Deep Breaths

Allergy testing

Four of us sat for over an hour in a small 8 x 6 room waiting anxiously to hear again from doctors. This seems to be a frequent scene for our family lately and unfortunately, I have come to expect little results from these gatherings. I was particularly nervous about this appointment because of the testing that had taken place earlier that day. 

For those that don't know, my girls have been suffering chronically with lung issues and where diagnosed with severe Asthma at the age of 3... and apparently their youngest sister has decided to follow suit (let's save her story for another day).

The morning of our appointment my two oldest girls underwent Methacholine Challenges; it's when a chemical is administered in increasing concentrations with the intention of inducing symptoms in those with respiratory issues. I was present while these test were being administered, going between two rooms in an effort to try to comfort each girl. I would watch as this long drawn out process progressed on for both girls. If at any point they exhibit respiratory distress the test would be stopped

and they would administer abuterol to reverse the reaction, which would confirm the diagnosis of Asthma.

Now, keep in mind I have been treating my girls for severe Asthma for about 9 years so at this point I was secretly thinking to myself... these tests better be positive.  We have lived through so many scary breathing episodes with both girls and each winter usually brings with it very sick children. We were desperate for answers and the reassurance that our kids were not going to have to continue living this way. Kayla  alone has endured 7 episodes of pneumonia and countless doses of oral steroids.

It is such a helpless feeling to watch as your children continue to become ill with no one able to identify the real cause.

As I watched and waited, I could see that Kayla was not going into respiratory distress, and while normally that would be a great thing, it was not very comforting for me at that moment. I kept telling the respiratory therapist, "I don't understand, you should see this kid and how sick she gets with breathing issues." My concern started escalating into frustration... I had been treating her for Asthma for 9 years, giving her medication to relieve symptoms, her doctors heard wheezing on many occasions... how could this be!!

Our, "We Can't Eat After Midnight" late night party at the RMH!

The room across the hall was producing much different results. It wasn't long into the test when Addyson began to have difficulty breathing and the test had to be stopped... a diagnosis of Asthma was confirmed! But her older sister continued to plug a long through the test and it wasn't until the final dose that she had a mild enough drop in her lung function that she needed reversing treatment. However, it was still not enough for a positive test result.

Now, as I sat in that small room waiting

My Brave Girls!

to hear from the pulmonoligist my anxiety began to rise. I was preparing myself to hear the words, "she doesn't have Asthma, we don't know why she gets so sick... sorry good luck to you all." I couldn't let my little girl go through another horrific winter without answers and I began to give myself a pep talk, urging myself to stand firm and let the doctor know my frustration.

When she finally came into our room I could feel my pulse pounding, I was ready to be as vocal as need be. Our doctor grabbed her papers wheeled her chair over in front of me and said, "Let's start with Kayla." I took a deep breath and readied myself to hear what she had to say. She went through the test in detail before telling me what I had suspected to hear, "The test was not positive, indicating she doesn't have Asthma." Before I could let my building frustration speak she continued, "But what the test does indicate is that she has something called Bronchomalacia."

I couldn't believe my ears... She wasn't leaving us without a diagnosis, she was giving us the correct one. She went on to say, "That asthma treatments actually make bronchomalacia worse by weakening the already floppy airways. She also explained that Kayla's lungs can't clear mucus very well, which is why she has had pneumonia so many times."

                                   

I tried to hide my tears as I realized that we had not only spent the past nine years NOT making my sweet child better, but we had in fact been "making" her sicker with her Asthma medications. 

"So you are taking away her Asthma diagnosis that she has had since she was 3?" I said as flashes of the past nine years zoomed through my head. Her voice softened as the words, "Yes, I am," hung in the air... before echoing painfully in my heart.

The guilt began to overwhelm me and I could no longer hide the tears that had been forming in my eyes. She and Todd, both almost simultaneously said, "It's not your fault," but their words were not enough to comfort me. How could this be and why had it taken so long to figure out?  

