Parenting Adult Kids With Asthma

Oh, the innocence of young parents. I try to keep a straight face when a harried young mom tells me how lucky I am that my kids are all adults because that must mean my kids do not need me anymore.

Sigh.

Continuing to parent my adult kids with asthma

You do not stop being a parent when your kids turn 18. My kids may graduate from high school, college, and grad school, but that does not mean that graduate from being a parent.

Maybe there are parents who cut ties with adult kids, but I am not one of them. I am not a helicopter parent, but if my kids need help, I am there for them.

Parents of kids who do not have any medical problems are very lucky. But if you have adult kids with asthma, you may need to help them when they are sick.

Taking care of my adult son

Son #2 just texted to see if we have any COVID-19 test kits. He is not sure if he just has a cold, bronchitis, or COVID. Luckily, I had a stack of test kits so we could drop one off at his apartment.

But what kind of mom would I be if I did not make sure he was also fed? So I also dropped off chicken soup, along with a supply of tissues, sore throat lozenges, decongestants, etc.

I also texted him to see if he was stocked up on his asthma medicines. With respiratory infections, he tends to get REALLY sick – as in, he ends up in the emergency room (ER) or being hospitalized when he’s sick. When he was younger, he was in the hospital 8 times (and 2 of those were in the ICU unit). All thanks to asthma. He told me he had full inhalers and enough albuterol vials for his nebulizer, so he was all set.

Helping my daughter in a different way

Two weeks before this, I was helping my college-aged daughter. She doubled over in pain, so I drove her to the hospital where we spent a long day before they identified the problem. She had to wait months to see a specialist, so they just gave her some medicine to help with the pain. A few days later, she was in so much pain, she almost passed out.

So, I drove her back to the hospital. This time, they had a specialist in the hospital and were able to page him to come and examine my daughter. After reviewing her symptoms and scans, he suggested my daughter have emergency surgery. She was so relieved that they could fix the problem, she agreed. She had been in so much pain that it had been almost 8 hours since she had anything to eat or drink, so they were able to take her back and prepare her for surgery.

Since my daughter is an adult, she took the lead on all of the discussions and decisions. But I could also tell she was in pain and not able to answer all of their questions. I would tell the doctor if there was something important, like telling the anesthesiologist that my daughter has severe asthma and may need more oxygen than a typical patient. He was careful to watch her oxygen levels and monitor her during surgery.

I watched over her as she recovered, and she is finally feeling better. Now my son is keeping me updated on his cranky lungs.

Do you still parent your adult kid(s) with asthma?

Do any of you still help your adult kid(s) with asthma when they are sick or need surgery?