Diagnosis: asthma... :-(

I had allergies as a child, and also asthma. My mom figured out the
allergies because I always seemed to have a cold, and no one else in
the family ever got it. This was in 1944.

In those days, they said that I would 'grow out of it' at about age
12.

My first cousin had asthma, and they sent him to Arizona to school for
it (this was back in the 40s). Come to find out he was allergic to
his mattress which was horse hair.

My allergies mostly come on as sneezing. I can't ever get out the
winter clothes without sneezing myself into a fit because of mold.
Most of the time, my asthma was from exercising vigorously in cold air
- like if I was late to school in October, and ran the last block, I
would start to wheeze really badly. My sister complained that my
wheezing kept her awake. They didn't have inhalers in those days.

In any case, I don't have the asthma stuff now as a general rule,
although I still have allergies. Mine run the gamut from animal
dander (we had to get rid of our cat), tree pollen, grass pollen,
ragweed etc. I was always a bit sub-par at the beginning and end of
school.


Ericka Kammerer wrote:

wrote:
Banty napisal(a):
In article .com,
says...
As of 2 years I'm a single mum raising two boys at the ages of 8 and
10. Few days ago I was informed my oldest son is struggling with
asthma... I was totally depressed. Mostly because I was the witness of
it's attack... I felt so useless, paralysed ... didnt know what to do
and how to help him. I called an ambulance and under an oxygene mask my
son was taken to the hospital. I never had to deal with that in my
past... He seems to be pretty well now... but ever since that day I
keep on worrying about how to prevent him from the next incident like
that?
Obviously he has got a medicine in case of emergency but either way I
feel so scared this may happen again and I won't be there to help...
How should I remain calm knowing my boy is a "healthy" kind of kid,
riding a bicycle, playing football, running, swimming.... ??? I can't
make him stop doing all these things and at the same time... I keep on
thinking... will he manage whenever it happens again? And I'm not with
him for the whole day... working like mad to survive...
I thought maybe some of you had some experience with asthma .... and
will be willing to share it with me?
Hoping to find some replies...
People with asthma, including kids, can and do participate in sports and
activities. Look to your physician as to what your son can do, and understand
that, with good control, he'll probably be able to do even more in the future.

In the meantime, as well as closely following your physician's instructions,
look in your environment what may be trigger factors for your son's asthma.

For example, my son's asthma dissappeared after we ripped out and replaced old
carpeting in the lower level of the house and got some foundation waterproofing
done after a flood. Apparently, the molds in the house was his trigger.

Banty


--
Hi Banty,

Thank you very much for your reply. You're right... I need to check
what might be the reason causing it... Probably carpeting too...
although it's hard to be guessing. I talked to the physician and he
said we are not able to complete the allergic tests right now... cause
he is still on anti allergic drugs at the moment (after hospital
treatment). We do plan to make those tests in September... still a lot
of time to wait. But thanks for some ideas... maybe I'll get rid of
that carpet in his room? I also thought it might be some allergens in
the air... it's spring... the similar incident (though not so drastic
and not diagnosed as asthma) took place last year... exactly the same
month which makes me think... this could be the reason... Anyway... I
won't wait... need to start doing something...
Did you son get rid of asthma once and for all?
I have read it might disappear permanently with years.... which
unfortunately does not fit with what my son's physician said... "you
can't treat asthma permanently... you have to live with that trying to
minimize the frequency of attacks.." :-(

Some kids do experience a reduction, or even
elimination, of symptoms for a while, but then it often
returns in their 20s. If they're prone to this sort
of reaction, they will likely have that propensity for
good.

Best wishes,
Ericka

She's not likely to find an asthma camp near her because she's in Poland!

Magda, from memory, in Poland you don't have carpet but either floorboards
or linoleum with floor rugs. Try vacuuming every day. If you decided to go
with the new trend and actually got carpet then you may have to go to the
expense of removing it and putting in floorboards or linoleum. Or just keep
vacuuming! You need to find a vacuum cleaner with special filters for
asthmatics. They remove dust particles really well and don't blow them back
into the room like normal vacuum cleaners do. The best brand to buy is
probably Dyson.

http://www.aged.com.pl/dyson/

http://www.totu.pl/chce_kupic.php?c=729&p=710

http://www.maximedia.pl/

Change his bed sheets regularly and maybe get a new mattress for his bed or
make sure the one he has is clean. Take it outside and hit it with a a stick
or a broom.