The doctor then put her hand on my knee and very sympathetically said, "The bad news is that this will never go away, it is something she was born with, and she will always have it. If this was Asthma I could offer you all sorts of support but there is not very much we can do for bronchomalacia."

At least now we're receiving long awaited answers and someone was finally connecting the dots on almost all of Kayla's issues. However, the sting of the past was still rattling through my mind as I did my best to refocus my thoughts on the positives.  

What about Addyson...

Well, she kept with true Bramlee fashion... we like to go BIG or go home!  Our middle child must have felt the need to one up (or should I say two up) her older sister. Addyson very clearly has Asthma (evident from the methacholine challenge) but she also has bronchomalacia and the beginning of tracheomalacia (floppiness in the trachea). 

Remember above when I said that, "Asthma treatments makes bronchomalacia worse." Well, I am sure you see our dilemma.  Our pulmonologist said, "There is no easy answer or a good plan for Addyson, if she is wheezing give her abuterol and if it doesn't work and makes her worse then give her steroids immediately." That's right... our best plan is in fact just a roll of the dice, with the very real potential to make her worse not better.

Here Is Our Plan:

~keep the kids as well as possible because any illness reeks havoc on their lungs

~administer higher doses of inhaled steroids at the first sign of a sniffle

~if inhaled steroids do not stop symptoms within 48 hours they must take oral steroids immediately

~therapy to learn to cough differently in an attempt to try to keep their airways from collapsing with each cough

It is such an uneasy feeling when an expert doctor, from a major children's hospital, looks at you and says with a sincere expression, "I just hope this treatment works." 

At least NOW we know WHAT we are battling against, making the fight much more fair!  

So for now I am working on forgiving myself for my unknowing role of contributing to making my girls sicker for years.  Oh, the logical side of me realizes that it wasn't my fault, but for some reason I just can't seem to convince the ache in my 'mama heart'.

We will not let this defeat us!  We now know what we are fighting and that gives us power.

Sweet little girls your daddy and I promise that we will never stop fighting to keep you well and we will always give you our very best.

1 Peter 1:6-9

 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Devil May Have Scored But God's Still Ahead!

You could say that it has been a rough few months for our family.  If you have been following our story you know about our struggle with Cohen's FPIES and his surgery and hospital stays.  In addition to what has been going on with Cohen we have had two of our little butterflies undergo surgeries as well. Then....just to top things off my wonderful husband's car decided to end it's life, no worries though God provided for us once again..bigger and better than we could have imagined.  During that process our little bullfrogs, butterflies, and myself had been left to spend a lot of time together hanging out at home while daddy used our car to get back and forth to work, which made grocery shopping extremely difficult.
Even beyond the recent trials there were many, many visits to many different doctors throughout this past year (that's a lot of many(s)....right!).  Our list includes...  x-rays, ultrasounds, pulmonary test, scopes, blood work, I.Vs., echo cardiograms,

and...
hospitals stays. I lost count somewhere around 75 (seriously no exaggerating just ask my friends that graciously kept my other children so that I could make these appointments).   I think I forgot to mention that somewhere in the midst of all this my big bullfrog was shot by an air soft gun damaging his retina and drain in his eye, I think he just felt left out of all the doctor visits.  Thankfully he is almost fully recovered and doing well but he required two appointments a week for over a month and then every week for two more.  So I guess you could say we have been rather busy for awhile...... but hey let's be honest I really brought all of this on myself!

Yep...I am ready to accept responsibility, I have blatantly made myself a perfect target for trials.  I have been working hard on my relationship with God and digging into His word trying to figure out His will for my family.  So you see it stands to reason that I am going to be attacked....and attacked I have been!  But I refuse to let the devil win!!  Those who have encountered his attacks know that he doesn't fight fair and he loves to kick us when we were are down....in fact when we are down is his favorite time to strike us hard.

What the devil doesn't get is that I am never down by myself, and I am never without my greatest source of strength.  My God will never forsake me or leave me and in the midst of any trial I will always have my joy.  So I will choose to find joy in these trials as well...

