2007-06-16
trying to remember the meds
|It looks like my oldest daughter inherited her father's exotic good looks and my ultra sensitive, pain in the neck skin. She also has asthma, which is helped along by the fact that I have eczema and my husband has allergies. At least that's what we learned from one of the many doctors who examined her at the hospital when she was first diagnosed. He said the chances of a kid having asthma are much greater when one or both of the parents have eczema, allergies and asthma. Sorry kid, I guess you never had a chance.
Anyway, we're in an experimental phase with her asthma right now. We see the allergy doctor every six months, once in the fall and once in the spring to assess where she is and see how many attacks she has had in the previous six months. We saw him in April and at that time she had done quite well in the six months prior. I'm pretty sure she didn't have an attack. Usually she gets an attack in the fall or winter when she has a cold. That's one of her main triggers.
The other trigger is cats -- she's allergic. This is why we are now a cat-free household. But I do miss my cat. Oh, how I loved that cat. My husband used to call him my "other lover" and was actually a tad jealous of the attention I gave the cat. But that's an entirely different story. I still love him intensely, but I couldn't choose my cat over my kid and remain a functioning member of society, now could I?
It was my own version of Sophie's Choice. Many tears were shed and in the end my husband's cousin took him in (the cat, not my husband). Since they only live 15 miles north of here, I can still visit Clive when I want to, but it's not quite the same. That cat loved me as well. He did. He loved me. But now that he doesn't live here, he doesn't love me like he did.
Anyway, back to the story. My kid is now allergic in a big bad itchy hives kind of way to Coppertone Sunblock SPF 45. Ditto on dishwashing liquid used in the kiddie pool to make a super bubble bath.
So in April the doctor suggested stopping the Singulair she takes daily for April to see what happens. We did that and she was fine. In May he suggested we give her the Pulmicort through the nebulizer (a breathing treatment) daily and then drop that in June. We kind of slid out of the habit of the breathing treatment in the middle of May and she was okay for awhile. Then for the last week or so she has had a cough which can be an indicator of a looming asthma attack or just a benign annoyance. And during the coughing deal she came up with the hives.
Initially we though it was a weird reaction to the chlorine in the pool she was playing in. But a couple of days later I put the sunblock on her and within three minutes she was red and itching. So that mystery was solved. We have been giving her breathing treatment this week and she is improving. I suppose that means this kid does have asthma and she does need a breathing treatment.
This is lame, but I have a hard enough time remembering to take my own medication, it's a major drag having to give my kid a daily breathing treatment. I was really hoping she had outgrown the asthma and we were in smooth waters. Clearly, that's not the case.
2007-06-16 at 3:53 p.m.