Where you live may also have an impact. If you're in Slask (Silesia to those
who don't speak Polish or other areas where there is high pollution, then
your son may be reacting to the environment. If you are in a major mining
area, like Katowice, or near somewhere where there is a lot of pollution
like Krakow or Lodz, then you may need to move to the edge of town where the
air is cleaner, rather than live right in the metropolitan centre.

Don't worry about him being able to do sport. Once he learns to recognise an
attack coming on and learns how to deal with it and use his medication
effectively, there is no reason for him not to continue with sport unless
his asthma is really that severe. A really good sport to get involved in is
swimming. You might be surprised to hear this but quite a few of the
athletes on the Australian Olympic swimming team have asthma. This
particular sport helps to increase lung capacity and these people have been
able to overcome any limitations due to asthma and excel at an international
medal winning level!

Good luck!

Kasia

"Nan" wrote in message
...
On 2 Jun 2006 13:10:19 -0700, "
wrote:

As of 2 years I'm a single mum raising two boys at the ages of 8 and
10. Few days ago I was informed my oldest son is struggling with
asthma... I was totally depressed. Mostly because I was the witness of
it's attack... I felt so useless, paralysed ... didnt know what to do
and how to help him. I called an ambulance and under an oxygene mask my
son was taken to the hospital. I never had to deal with that in my
past... He seems to be pretty well now... but ever since that day I
keep on worrying about how to prevent him from the next incident like
that?
Obviously he has got a medicine in case of emergency but either way I
feel so scared this may happen again and I won't be there to help...
How should I remain calm knowing my boy is a "healthy" kind of kid,
riding a bicycle, playing football, running, swimming.... ??? I can't
make him stop doing all these things and at the same time... I keep on
thinking... will he manage whenever it happens again? And I'm not with
him for the whole day... working like mad to survive...
I thought maybe some of you had some experience with asthma .... and
will be willing to share it with me?
Hoping to find some replies...
Best regards
Magda

My son was dx'd with asthma at about the same age. We never fully
figured out his triggers, but at the age of 22, he hasn't had any
attacks for years.

It does sound like you need some more info, and need help educating
him on how to deal with it. One resource I had was to send him to an
"asthma camp". He learned that there are so many kids with asthma,
and ways to control it. The camp he attended was excellent.

Here is a website about them, maybe you can find one near you. Cost
isn't prohibitive, but being a single mom, I understand you may not
have the resources for that. Several of the camps offer "camperships"
that help pay for all or part of the cost.

http://www.asthmacamps.org/asthmacamps/

As others have said, try to get in touch with someone who can give you
some more complete information until you can complete his testing.

Good luck,

Nan

wrote in message
oups.com...

xkatx napisal(a):
wrote in message
oups.com...
As of 2 years I'm a single mum raising two boys at the ages of 8 and
10. Few days ago I was informed my oldest son is struggling with
asthma... I was totally depressed. Mostly because I was the witness of
it's attack... I felt so useless, paralysed ... didnt know what to do
and how to help him. I called an ambulance and under an oxygene mask my
son was taken to the hospital. I never had to deal with that in my
past... He seems to be pretty well now... but ever since that day I
keep on worrying about how to prevent him from the next incident like
that?
Obviously he has got a medicine in case of emergency but either way I
feel so scared this may happen again and I won't be there to help...
How should I remain calm knowing my boy is a "healthy" kind of kid,
riding a bicycle, playing football, running, swimming.... ??? I can't
make him stop doing all these things and at the same time... I keep on
thinking... will he manage whenever it happens again? And I'm not with
him for the whole day... working like mad to survive...
I thought maybe some of you had some experience with asthma .... and
will be willing to share it with me?
Hoping to find some replies...
Best regards
Magda

Firstly, asthma is far from the end of the world, and it can be managed
fairly easily without lacking an actual life (for a 10 year old, that
could
very well be meaning riding a bike, playing on a soccer or baseball (any
type of sports) team, camping, hiking, whatever.
I have asthma. It's not horrible, but it is controlled. As a kid with
asthma, I played hockey in the winter, soccer in the summer, had swimming
lessons and was also in tae kwon do classes. I rode horses very often
and
was pretty much the average 'healthy' kid.
There's no way you can or should be with your son 24/7 at this point in
his
life, or as he grows and becomes an adult. At 10 years old, educate him
on
asthma. Ensure, that no matter what, he always has whatever medication
he
is on - just in case. Make sure he has something in his backpack before
going to school each and every day. See if it's possible to leave his
medication with his teacher or school. Make sure, no matter what, HE
knows
how to use it. Even during a bad attack, he should still be able to have
his brain function enough to know something is wrong before it gets VERY
bad
and make sure he knows the signs on what to look for.
Even now for me, as an adult, I seem to find that cutting the grass or
shoveling the walks triggers my asthma real bad. During these activities
that must be done if I like it or not, I keep my inhaler in my pocket.