I could be mad that my children are chronically ill..... but I will choose to be glad that they will survive their illness.

I could be frustrated with doctors appointments and hospital stays.... but I choose to be glad that they have brought us closer to managing my little ones illnesses.

I could say why them, why me.... but I choose to say "how can we be used for Your kingdom through these experiences?"

I could complain about how much easier life should be... but I choose to be thankful that it isn't more difficult.

I could be angry that I can't do more to help my little ones... but I choose to be grateful that the One that loves them even more than me..... can!

I could be hurt that difficult times seem to continuously fall upon our family... but I choose to be thankful that I have been given the opportunity to be a part of this beautiful family.

I could hide behind my insecurities of being different from others and give into my fear of being a lesser mother than my peers... but I choose to shout to the world about what God is doing through these trials and accept my inequities, embracing my lessons in humility.

I could blame my God for all of this... but I choose to believe that He never wanted this world to contain sin and it is that same sin that causes trials in our lives. Once sin entered this world we all became destined to face trials in our lives (we can thank Adam and Eve for that one).

If I give into every "I could" I will be allowing the devil to score, so I will stick with the "I chooses" and give my God the upper hand, while I watch in astonishment as once again He defeats the enemy.  Unfortunately, these attacks will never cease and I know that the devil will not give up, so I will shield myself as best I can with the Words of my God.  It is through His strength that I can get back up and prepare myself for the next battle, knowing that something greater is at stake.  The devil will never stop....but he will never win!

Thank you God for never giving up on this imperfect person that I have become, one day I will once again be the perfect creation that you molded into existence.

Ephesians 6:10-18

The Armor of God                                                                                                            Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.                                        

When has your child been on too much medication....

Today while we were working on our Grammar lesson my daughter reminded me that our road of illness has been a long one.

We spend a lot of time trying to keep Asthma at bay in our house.  Unfortunately, that means we frequent our doctors office and have had to administer more medicines than I care to mention.  So it feels good when we get a chance to find humor in our circumstance.

It is always interesting to hear my children's responses to my "school" questions, but their answers today left me in stitches...and painfully aware that my children have had far more than their share of illnesses.

We were reviewing singular and plural articles and when I asked my oldest two to recall what "singular" was.... my oldest butterfly replied, "Hum.... medicine?"

We spent the next few minutes laughing to the point of tears.  If you are familiar with allergies you know that what she was referring to was, Singulair [sin-gu-lair].  This is a medication that she was on at one time but had to go off of it because of side effects.

I can't decide which I should be more concerned about, the fact that my sweet butterfly can't recall what a singular article is or that she has been on so many different medication that she could make this mistake?????

None the less it sure feels good to laugh!!!

Psalms 47:1 Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

How I Meet the Boogie Man: Cohen's Journey With FPIES

As parents we have all done the routine check.... under the bed, in the closet, behind the toy bin... No Boogie Man, we say.  

I have always been able to reassure my little ones that there is no monster lurking in the night.... But that was BEFORE I met the Boogie Man! 

He isn't at all what I would have expected, he isn't 10 feet tall with gnarling teeth and green eyes. In fact he is quite the opposite, invisible and silent and he doesn't fight fair! He doesn't hide in closets or dark spaces, or even in the dead of night.  

We have now entered into a world that two months ago I knew nothing about... and now it consumes my thoughts. Our Boogie Man has a name, it's FPIES~ Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome

How do you protect your sweet child from something you can't see? How do you pick up a spoon and put it in your child's mouth, not knowing if it will put him in the hospital? How do you live in fear of crumbs? How do you go anywhere scared that someone will offer your child something without asking you?

Not knowing the answers to these question is not only frustrating but frightening.  

This is Cohen's story...
Our sweet boy has had such a hard beginning. His first 8 months of life have been filled with medications, needles, IV's, x-rays, hospital stays, and doctor appointments. He has an arm list of diagnoses and has had more medications then I care to mention, but he still smiles and laughs at all of those blue gloves that come his way. Our medical team of caregivers consists of a pediatrician, pediatric pulmonologist, and a pediatric gastroenterologist. It is a bit overwhelming to say the least but we are trying to get a grip on our new normal (which for some reason keeps getting redefined for us!)

