to cats. So if I bring him to my grandmother's and sit there for a long time, his asthma's going to act up for the rest of the night, because she has three cats. It's the little things like that, where you have to say, “Okay, well I can't go do that, because Jason can't be around that.”There's a silver lining to the changes we've made Well, when Evan was little, any time we went on vacation we would have to take his nebulizer and medicines with us. We were reluctant to travel too far from home, “just in case.” Also, if he had a cold, even a trip to a family member's or friend's house for a few hours meant we had to take all of that stuff with us. We pulled up our wall-to-wall carpeting, replaced our blinds with shades, we don't visit people who have dogs or cats, and don't own furry pets. But there are positive sides to these adjustments: I love my hardwood floors, I don't have to dust the blinds and I don't have to take care of a high maintenance dog or cat! I try to have my son look at these types of things this way - the whole silver lining thing.Keeping him away from things that could provoke an attack The only adjustments I can think of involve trying to keep him away from things that could provoke an attack. We would never use a fireplace if we went anywhere. When smoking was allowed in restaurants, we would always ask to sit as far away as possible from the smokers because Jordan has asthma.I don't sleep well when he's sick I don't sleep well when Brian's sick. I know that sounds funny, but as soon as he gets a cold, that's when he gets the asthma attacks. And so I don't sleep well then. All I have to hear is a little sniffle in the other room, or a cough, and I am running to the room to make sure he's breathing.The proactive changes have made a difference in his life We put covers on all the mattresses even though we're not sure if Brian's asthma is allergy-related or not, and I clean the house more often than I would otherwise do, and I bought HEPA filters for my house. I bought HEPA filters for my parents' house, too, because we visit there fairly often. I have a cat, and I'm not supposed to have a cat, but it's my son's best friend, so the cat goes to the groomer regularly to get scrubbed. My brother, who has a son who is asthmatic, has not done all of that. And my brother's son's asthma has continued to be bad; Brian gets maybe one attack a year now. And I feel that all the proactive stuff that we've done with him has been good, and that it's made a difference in his life. He doesn't miss as much school as his cousin does, and he doesn't get as sick as his cousin does.I plan for the worst-case scenario Two years ago I took Brian on a trip and there was a trigger in the hotel room. I had to check out of the hotel in the middle of the night because he couldn't breathe. Now, when I do go someplace, I will look up where the nearest hospital is the directions to go there. I will plan for the worst-case scenario. It gives you a really comfortable feeling when you get there, because if something happens, boom. You know how to get there. I called my job once we got to the hospital for my son's asthma to let them know Mason had an attack and that they were going to keep us at the hospital for a couple of days, so I wouldn't be able to go into work. I understand I have to work to make money, but his breathing is more important. We have adapted to Evan's asthma, as has he. In many ways, our adjustments have become a part of our everyday life; it requires thought to identify the changes we've made because of his asthma and allergies. Some that come to mind include the following: 1) many times during the year, we are unable to open the doors/windows, etc. as Evan has allergies which might trigger his asthma, 2) we don't have furry pets, etc. for the same reason, and 3) virtually our entire home is devoid of carpeting (other than a few throw rugs), and has hardwood/tile to minimize dust and mold, which can be asthma triggers.I smoke, but not around my daughter I do smoke, but I don't smoke around Mya. I don't smoke in the same room with her— I'll step outside and have a cigarette. When we had to go the hospital, we had to wait an hour for a pediatrician to come before they would give us a nebulizer. They were adamant that they would not give us the nebulizer before that. And all we needed was the nebulizer, because we had our own medicine. We just needed to be able to administer it. Since then I've found in the yellow pages a twenty-four hour service near where my parents' house is where you can call up and say “Hi, I need a nebulizer now.” I think it's a medical supply company of some sort. So, I'm more aware of these sorts of things when I travel. If I did find myself somewhere without a nebulizer and I needed it, I know that there are places out there that are open twenty-four hours a day for medical supplies. You can look that up in the phonebook and find it. |
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Hospital Boston Department of Psychiatry. All Rights Reserved. The information on this website should not be taken as medical advice, which can only be given to you by your personal health care professional. Updated: June 5, 2007 |
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