Thank you... I am trying my best to explain it to him...
He is 10... but sometimes I think it would be easier to talk to the
youngest son of mine... :-)
Anyway... guess I still need to learn more myself...
I did all those things you write about... talked to the teacher, trying
to make her aware of what may happen and how she should react...
I think the main thing is to teach HIM ... not to lose it... not to
forget it... not to play with it (he is still so childish!) When we
were having the serious discussion about what happened and how to
prevent it... he asked: "Mum... how should I know it's coming?" ... I
really had some problems to answer his question precisely...

Yea, teaching him is probably the key. Guaranteed HE will be around himself
no matter when and where, should something happen I doubt he'd be able
to walk away from himself in fear (as maybe others *might* so HE is the one
that needs to know the most.
At 10, he should be able to understand and learn. He may lack the maturity
to take something like this seriously, as at 10 he just might not have a
grasp on it - like he may have with his fav sports game, TV show or video
game. He might find it more fun to play with an inhaler - heck, I had fun
with it all the way through school - nothing beats spraying it and seeing a
cloud of cool, neat white mist spray all over the world! But, that's
something that he needs to learn about. It is about staying calm. Quite
frankly, in my 20s now, I still have problems trying to stay completely
calm. I know I act better if it's someone else and not me.
As far as prevention, generally speaking, it doesn't just happen out of the
blue, but sometimes it can happen seemingly out of the blue and for reasons
you really don't know. He can still play sports if that's what he likes. I
played soccer for years - played in goal 90% of the time, and played forward
the other 10% of the time. That was a choice I had made since I liked the
position, not because I was scared or unable to burn rubber on the field. I
also did take it easy. If I felt I needed a break, I'd do just that.
Running laps at practice was always fun. The second I started to feel even
slightly out of breath, or even slightly dizzy, it was time to stop for a
moment and not over do it. Normally, shortness of breath is one of the
first noticable things to happen, and it's also a sign that person can
notice even before others can. I also found that I sometimes get a cramping
feeling in my chest - like right above my rib cage or right on my solarplex.
I would also notice that I'd feel slightly dizzy or even the feeling of
wanting to puke at times. Also, for me, in the case of shoveling snow, I
normally don't have a problem outside - I notice it often hits me hard as
soon as I walk back in the house. Could be the temperature change? I make
a note to try and cool myself off slightly before entering the house - may
not be the best idea - but I'll take off gloves and hats and maybe unzip my
jacket a bit before going inside a warm house to allow myself to cool a bit.
For the first little while, it really could be hit or miss. Until you know
yourself inside and out and know what things cause what and what 'symptoms'
may or may not come with whatever activity, it's kinda hard to tell. My
mom, who has asthma as well, says she sees spots. Little blackish blue
spots.
I find that I just sometimes know. Not all the time, but most of the time,
something seems or feels different.

wrote:
Ericka Kammerer napisal(a):
wrote:
As of 2 years I'm a single mum raising two boys at the ages of 8 and
10. Few days ago I was informed my oldest son is struggling with
asthma... I was totally depressed. Mostly because I was the witness of
it's attack... I felt so useless, paralysed ... didnt know what to do
and how to help him. I called an ambulance and under an oxygene mask my
son was taken to the hospital. I never had to deal with that in my
past... He seems to be pretty well now... but ever since that day I
keep on worrying about how to prevent him from the next incident like
that?
Obviously he has got a medicine in case of emergency but either way I
feel so scared this may happen again and I won't be there to help...
How should I remain calm knowing my boy is a "healthy" kind of kid,
riding a bicycle, playing football, running, swimming.... ??? I can't
make him stop doing all these things and at the same time... I keep on
thinking... will he manage whenever it happens again? And I'm not with
him for the whole day... working like mad to survive...
I thought maybe some of you had some experience with asthma .... and
will be willing to share it with me?
Hoping to find some replies...
Have you had him evaluated by at least his
primary care doctor, if not by a specialist? Unless
his asthma is quite mild (which it doesn't sound like
it is, given he's had a significant attack), he probably
should be doing something in the way of preventive care,
not just having an emergency inhaler on hand. It sounds
like you haven't been given much information. I would
get him to his primary care doctor, and maybe a specialist,
and get a lot more information. What you need to know
really depends on his exact diagnosis.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Hi Ericka..

