Panic Sets in Over Swine Flu at School

It's asthma season for us here in our household. On Monday, right on schedule, my daughter started her barking asthma cough. It happens every October as the seasons change (it happens every spring too). There's never a fever or anything - just that barking cough that lasts 3-4 weeks.

Since she didn't have a fever, she went to school on Monday. The barking cough made her teachers nervous (H1N1, swine flu panic) so even though she didn't have a fever, and this has happened every year for the last several years, and the nurse knows this and remembered it herself, she was sent home. I was told by the nurse (whispered to so nobody else at the school heard) that she's fighting an uphill battle, to give her a little bit of time at home to make sure a fever doesn't develop and then to bring her back to school and she'll back me up. The fact that she had NO FEVER didn't mean anything in the panic.

So 48 hours later, I took her to her pediatrician to get a note clearing her for school. Like every year at this time, and just like I thought, it was her asthma. I didn't need to visit the doc in the lab coat for me to know that but I wanted 100% assurance when I took her back into school so they couldn't try to send her home again. She'd missed enough pre-algebra! I got my note and took her back to school. They had to allow her back in and the teachers will just have to deal with their panicky nerves over her asthma cough.

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Autoimmune Disorders in Stepfamilies

I've read quite a bit about how stress can affect your health, particularly with the development of autoimmune disorders where your body basically attacks itself. I'm wondering how many of us stepmoms have developed an autoimmune disorder since marrying into a family, becoming a stepfamily, or developed some other type of health problem?

For me, I have TMJ (caused by clenching my teeth when stressed, damaging my jaw), my asthma went from an annoyance to life-threatening, and I developed Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (along with nodules, goiter, hypothyroidism).

According to MedicineNet.com:

"Autoimmune disease: An illness that occurs when the body tissues are attacked by its own immune system. The immune system is a complex organization within the body that is designed normally to "seek and destroy" invaders of the body, including infectious agents. Patients with autoimmune diseases frequently have unusual antibodies circulating in their blood that target their own body tissues.

Examples of autoimmune diseases include systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren syndrome, Hashimoto thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile (type 1) diabetes, polymyositis, scleroderma, Addison disease, vitiligo, pernicious anemia, glomerulonephritis, and pulmonary fibrosis."

This was just a few. There are over 80 autoimmune disorders.

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Asthma, Your Child, & School

With most children in school or soon to be starting within a couple of days, have you updated your school's records with the nurse to allow your child to use and/or carry their asthma inhaler during school hours? If your school is like ours, they require this be done (updated) every year. So, if you don't have this in place yet at school, take care of it now so you aren't scrambling to take care of it AFTER your child has an asthma attack at school.

Also, make sure the school and nurse has all your current contact information so if an asthma attack occurs, they can get hold of you easily.

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Second Hand Smoke & Kids

I have asthma and the triggers are varied. It can be an odor, exercise, or it may just be time to take my medicine again.

I was in line at a drive-thru a few days ago with my window down. I was next in line to place my order. The man in front of me had his window down with his arm hanging out of his window - holding a cigarette. Despite the distance between his cigarette and me in my car, despite the fresh air in between his car and mine, I got a whiff of cigarette smoke and had an asthma attack right there. That was all it took. Hey, if the food doesn't kill me, some stranger's cigarette will!

Now imagine if you are a primary caregiver or babysitter who is smoking around children. One whiff of smoke is all it takes. It doesn't have to be the actual smoker smoking at that time either. I can walk through an area where somebody had smoked previously and have an asthma attack. I can smell cigarettes on a person (let's face it, smokers smell like smokers) and have an asthma attack. Are you doing this to your own children? If you are a babysitter, are you doing this to the kids who you are entrusted to care for and protect?

Something to think about. As an adult, you have the right to make the choice on whether to smoke or not but children have very little say in what you choose to do or what they are forced to inhale because of it. I hope you choose to protect their lungs from current and future damage.

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