Asthma Parent

Well, after sixteen months, twelve of which spent in the privileged company of my two most favorite little people, (the first four having spent way too much time in hospital with a pretty tricky pregnancy), I have this week darkened the doorstep of my place of work again and with a mixture of sadness and genuine positivity started the new 'normal' routine, working three days a week. It's gone pretty well, the kids have settled into the new childcare arrangements brilliantly and my welcome back has been really quite lovely. I feel though, that the phrase 'work/life balance' is hanging over me ominously. I think this is pretty normal for any parent returning after a significant period of maternity or paternity leave. There's an adjustment period and there are weeks where it all runs smoothly and then there are the weeks where you're holding it all together with a diarrhea filled nappy and a Calpol syringe in one hand and a laptop, mobile and cannula pumping ...

I was very pleased to have been asked to write a guest blog for asthma UK about the very real benefits of the Personal Asthma Action Plans as part of their 'Keeping Children out of Hospital' campaign. Please do consider donating to this very worthy charity, they make a whopping difference.

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by two lovely researchers the other week from the Health Experiences Research Group (HERG) at the University of Oxford. They are behind the Youth health talk and Health talk online websites which allow you to share the experiences of thousands of people through audio, video or written accounts of health related conditions and illnesses. Very worthwhile and well worth a look. As part of the interview they were interested in the things that we do when we feel A is at risk of an asthma attack, and, as we found ourselves in that position again last week I thought it might be useful to share those things, things that I realise we do quite automatically now, but which we've learned to do over time. It's very specific to A and her asthma triggers of course, but I thought it might illustrate how over a period of time you get quite used to the routine of what to do and when and although you never lose that feeling of worry and panic when carin...

So we've taken the plunge, fully supported by A's consultant, to stop the Clenil (brown) inhaler over the summer and just continue with the Montelukast. A is often a lot better during the summer and had a number of colds last year which didn't result in a flare up of her asthma symptoms. The idea is that a break from the steroids can only be a good thing and that the Montelukast with far less side effects and a good track record in treating asthma in children [ Knorr, Barbara, et al. "Montelukast, a leukotriene receptor antagonist, for the treatment of persistent asthma in children aged 2 to 5 years." Pediatrics 108.3 (2001): e48-e48 ] would keep any exacerbations at bay. Feeling a teensy bit concerned today though I must admit, as she has come down with a cold and who knows how effective the Clenil was in preventing any potential attacks during the summer last year. She's sleeping now and we've just been in and given her the blue inhaler as her breathin...

I've come across a couple of great programmes lately which help children understand their asthma better and make them realise that they're not different or unusual for having to use their inhaler when needed. Get Well Soon 'Easy Wheezy' Get Well Soon is a lovely CBeebies show about all kinds of childhood illnesses and how their bodies are affected. The 'Easy Wheezy' episode isn't on on iPlayer at the moment, though the Easy Wheezy song is on YouTube . Dr Ranj Singh is a real-life paediatrician and his programmes really captivate 'A' and get her asking really good and useful questions about all manner of illnesses, including her asthma. Sesame Street 'A is for Asthma' The other one is the old favourite, Sesame Street. You've got to love Elmo and A is for Asthma is great. I love the angle the video clip takes, showing the child's friend what to do when he starts to get wheezy and as always the educational tone of ...

While A has gone into the spring seemingly able to fight the nightmare wheezing of winter, last week our little Baby L ended up in hospital with fast laboured breathing, low oxygen, a high temperature and the dreaded  'Post viral wheeze'. We are certainly not the first to find that our second child might be vulnerable to the same respiratory problems as our eldest, however we really do feel pretty gutted. On the positive side, if he does continue to wheeze, at least we know what we're doing. We don't have the same learning curve as the first time round and in a funny kind of way inhalers, A&E and everything related to viral induced asthma is fairly 'normal' to us as parents (albeit worrying), but still, for him as much as for us, gutted. For now we'll have to wait and see if his tendency to wheeze continues. The last two times that he's had a cold I've had him down the doctors as we thought we'd heard a wheeze at nightime, so I think it d...