Cohen spent the winter fighting RSV, Pneumonia and Asthma.  He was in the hospital on oxygen for about 10 days, it is only now that we had finally started to feel like we were winning the battle... And then we meet the Boogie Man!

It was time to start introducing solids, so we did like all parents do, we started with the basics. We decided to begin with oats. We offered several diluted servings and just like most little ones he wasn't so much eating as just learning to eat.  

And then it happened....
I thought I would try to give him some oats before bed to see if he would sleep better. About two hours later he began to vomit, it was one of the most violent vomits that I had ever seen. It only lasted a couple hours and then he seemed to just go limp and fall asleep. I thought he must have caught a nasty virus and prayed that no one else in the house would get it.  That night he seemed to sleep so deeply that it scared me. So I laid beside him all night watching him breath. The next morning he was fine, no sign of illness and we went on with our life. In the back of my mind I began to question the oats, but I would chase the thought away with another, "No one has allergies to oats."  

I decided to avoid food for about a week to let him fully recover. When it was time to eat again I whipped up some oats.  My little one was all smiles that day and obviously feeling well. He finished eating his oats, nursed and then went down for his morning nap. About two hours later my daughter comes in and tells me that Cohen is crying and all wet. I found my sweet boy all covered in vomit and his bed flooded. I picked him up and he continued to empty the entire contents of his stomach until he went limp in my arms (a very familiar sight after the last episode). He continued to gag and choke up green bile, I called his pediatrician because I knew that babies weren't supposed to vomit bile.  I was instructed to immediately take him to the emergency room,  I knew that the biggest concern for them was an obstructed bowel.   

After blood work and x-rays they decided it was necessary to start an IV and give him Zofran. His x-ray revealed an ileus but according to the physician that wouldn't have been unusual for an infant with a virus. I couldn't shake the oats, so I asked if they thought it could have been the culprit but I was told that Cohen didn't present with a rash and it didn't act like a typical allergy. They really felt it was just the nasty bug that they had seen in so many other children that week. 

I wasn't convinced, for one when you have five little ones and only one of them gets a vomit bug (twice in two weeks), well lets just say that doesn't happen!!!  Once again he was perfectly fine the next morning.

At this point my mama instincts had kicked in and I had decided we weren't going to be eating oats anytime soon. So after about two weeks of avoiding everything we moved on to sweet potatoes, but he refused to eat. We tried peas, but he refused to eat. We tried apples and strawberries, but he refused to eat.

Discouraged and frustrated we decided to try the organic apple puffs that we had on hand, thinking maybe he didn't care for the liquid texture. I managed to manipulate a few through his gums and he seemed to not mind them, he actually ate a few.  Two hours later he was playing in his little car and I heard a strange and familiar cough.  Moments later it happened... the same violent vomiting that I had seen twice before. Once again I held him as he and completely emptied his stomach and then began to gag up bile and go limp in my arms. I immediately scanned the ingredient list and confirmed my suspicion, there it was in black ink... OATS!  

This time I turned to the Google search engine, "Why does my child vomit after eating oats?" I found myself on baby center with a list of helpful mothers suggesting Celiac disease but one mother mentioned something I had never heard of....FPIES. I did a quick search on it and found some information but I didn't have time to read through it all, my husband felt that I needed to get Cohen to the ER. On the way there I called a dear friend who is a PA and told her about what was happening, she agreed that we needed to have him seen right away. This time when we got there I told them that I KNEW this was caused by the oats (three times is enough to confirm that) but what I didn't know was WHY?

My friend called me back while we were there, Cohen was already on IV's at this point.  She told me, "I found something you need to ask the doctors about, it sounds exactly like what is happening to Cohen, it's called FPIES!"  I had just read something about that... we both agreed that I needed to share this with our doctors.  No one in the ER had heard of it, after researching it on their own they confirmed that they too felt that this is what our son was experiencing.   When I read what other families went through with acute episodes it was eerie just how well it fit, it was as if someone had been watching us and documenting everything.

