Monday, September 15, 2008

Working Mothers of Asthmatic Children - Time to Lose the Guilt!

A sigh of relief, courtesty of our friends at the American Lung Association. Got this from their excellent email, The Weekly Breather (which I wish I had more time to read):

Day Care May Cut Kids' Asthma Risk...WebMD reported on September 9 that infants and toddlers who attend day care are less likely than other children to develop asthma symptoms by age 5, a new study shows. The research adds support to the so-called "hygiene hypothesis" -- the idea that early exposure to infections and germs helps protect against allergies and asthma.For the full story: click here

See? You're not such a bad mom after all. Don't you feel better now?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I wanted to e-mail you but I don't see that option. My son will be 4 on the 25th. He was finally diagnosed asthmatic after an ambulance ride to the ER in Dec 2006 and given 5 Nebulizer treatments before they sent him home. That was when we lived in Oregon and he seemed to really struggle the fall through winter. We've since moved to Iowa and he's only had croup since we've been here. His trigger is the cold virus which is running around our house as his sister (not asthmatic) and father have it now.
He's currently sitting on the couch grunting while breathing so that's how I found your blog because I googled those words.
My brother is a asthmatic, our paternal grandmother was and our cousin on our dad's side is. I have felt immense guilt that my son has to deal with this but your blog is helping me not feel so alone. He does have a nebulizer but hasn't used it since early 2006. I did give him some Albuterol this morning and I'm trying to decide if I should cart him off the peds office.
Thank you for this blog. I look forward to reading more.
Shannon
shannonkrone@yahoo.com

Aimee said...

Thank you, Shannon! Your comment reminded me of why I started this thing in the first place.

My Ozzy is flaring this morning, as well, and I had to give him both Xopenex and DuoNeb before he was stable enough to go to daycare. (No, I'm not callous and irresponsible - just been dealing with this long enough to know that he'll be fine once we get through the AM flare. And I've called daycare twice to be sure! Besides...it's picture day.)

His triggers (like all three of my boys) are upper respiratory infections, too. Is your son on Flovent or Qvar or anything?

So...anyway....I'm glad my blog is helpful to you. You can ALWAYS reach me via comments. I'm really happy to hear from you!

Anonymous said...

Hello! I came across your blog and wanted to send you a message. I am a life-time asthmatic and had terrible asthma as a child. I almost died 3 times due to asthma and spent the better part of my childhood in and out of school, doctors and specialists. I cannot imagine how difficult this must have been for my mother (a single and working mother of 3. I am now studying to be a chiropractor and I wanted to tell you that chiropractic care is one option that would be a great support to your children. Chiropractors see incredible results with kids with asthma and while I am certainly not advocating this in place of medical care, I believe it can be a wonderful adjunct and help support your children's health. Kid's with asthma need support to their immune systems and a fully functioning nervous system since this is what controls most of your body's functions. Chiropractic care addresses the nervous system and helps it to function better. If you are interested in more information, I would be happy to share. I myself, since being under chiropractic care, rarely use my asthma medication anymore and have better health and vitality. Best of luck to you and your family! Allison French allisonfrench@hotmail.com

Aimee said...

Thanks, Allison - my best friend (also named Allison) is a chiropractor, as well. She's just completed her pediatrics course, so I'll be taking the two bigger boys to her soon.

This will, of course, be in conjunction with the asthma action plans prescribed our PP. :-)

Thanks again for joining the conversation! I love how many different points of view and recommednations we're getting here!