As I wrote in my reply to Banty... we still need to wait until
September to complete the test...
After doing it we should be able to find the reason for the attacks...
The problem I have now... is exactly what you wrote about... I do not
know how to prevent them...
cause I dont know what is causing them...
I have read... apart from some allergens... it also can be a simple
stress or too intensive physical excercise... (both things so hard to
control... especially with such a small kid)

You do NOT need to know all the triggers to
begin treating effectively. Knowing the triggers will
help him avoid them in the future, but in the meantime,
most kids with moderate to severe asthma need to be on
some kind of maintenance plan. This might involve
inhaled steroids and/or inhaled sodium cromolyn and/
or leukotrine inhibitors or any number of other things.
These are medicines he takes every day to reduce his
need for emergency meds, like an albuterol inhaler.
He should have a peak flow meter so that he can
monitor his status each day and treat accordingly.
Most doctors will help him develop a plan where he'll
have a "green zone" (where his peak flows are at a
good level for him and he'll take whatever his
minimum maintenance drugs are), a "yellow zone" (where
his peak flows are decreasing and you need to intervene
with some additional meds), and a "red zone" (where
he'd out of control and should probably see a doctor).
If your doctor hasn't had this sort of discussion with
you, then you need to get to a doctor or specialist
who will. Later, when you can find out his triggers,
that will help you be more successful at keeping him
in the green zone, but at this point, how the heck
do you even know how under control he is, short of
an out-and-out asthma attack? Over time, inflammation
in his airways damages the airways, and that can happen
even if he's not in a full-blown attack. He needs
to be on top of this and be managing the process.
Unless this attack was a freak one-off and he really
just has a very mild case of asthma, there's more
that should be done, even without having the additional
data about possible allergies or other triggers.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Engram napisal(a):
She's not likely to find an asthma camp near her because she's in Poland!

Magda, from memory, in Poland you don't have carpet but either floorboards
or linoleum with floor rugs. Try vacuuming every day. If you decided to go
with the new trend and actually got carpet then you may have to go to the
expense of removing it and putting in floorboards or linoleum. Or just keep
vacuuming! You need to find a vacuum cleaner with special filters for
asthmatics. They remove dust particles really well and don't blow them back
into the room like normal vacuum cleaners do. The best brand to buy is
probably Dyson.

http://www.aged.com.pl/dyson/

http://www.totu.pl/chce_kupic.php?c=729&p=710

http://www.maximedia.pl/

Change his bed sheets regularly and maybe get a new mattress for his bed or
make sure the one he has is clean. Take it outside and hit it with a a stick
or a broom.

Where you live may also have an impact. If you're in Slask (Silesia to those
who don't speak Polish or other areas where there is high pollution, then
your son may be reacting to the environment. If you are in a major mining
area, like Katowice, or near somewhere where there is a lot of pollution
like Krakow or Lodz, then you may need to move to the edge of town where the
air is cleaner, rather than live right in the metropolitan centre.

Don't worry about him being able to do sport. Once he learns to recognise an
attack coming on and learns how to deal with it and use his medication
effectively, there is no reason for him not to continue with sport unless
his asthma is really that severe. A really good sport to get involved in is
swimming. You might be surprised to hear this but quite a few of the
athletes on the Australian Olympic swimming team have asthma. This
particular sport helps to increase lung capacity and these people have been
able to overcome any limitations due to asthma and excel at an international
medal winning level!

Good luck!

Kasia

"Nan" wrote in message
...
On 2 Jun 2006 13:10:19 -0700, "
wrote:

As of 2 years I'm a single mum raising two boys at the ages of 8 and
10. Few days ago I was informed my oldest son is struggling with
asthma... I was totally depressed. Mostly because I was the witness of
it's attack... I felt so useless, paralysed ... didnt know what to do
and how to help him. I called an ambulance and under an oxygene mask my
son was taken to the hospital. I never had to deal with that in my
past... He seems to be pretty well now... but ever since that day I
keep on worrying about how to prevent him from the next incident like
that?
Obviously he has got a medicine in case of emergency but either way I
feel so scared this may happen again and I won't be there to help...
How should I remain calm knowing my boy is a "healthy" kind of kid,
riding a bicycle, playing football, running, swimming.... ??? I can't
make him stop doing all these things and at the same time... I keep on
thinking... will he manage whenever it happens again? And I'm not with
him for the whole day... working like mad to survive...
I thought maybe some of you had some experience with asthma .... and
will be willing to share it with me?
Hoping to find some replies...
Best regards
Magda

My son was dx'd with asthma at about the same age. We never fully
figured out his triggers, but at the age of 22, he hasn't had any
attacks for years.