We went into see our pediatrician the next day. Knowing just how rare this condition was I brought her journal articles and other information. She had never heard of it either but felt like this was a very strong possibility and she made us an appointment with a Pediatric GI.  We were fortunate (thank God for good friends) we were diagnosed quickly compared to so many others.  Because this is such a rare conditions sometimes families struggle for months and months before finding a physician that properly diagnosis their little ones.

Unfortunately, there isn't a test for FPIES and it doesn't appear on scratch or blood tests because it is not an IgE allergy like peanuts or eggs. It is only after ruling out other possibilities that a child receives a definitive diagnosis. This allergic reaction takes place in my sons small intestines, which is why it takes so long to react after eating the offending food. For that reason there isn't a good way to learn what he is allergic to so we must conduct food challenges. It is frighting to think that everything that goes into my child's mouth may put his life at risk.  Children have to eat, so we have no choice but to experiment with foods, praying that we don't need to hospitalize him two hours later.

This is only the beginning of our journey, as of right now Cohen doesn't have any known safe foods. We are starting food challenges but it takes at least ten days of exposure and no reaction before we can deem a food safe.   I am hopeful that we will find food that will nourish my little bullfrog and that we will learn how to navigate through our "New Normal". Until then we will continue to hold off the Boogie Man as best we can knowing that every battle with him will bring us knowledge and little closer to winning the war. 

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ[a] who strengthens me.

For more information on FPIES please visit The FPIES Foundation or IAFFPE

Cohen 6 Months Old

Cohen Isaac Bramlee

Well little man it has been a rough start to the new year but things are starting to improve.

You have had quite the 6 months, full of growing and learning new tricks.  We are so happy that you are part of this family.  We love you so much little bullfrog.

You turned 6 moths old on March 14, 2013.  

Things you have learned to do so far:

~Laugh at everyone
~Roll from your back to front and front to back                                                                  

~ Sit up on your own

~Out grow the mow-hawk you were born with...I miss it already

                                         
                   

~Eat oatmeal (but we had to stop because it was giving you tummy problems)

~Jump in your jumpy chair (probably one of your favorite things to do....it also puts you to sleep)!

Add caption

~Your starting to get the hang of cruising around in your GT

 You have have already been diagnosed with Laryngomalacia and Asthma and have been in the hospital twice.  Unfortunately, by this age you have already had a few medications.... Zantac, Steroids, Albuterol, Antibiotics, and two maintenance drugs (Prevacid and Pulmicort).   We have deemed you our "Little Volcano"  because you spit up all the time.....and everywhere! 

From your 6 month check-up (you were finally well enough to get your vaccinations) :

Weight: 17 lbs. 9 oz.   50%          

Height: 26 in.              25%

Head: 18 in.               90%

The first 6 months with you have brought so much joy to our family.  It is exciting to see your little personality starting to emerge.  You are a patient and easy going little boy and you love to sit back and watch all of the commotion in our house.  It isn't very often that you are left to yourself, you are constantly being showered with love and attention.  I look forward to watching you find your place this crazy but wonderfully happy family that God has given us. 

 I love you with all of my heart littlest bullfrog.....  Happy 6 Months!

James 1:17a "Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights"

Hospital Tour #1

Unfortunately, since Cohen's birth our house has been filled with illnesses.  It has been since September since we have not had someone on any type of medication, Asthma is mostly to blame but viruses have also taken their toll.  Everyone but my big bullfrog have been through the trenches of sickness....especially our newbie! 

