Comments on: not another family vacation, redux

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:07:16 +0000

You’ve already had tons of responses, so I will quickly add my 2cents. My daughter has a long history of respiratory problems that began when she was an infant. As a toddler, they progressed- she always had something- they called it reactive airway disease (translation: asthma for babies who still might grow out of it). When she was 3 we took her in for food allergen testing. It turns out, she is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. I had no idea- she had eaten a pb&j sandwich probably 3X/week for at least a year and a half! We cut out the pb&j sandwiches (and of course didn’t allow her any tree nuts) and her asthma improved dramatically. Pre-allergy diagnosis, she was on albuterol and prednisone at least once a month, sometimes more. Post-diagnosis, within about 6 months, we saw a HUGE improvement- far fewer incidents. She’s now 6 and goes through about 3 spells per year where she needs medical intervention.
I would seriously consider allergy testing.

By: Hannah

Hannah — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:25:17 +0000

Sorry I’m late, I’ve had a five-day bout with a stomach virus and can’t get the internet in the toilet. Ahem.

My brother and sisters all had asthma very young, like Oscar. An allergy test would be a good start, to try and help ward off attacks. Some foods too can trigger attacks – milk, chocolate, fatty cheeses (all the yummy stuff, sadly). A humidifier ran pretty well continually in colder weather and did seem to ease the nighttime coughing. The good news is that the two younger sibs – both of whom were diagnosed before they were a year old – actually grew out of the majority of their symptoms by the time they hit puberty.

Our Isaac has had pneumonia each winter. I panic as soon as I hear night coughing. It sucks when the little guys are sick and we can’t help them. Best of luck.

By: JuliaKB

JuliaKB — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 04:52:18 +0000

Damn. I am sorry I missed this before– was reading the entry below, and then automatically clicked away without reading this one. So sorry.
And so sorry, again, that O has had a rough weekend. And that you were deprived of Belgian beer. I sympathize. Really, I do.
I’ve been told by a few doctors now that if your kid has eczema they are likely to develop asthma. I don’t know whether it works in reverse, though. But if O has eczema, it may be a reliable indicator that he is indeed headed for asthma.
On the other hand, on the advice of our pediatrician, we started putting a humidifier in Monkey’s room in colder weather, and especially when she starts to cough a little. Seems to help a great deal.

By: christine

christine — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 02:32:06 +0000

damn, lady.

this just sucks all around.

poor you! poor oscar!

By: Aliki

Aliki — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 02:30:47 +0000

Poor O!

Poor all of you!

I have no advice about the asthma. Liam used to get horrific croup every spring and ended up in the ER, masks and all.

Blech.

I hope he’s better soon!

By: Oh, The Joys

Oh, The Joys — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:09:58 +0000

Not again? You’re KIDDING!! That is not fair. Justice must be served.

(So sorry O is sick, too!)

xo,
OTJ

By: nomotherearth

nomotherearth — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:08:55 +0000

Oh no! So sorry to hear that O is sick AND that you’re vacation got sidetracked. Both bad for very different reasons..

Get better soon.

By: Redneck Mommy

Redneck Mommy — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:44:45 +0000

Never had to deal with asthma. Miracle of all miracles. (I should bite my tongue…who knows what our next kid will be dealing with.)

So I have no words of helpful advice.

Just oodles of praise for skillz man. You can come and sing to me any time, sugar.

Wink, wink.

Hope O is feeling better. And you too.

By: NotSoSage

NotSoSage — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 17:15:14 +0000

Poor O. Poor Mama.

I don’t know whether anyone’s suggested it yet, and kick me if this is too obvious, but I stay away from dairy when I’ve got any kind of respiratory thing going on. I should, perhaps, stay away from it altogether, but I can’t seem to do that.

I think a naturopath might certainly have some helpful hints.

By: thordora

thordora — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:07:19 +0000

ugh. I repeatedly count my lucky stars that nothing untoward has occured illness wise with the kids.

Yet.

I know Mogo had a sudden onset of Asthma start when we moved out here-the doc attributed it to climate of all things. Once he adjusted he was fine. Do certain days/types of weather seem to have an effect on poor O?