Our families’ “Asthma Story” began once our 2nd child, Matthew, was born. He was born with his trachea not properly developed which caused breathing and sleeping difficulties, as well as respiratory infections and reflux. We quickly learned to be constantly on alert for even slight changes in his breathing. After two months of his lungs working so hard, and many infections, he developed asthma.

We visited a wonderful pulmonologist at All Children’s Hospital, Dr. Tony Kriseman. He guided us through this new and scary journey, easing our worries by giving us good information and educating us about the respiratory system and the medical help available. We also attended asthma classes through our pediatrician’s office which really helped us not only learn how to deal with this for our tiny child, but why and what to do in various situations.

As far as we know, nobody on my husband’s side of the family has asthma. On my side, my mother and sister have it (but until seeing our tiny baby gasp for breaths daily and squeak and make other noises while he breathed, it never really seemed to sink in just how dangerous it could be). During my pregnancies, I had a lot of shortness of breath but attributed it to the pregnancies and position of the baby. After having Matthew, my doctor diagnosed me with mild asthma. Although fortunate to not have serious ‘asthma attacks’, the small amount of difficulties I’ve experienced has helped me get a small glimpse on what my children and so many other thousands of people go through – it has given me a much better understanding of both how to recognize signs and also what the side effects of some of the medications feel like.

Then, after almost one year of helping Matthew through his asthma and other difficulties, our first child, Elyssa, began to show sudden allergy symptoms and shortness of breath when she played or laughed hard (which, being an active one year old, she did often!). She was diagnosed with asthma around her 2 year birthday.

The two children had different symptoms and different triggers. Matthew’s seemed to be almost constant (although somewhat difficult to tell due to his trachea problem), and more while he slept or if he cried. Elyssa’s seemed to mostly flair up after playing or laughing hard, or after being outdoors or in dusty/musty areas. Matthew showed signs of difficulties while around certain animals. They both had problems while they were sick and for some time afterwards as well. We could hear when Elyssa was having trouble – she wheezed audibly; Matthew did not wheeze and would instead breath very erratically, or the area around his lips would begin to turn a little blue before it was obvious he was having trouble. Elyssa seemed more aware of when she was having trouble (perhaps because she was a year older) and quickly learned to sit down or come to me and put her head on my shoulder. When Matthew was having problems, he didn’t seem to know what to do or know what was happening – he seemed very scared and agitated, sometimes frantic (this was often our clue to check his breathing and calm him down).

In order for us to help our children, we had to educate ourselves (through the help of marvelous doctors – not try to figure it out on our own via the internet or other sources – that is too dangerous – we aren’t qualified to distinguish between good advice or mere opinions of other people). We also prayed – a lot! And had many family and friends praying for us! It gave us the strength and courage to learn as much as we could – to ask questions instead of merely accepting what one doctor advised or pretending to understand the advice – ask until we understood how best to help our children. Praying gave us the comfort to enjoy our children every moment and be truly thankful that they were happy little beings. It also allowed us to be okay with giving our children the proper medication to help their bodies – both preventative medicines as well as medicines to help them through their difficult times. (At first, we were extremely hesitant to give our tiny little ones medication on a regular basis – how could their tiny bodies process these things – and what would it do to them in the long run? Our doctors helped us understand that without the preventative and other medications, they may not have a “long run” – the decision became an easy one from that point forward.)

Through prayer we also gained the confidence to be ambassadors for our children – not allow others to jeopardize their well-being with cigarette smoke, perfumes, or even common colds. We realized it was okay to gently ask people to please not wear perfume or scented lotions while visiting us (smoking has never been allowed in or around our home so that was not an issue), and to ask friends with other young children to please let us know ahead of time if their child had even a small sniffle or other cold-like symptom so we could make plans to see them another time (a tiny sniffle for most children translated to 2-3 weeks of nebulizers and often steroids for our kids). Friends and family were almost always very understanding and willing to skip that lotion in the morning before visiting, or make a quick phone call before heading to the park if their child woke with a slight cough or sneeze. It didn’t ruin friendships, but it did help keep our children healthier!

Now, 8 years later, both children’s symptoms have improved. The doctors say asthma and allergies remain, but often go through ‘stages’. For now, both of them are thankfully in a much milder ‘stage’. And by educating them as they’ve grown, they have both learned to notice symptoms and avoid triggers whenever possible. Their friends now ask questions about what it’s like to have asthma and want to know what it is – they’re able to have a better understanding now. They have always been very active, playful children. They just know to stop and rest if they begin to feel their asthma acting up – it’s better to take a short rest, even mid-game, than to end up with serious consequences by ignoring their symptoms. They both realize asthma is not something to be ignored, but is thankfully something that is treatable. And having asthma does not mean missing out on fun and exercise – especially if they follow our main rule … PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BODY!