Cohen became sick sometime after New Years and spent 7 days on breathing treatments.  I thought he had RSV and took him to the doctor.  I was shocked to find out that it was just a random cold, because of how sick he was and how hard it was for him to get over it.  When we went in for his well visit a few days later....he wasn't so well.  He had x-rays and was swabbed for Pertussis.  During this visit our pediatrician called in "our" pulmonologist to have a look at our sweet little guy.  After listening to Cohen the pulmonologist diagnosed him with two separate health concern; the first was Layrngomalasia (loose tissue in his larynx which can cause noisy breathing and other issues).   He informed us that it was important to get his reflux under control because it causes more inflammation in the esophagus making the LM worse. Then he paused and took a deep breath and said the "A" word, which made chills run down my spine.  He is very familiar with our family history (they call us their family of wheezers).   He knew how hard it would be for me to hear that our newest addition didn't get left out of our gene pool.  I didn't want to believe that he could have Asthma too....and so early!!!

A week later Cohen started getting sick again, in fact all three girls were sick as well.  I had four children on breathing treatments every four hours, which makes for very little sleep if any.  It didn't take long for Kayla's Asthma to completely spin out of control and by now the little ones were pretty sick too.  After taking the girls and Cohen back to the doctor we learned that the two littles had indeed come down with RSV. 

Little did I know this was just going to be the beginning of a difficult two weeks.  Since daddy had to be in Charleston for a convention we decided to pack up the sickies and stay in a hotel so that mama wasn't on all night rotating nebulizer duty by herself.  So, I loaded up the gang and began what turned out to be a very long stressful drive.

Not long after we were on the road Kayla started into a very scary Asthma attack.  I had Todd on the phone preparing to meet me at the ER in Charleston.  After two attempts with the inhaler I decided to break out the nebulizer,  which finally gave her some relief.  It is so hard to watch your child struggle, knowing that there is nothing you can do to help them.

We decided that she was out of danger and I proceeded to check into the hotel....me, and five little ones.  Yes, it was quite comical to say the least.  After I had everyone settled in I noticed that my littlest was breathing extremely heavy and realized that for the first time in my life I was watching one of my children experience retracting (when the abdomen pulls away from the ribs in attempt to breath in more air).
I sent a video to Todd (who thought I had just sent him a YouTube video of retracting).  When I assured him that it was his son he sent me straight to the ER (apparently we were destined for that place).

We soon learned that Cohen's RSV had progressed into pneumonia.  My poor baby had to endure 5 grueling iv attempts, one of which ended with blood all over me.  It was so hard to watch my poor sweet little man go through so much.  I had been in that same ER so many times when I was pregnant with him, I never would have imagined that I would wish that suffering back on myself, but I would have gladly traded places with him in an instant!

Spending time with all my bullfrogs and butterflies!
So technology isn't all that bad...lol!

Cohen was admitted into Women & Children's Hospital on Saturday.  His treatment consisted of  iv antibiotics and breathing treatments, as well as oxygen.  He stopped eating entirely for a few days and then could only tolerate a few ounces from a bottle (he only had a bottle once before this), nursing and breathing was still to hard for him.

It didn't take me long to figure out just how severely understaffed the hospital was for the immediate need of caring for all of these sick little ones.  I will save you the agony of hearing a frustrated mother rant, but needless to say it was far from a positive experience...much to my surprise!  Not being able to be treated by our regular physicians only compounded the matter for us because of Cohen's other health issues.  I had a difficult time having my concerns addressed during our stay and despite his dropping oxygen levels the decided to discharge us from the hospital.

Going home... or so we thought!

So on  Tuesday afternoon we headed for home...

Psalms 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

For The Sake of My Child; Kayla's Story

Let me just start by saying that this post isn't a about judging others or trying to tell someone else how to live their life.  Everyone is entitled to their rights and allowed to make their own decisions.  This isn't about what someone should be allowed to do, it's about what I am hoping that someone would choose to do.  Please take the time to read this it could save the life of a child.

Three of my children have Asthma, which makes it impossible for us to go anywhere without our little black bag.  This respiratory condition is rapidly becoming more common in children and unfortunately our situation is not rare or uncommon, we are just 3 of 300 million and 

this is  Our Story....

