Have You Experienced Asthma While On Vacation? I Have!

As a kid, I had some harrowing asthma experiences during vacations. I can remember at least five times mom and dad had to halt their vacations to take me to the emergency room (ER). As an adult, I have not needed an ER during any vacation. But asthma still shows its ugly head on vacations from time to time.

Vacation with asthma in 1984

I was 14 years old. We spent Christmas week in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. It was a very fun vacation. We spent two days at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. And, of course, we spent the rest of the time with my grandparents.

Dad owned a car lot when we were kids, so he arranged it so we could ride in a Dodge van that had a TV. The back of the van had a couch, and dad converted it into a bed. So, basically, we kids rode all the way there and back on a bed. Yep. No need for seatbelts in 1984. We all survived to talk about it.

The trip was great. It was the way back that my asthma flared. I only had a little of my rescue inhaler left. Back then it was Alupent. And I was stressed because it was almost empty. This alone made my asthma worse. I tried not to think about it, and I tried not to use my inhaler unless I REALLY needed it. But, I enjoyed breathing. So I used it a lot. And, before long, it was empty.

I had to break down and tell mom and dad. The next game we played was: “Who can spot the big H for the hospital?”

I felt horrible. Not just because I could not breathe, but because it was my fault my inhaler ran out. But, in retrospect, it was not my fault: it was my asthma’s fault. Back then, there were not all the neat asthma meds of today. So, it was difficult for asthmatics like me to obtain good asthma control.

A 2022 vacation

Today, I have an asthma backup plan. This involves packing extra albuterol inhalers, a box of albuterol solution, and my travel nebulizer. I actually thought about not packing my nebulizer on this vacation as it takes up so much space in my suitcase. Plus, I hardly ever use it anymore. But, at the last second, I decided to wise up and stuffed it into one of my suitcase pockets. This turned out to be a wise decision.

I planned this trip to Kentucky with my kids. And I even played the role of “Great Dad” and let my two older kids bring friends. I did not want to drive 8-9 hours each day. So, on the way there I planned on stopping at Kalahari. That would leave only five hours of driving on day two of our trip. (It turned out to be 7 hours, but who's keeping track?).

For those not familiar with Kalahari, it is one of the largest indoor water parks in the U.S. They have a wave pool, water basketball, and many different water slides. They are also a large hotel complex with several games you can play with the kids. It also has a very large game room. So, you can imagine why this was a big hit with my kids and their friends.

It was a blast for me too. The problem is that the water had chlorine in it, which makes indoor water parks a huge asthma trigger for me. The air was hot and humid with chlorine fumes. So I inhaled the stuff. After the first day of activities, my nose was stuffy, my eyes red and itchy, my chest was tight, and my breathing was short. Back in the hotel, I decided to take an albuterol breathing treatment. During the night I continued to use my albuterol inhaler.

Another neat thing about Kalahari is you can continue to enjoy the waterpark after checkout. So I went back into the chlorine environment the next day. I enjoyed the rides for a while, but after an hour or so I decided I better quit. And I just waited for my kids to finish having fun.

After the water park, we stayed at a hotel in Glasgow, Kentucky that had an indoor pool. My kids enjoyed the pool. I decided I better not go into the pool room so I would not inhale any more chlorine fumes. I treated myself as necessary with albuterol puffs.

The next day we walked the trails at Mammoth Cave National Park, and then we went on a tour of one of the caves. By the end of the day, we were all pooped out. We slept well back at the hotel. And, of course, my inhaler stayed near me as I slept.

The day after we did one more cave tour. This one was The Lost River Cave. Here you ride a boat into the cave. It was just an amazing experience. My oldest daughter's friend was so impressed that he said, “Thank you, Mr. Bottrell. This was an amazing experience.”

Have you ever experienced asthma on vacation?

Well, it has been several days since our vacation. As I write this, I am still experiencing mild asthma symptoms. I figured it would improve on its own over time. But, the inflammation caused by the chlorine seems to be stubborn. And so I decided to ask my doctor for a burst of prednisone. I am certain this will get me back to my baseline of what I consider good asthma control. (Update: after a few days, my asthma cleared up. I did not need the prednisone. But I had it on hand just in case).

So, things have improved immensely for me since 1984. In fact, a year after that trip I spent six months at the asthma hospital, and the great doctors there helped me to obtain good asthma control. Today, we have much better asthma wisdom and treatment, and so, my asthma is well controlled. Yet, sometimes asthma still shows up, and this is why it is so important to bring an asthma backup plan every time you go on vacation.

What about you?

Have you ever experienced asthma on vacation? What did you do? Please share your story in the comments below. I am very interested to hear them.