It does sound like you need some more info, and need help educating
him on how to deal with it. One resource I had was to send him to an
"asthma camp". He learned that there are so many kids with asthma,
and ways to control it. The camp he attended was excellent.

Here is a website about them, maybe you can find one near you. Cost
isn't prohibitive, but being a single mom, I understand you may not
have the resources for that. Several of the camps offer "camperships"
that help pay for all or part of the cost.

http://www.asthmacamps.org/asthmacamps/

As others have said, try to get in touch with someone who can give you
some more complete information until you can complete his testing.

Good luck,

Nan



TO ALL WONDERFUL MOMS WHO WERE SO HELPFUL GIVING THEIR ADVICE AND
SHARING EXPERIENCE WITH ME!

Dear Moms... :-))))
Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for all your replies...
Even knowing there are so many kids and parents who still are or were
facing the same fears about asthma is making me believe we will learn
how to live with that....
Once again... THANK YOU :-))))
I will try my best to eliminate whatever might cause his attacks, I
will also try to educate myself more as well as my son... in order to
live our normal every day the way we used to before diagnosis...
The camp idea was brilliant... I would gladly go there with him ;-))))
Kasia... A LOT of things changed in Poland... I think I could be even
able to find a similar camp for my son :-)))) I live in Warsaw, it's a
huge city, I know, probably very polluted as every big city is, but
after my divorce we've moved to the wonderful green areas surrounding
the capital... I would rather say... it's more likely that the huge
amount and variety of plants in the area we live in are causing the
break downs rather than pollution... But who knows...??
Anyway...
You were all so wonderful!
Thanks to all of you again...
My warmest regards,
Magda

In article .com,
" wrote:

Few days ago I was informed my oldest son is struggling with
asthma... I was totally depressed. Mostly because I was the witness of
it's attack... I felt so useless, paralysed ... didnt know what to do
and how to help him.

Magda, look in your telephone directory to see if there is an Asthma Society
or similar in Poland.

Perhaps this website is useful?
http://www.astma.edu.pl/

Someone else has already mentioned that many famous Australian swimmers have
asthma, and began regular swimming to strengthen their lungs. Perhaps you
could all swim laps together.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

I agree with Ericka. I'm an asthmatic, as is my husband, and have lots
of allergies. We have three kids, and only one of them has asthma.

Your child should be properly evaluated by a pediatric allergist to
determine the triggers and figure out a management strategy.

My 12 year old son's asthma is relatively mild - but one thing that
triggers it is DOGS. He can't sleep over at the houses of children who
have dogs - heck, even an indoor playdate will set off asthma that will
persist for a couple of days. We've even had to leave family events
held at the homes of dog owners. Connor knows this - and is smart
enough to make decisions on that basis (i.e. better for Joe to come
play at our house or to choose to play outside together rather than go
into Joe's house and then feel wheezy for days). If we had a dog in the
house, I have no doubt that rather than mild occasional problems, he
would deteriorate into a much more serious condition.

Beyond knowing and scrupulously avoiding the environmental triggers
when we can, all three of us will get asthma in the aftermath of
respiratory infections (i.e. once any kind of inflammation sets up, its
hard to get rid of). Bronchitis can result in months of coughing and
wheezing - and I once had pneumonia and was a mess for nearly a year -
because at the time I didn't realize that the lungs of asthmatics have
a tendency to get and stay inflammed after for any infection or
allergic or environmental irritation are long, long gone.

The really important thing is to not just treat the symptoms (i.e. with
antihistamines or inhalers that just relieve the wheezing at the time).
If that is what you are doing, you could be just masking a growing
problem (i.e. underlying inflammation that can lead to a life
threatening attack). Generally, the doctor prescribes inhaled steroids
to get a lid on the inflammation in the aftermath of a flare up. That
way, we all three of us rarely experience symptoms, and when we do,
they are generally mild. Asthma isn't the end of the world, but you
have to be conscious of managing the underlying problem, not just
dealing with the surface symptoms.

Mary