I have come to realize that every family has their very own "normal".... our "normal" is a little black bag.  Nothing really special in fact it was given to me by the hospital as a free gift when I had one of my children.  This black bag is a life source to my children because it is full of the medication that is necessary to save their lives.

The week before a recent beach trip my children began having Asthma attacks associated with allergies.  I made sure to have extra medication on hand... I have learned from experience that things can turn bad very quickly with Asthma.  

My 6 year old daughter has the most severe case of all my children and it wasn't long into the trip when I realized this was going to be a difficult week for her.  With Asthma treatment there is a step process that you follow, continually building on medications.  If one step isn't controlling the episodes then you move on to the next one, when you are out of steps you head to the hospital.  With only a couple of days left in our vacation I had gone through all of the steps and was fearing the dreaded trip to the ER.  The night before we headed home my sweet little girl went into an attack that I didn't think I would be able to bring her out of... it was violent and scary and hard to watch.

In the midst of her discomfort she looked at me with eyes full of broken blood vessels and said in a strained little voice, "Mama let's ask God to help me."  At this point I had already accepted our fate and had my sister looking for the closest hospital, however I was more than willing to oblige her request.  Things dramatically changed fifteen minutes later, the violent coughs that shook her little body had stopped and she began to breath in normal breaths, she even fell into a peaceful sleep.  We give God all of the glory for her quick and very uncharacteristic recovery.

The unfortunate part about all of this is that it never had to be this bad.  My daughter's severe attacks were the direct result of exposer to cigarette smoke.  This exposure didn't come from anyone in my family or even anyone that I knew, it was from complete unaware strangers.  The entire day prior to this attack my daughter was continuously exposed to harmful smoke despite all efforts made to keep her far from cigarettes.

While on the beach people would come near her smoking, every attempt to move her only ended with a new exposer. We tried to dine out that evening but SC does not have a ban on smoking in restaurants, so once again we were surrounded by smoke.  Later that evening we went to the family amusement park on the beach, the kids had looked forward to this trip all week.  It didn't take long until we realized that we were going to have to change our plans, everywhere we turned there was someone holding a flaming cigarette.  We desperately tried to protect her from the dangerous fumes but we were forced to leave.

The places that I took my children were not adult atmospheres, these were places designed for children and families, places that I thought would be safe for my little ones.  But for a child with severe Asthma these places quickly became life threating.  The travesty is that children with Asthma aren't able to be free to play and be involved in the things that other children enjoy...at least not when cigarettes are present.

I am simply pleading with you on behalf of ALL children. The truth is that anyone with a compromised respiratory systems can easily slip into respiratory distress when exposed to smoke. 




My point is not to condemn, but to create awareness.  Please, treat smoking like any other chemical and use it responsibly, please choose to protect those innocent lives around you. 

 If you are going to smoke then please make sure that you are not in an environment intended for children.  When you choose to smoke around children especially those with 

respiratory conditions you are risking their lives.

Here is what Asthma looks like from a medication stand point!  This is what my children had to endure in order to breath.

Our Beach Week Medication List:

39 breathing treatment (steroid and rescue meds.)

3 rescue inhalers

1 steroid

2 antibiotics

4 antihistamines

Places we were forced to take detours from:

The Grocery store entrance

The Beach

The Children's rides at the Pavilion

Restaurants

Put-Put Golf

Please choose to make these types of places safe for all children!

To learn more information and statistics about Asthma go to:

http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=8&sub=16&cont=44

"Tobacco smoke. Today most people are aware that smoking can lead to cancer and heart disease. What you may not be aware of, though, is that smoking is also a risk factor for asthma in children and a common trigger of asthma for all ages.

It may seem obvious that people with asthma should not smoke, but they should also avoid the smoke from others' cigarettes. This "secondhand" smoke, or "passive smoking," can trigger asthma symptoms in people with the disease. Studies have shown a clear link between secondhand smoke and asthma in young people. Passive smoking worsens asthma in children and teens and may cause up to 26,000 new cases of asthma each year."

http://www.aaaai.org/media/statistics/asthma-statistics.asp