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It Runs in the Family

 

My mom knows what asthma looks like

When Mason lay down I noticed his stomach was moving too fast for me.  So I called my mom, and she said that it wasn't normal.  I called her because in our family there's a lot of asthma.  My brothers and sisters they have asthma so my mom already knows what it looks like. 

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I've been around asthma my whole life

When I was a baby, and up until I was six, I had asthma, but my asthma calmed down after that.  So my mom was already used to someone having it, which is good because she watches Jason sometimes.  And I have a cousin who has had severe asthma his whole life, so basically I've been around it.

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Her brother has it, so I wasn't shocked

Lucy was born with a runny nose so we automatically knew she had some type of allergies and then she started to form eczema as well.  Then when she got a really bad cold, she would just wheeze really bad.  I've been through it before, too— I have a 22-year-old son who has asthma, so I wasn't as shocked.  I knew what I was dealing with. But when Lucy has it, she has it twice as bad as my son could ever have it.

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I knew about asthma, so I wasn't surprised

I don't think I was surprised when I found out Tyson had asthma— I've heard from other people what asthma is, I have cousins who have asthma, Tyson's father has severe asthma, and I personally have a little bit of asthma— so I knew about it. 

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My dad, my sister, and my sons have it

My dad has asthma, and my younger sister also suffers from it.  Both of my sons have asthma.  The good thing about it is that they don't get it at the same time.  I guess they both react differently. But it is not fun.  Andrew, my oldest, doesn't get it as much Caleb, maybe because he is on all types of medication.  He has Albuterol in both forms, an inhaler, and the nebulizer.  He has to take Singulair, which helps him a lot because that helps prevent it. So he has the Singulair, the Allegra, Claritin, Benadryl, eye drops, a whole bunch of things!  He's very well-trained to whenever he's feeling something to go ahead and do it.  They both don't even need me sometimes; they know what to do.

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Everything going on at once

My older son gets very emotional.  He even gets angry sometimes.  I guess it's because of everything going on at once— the sneeze, the tears, the runny nose.  When he gets it he gets everything at once.  Caleb's lucky that he only gets the wheezing— well, not lucky, but he doesn't get all of that with it.  He might sneeze, but not like Andrew does.  My oldest is constantly sneezing, has a runny nose and his eyes get closed sometimes.

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My oldest and my youngest have asthma

Anthony is my youngest, and my oldest daughter who is 29 has asthma.  She has severe allergies, too, and has to carry an EpiPen (see EJ editor note below) with her at all times. They think Anthony is prone to allergies, too, but don't know for sure that he has them yet. 

EJ editor note: EpiPen is a registered trademark for the most commonly used autoinjector of epinephrine (aka adrenaline) used to treat severe allergies and anaphylactic shock.  They can be self-administered and are very fast-acting.  The EpiPen contains a spring-loaded needle that shoots through a membrane in the tip and into the recipient's body to deliver the medication.

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Department of Psychiatry.
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Updated: June 5, 2007
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