Newly Diagnosed with Asthma?

22 years ago today, our lives changed forever.

My middle son was 5 at the time, and he was sick with a cold (again). He seemed really pale, listless, and something just seemed "off".

I called the pediatrician, who told me to bring my son to the clinic. He took one look at my son and quickly started giving my son a breathing treatment. I noticed a sudden flurry of activity in the exam room but did not know what was going on.

Then the pediatrician said, "You need to take him to the hospital!" We made it to the pediatric wing, and the respiratory therapist (RT) was assessing my son's breathing. The RT looked at my son and then said to me, "You know he has asthma, right?"

Diagnosed with asthma

I said "What?!"

I told the RT that I suspected my son had asthma, but the pediatrician said it was just a virus. I told him that I had read an article about asthma in a parenting magazine and asked the pediatrician if it was possible that my son had asthma. It seemed to me that my son had all of the signs and symptoms of asthma that were listed in the article, but the pediatrician said “No, it’s just a virus."

After the RT listened to my story, he said “He has asthma alright - that’s why he is being admitted to the hospital!"

No asthma education

I was so shocked and confused! I told the RT that I did not know anything about asthma! So he printed off 30 pages of asthma articles and dropped them on my son's bedside table.  He yelled over his shoulder "Let me know if you have any questions!" as he ran off to help another patient.

That was the beginning of my asthma education. I read anything I could get my hands on, I wanted to know EVERYTHING. How to treat asthma, ways to prevent asthma attacks, how to know when to go to the hospital, etc.

As I read, I realized that I also had all of the signs and symptoms of asthma. I went to an asthma doctor and was also diagnosed with asthma (surprise!). Later, my older son and young daughter were diagnosed with asthma.

My middle son and daughter have severe asthma and were hard to control over the years. There were many times I sat in the asthma doctor's office as he literally scratched his head trying to figure out how to treat my kids. They ended up in the hospital 12 times (2 of those were ICU admissions). Can I tell you how much I hate pneumonia and wildfire smoke? Those wreak havoc on asthma.

I felt like a failure as a parent. I did everything Asthma Doc told me to do.

Finding asthma control, a passion, and career

I made sure my kids took their controller inhalers every morning and night. I carefully timed their doses of antibiotics, oral steroids, and breathing treatments. We made our house allergy and asthma friendly. All 3 kids had YEARS of allergy shots. We hoped that controlling their allergies would help control their asthma. And we were germaphobes long before COVID hit!

I went back to college for another degree, this time in Public Health. I wanted to work full time as an Asthma Educator to help other families. I felt that we did not get the help we needed when my son was first diagnosed 22 years ago. Asthma education is my passion and now my career.

Are you newly diagnosed? Has it been a rocky road? How has an asthma diagnosis changed your life?