Back to school

Yikes! It's that time already?!

I haven't done any shopping yet as far as clothes and school supplies. I should probably get started.

But I did just get the kid's Asthma Action Plans filled out by Asthma Doctor and mailed back to the school nurse. She thanks me profusely for actually taking the time to fill them out and return them. She said she is frustrated because she can send out 120 requests every school year, and usually gets 10 of them returned. If you have a child with a medical condition, wouldn't you want the faculty and staff to know they are asthmatic (or diabetic, have seizures, etc?!) How is the faculty or staff supposed to take care of my son or daughter if they don't know what medical condition they have, or what medicine to give them? I'm not about to leave that up to chance!

I want the kid's Asthma Action Plans filled out so that if I'm not around, their teachers will know what to do. In our school district, the nurse has a heavy school load and visits our school for about 3 hours a week, usually Thursday morning. So I tell the kids if they are going to have an asthma attack, be sure and time it during those hours. Just kidding!

We're usually on our own, I'm on of those moms who takes my cell phone everywhere I go. More than once I've had to take the nebulizer to school because #2 Son (with severe asthma) can't breathe deep enough to use his inhaler.

I'll also be checking last year's back packs for their asthma medication pouch. I need to see if the inhalers or epi pens have expired. In our state, if you have a "medication authorization form" filled out and signed by the parent and doctor, it is legal for students to carry their inhaler with them at all times. (Like I want their inhaler locked up in the office if they're out on the field during gym and have an asthma attack and need their inhaler!?)

I also need to check and make sure their spacer and peak flow meter are clean and packed.

Once I get those important things packed, then I'll start worrying about pens and pencils. And of course the perfect outfits for the kids.



I'll also have to visit with each and every teacher to make sure they know the kids have asthma, what to do if they have an asthma attack, and leave me cell number with them.

Cleaning carpet

Ah, cleaning carpet. It's about as much fun as getting the tires balanced and rotated on the minivan (next on my list).

Luckily, the main living floor of our house has wood floors, which are recommended for people with asthma. I can keep them quite clean, because I can see all the dirt, dust bunnies and food particles that have dropped. And with teenagers around, they can get dirty in a hurry.

The downstairs level is another story. With another living room, dining room and kitchen, the downstairs gets a lot of use. This weekend #1 Son had a Star Wars movie marathon. There was a great group of college aged kids over and they weren't too messy. But with all the previous stains we decided to bite the bullet and get the carpets cleaned.

Our downstairs has Berber carpet, the unique smooth carpet seems to trap lest dirt and gunk than a 'pile' carpet. We've had the carpet cleaned in the past, but it still looks dirty. So we're trying a new system that uses a specially formulated hot water that is supposed to leave the carpet drier. The carpet cleaners claim they don't flood the carpet with water and soap, so there's no residue left behind. Apparently, that's what causes problems when the water and soap don't get sucked back out and instead is left down in the carpet. (Great breeding ground for all sorts of fun things). So we'll see how this system works. And I passed on the spray protect-ant. Even with the kids at the movie, I don't want anything sprayed on the carpet that could cause an asthma attack.

It will be interesting to see if this makes a difference with their allergies and asthma. Every little thing I can do to make the house a little cleaner helps, right?

Anyone else have any fun carpet cleaning stories? Has it seemed to help your asthma?