I am paranoid about sick people
Yes, it's a fact. I was talking with a friend online last night about germs and sick people. She has it much worse than I do. She has a daughter with a rare muscular disorder that also affects her breathing. The daughter is dependent on a tracheotomy tube and is wheelchair bound. She is also hibernating for the winter inside her nice, safe house-away from sick people.
I can't say to her that "I know how you feel" because I don't. I can commiserate to a degree. And I'm not saying what we go through compares with their struggles. The problem with asthma is that any respiratory infection is magnified. There's no such thing as a simple cold-for us anyway. The minute I hear someone coughing, we get up and leave. I know it sounds dramatic, but I can't expose my kids to other sick people.
When my kids get sick, it means a trip to Asthma Doc (I love that man for keeping my kids alive the last 11 years!) Often times, we end up with antibiotics and steroids. Of course that's on top of their maintenance medication and additional breathing treatments with the nebulizer.
Sometimes that isn't enough, and we go to the next step-which is a shot of Decadron. More steroids! Often times that will keep the kids out of the Emergency Department or out of the hospital.
Sometimes I know I'm in over my head, so we head to the Emergency Department. I am more than happy to let the professionals take over (of course I watch them like a hawk to make sure the kids have oxygen on, then I quiz the medical personnel about what medication and doses they're giving. We have had medication errors)
Admittance to the hospital always means more steroids (usually a Salumederol IV) and oxygen.
So, if I get up and leave an activity because someone is coughing, don't take it personnally. Some of us have had more experience than we would like with hospitals. If you are sick, please stay home! You may just be irritated by a little sniffle and cough, but for some of us it can turn deadly.
Please keep your germs to yourself.
Thank you,
Signed
My life as an asthma mom