I’m a non-asthmatic, non-allergic thirtysomething woman parenting 2 elementary-age children, one with the lung disorder that takes and just keeps on taking. It has been a long and crazy ride with lots of sleepless nights since my asthmatic child’s diagnosis, and not in the good way. But I’m sure any readers of this thing have asthmatic children themselves, so you are likely already familiar with the joy that is raising a kid with a chronic breathing problem.
Anyway, just so you know, I’m not a doctor or nurse or other medical professional so I’m not dispensing advice here, just discussing asthma in my daughter, the methods I use to help her, what seems to work, what doesn’t, asthma news I find interesting, and the impact of this whole thing on me and my family. There are worse things my child could have, I know that, but pediatric asthma often seems overwhelming, even when it’s under good control. I think the prevalence of asthma in children can detract from the heartache it causes. I know I didn’t take the disease seriously until my daughter was hospitalized with complications from it.
This isn’t a ranting blog–at least, it’s not only a ranting blog. But I’m also not going to write about all day long how asthma made me and my family better people and how suffering makes you understand the meaning of life and appreciate the sound of raindrops on the window, blah blah blah, etc. etc. etc.
I’m an ordinary woman, raising a child with a rather (unfortunately) ordinary problem, and like most people I have my good days and bad days. Sure, I am grateful for the uneventful days when nothing much happens because nothing much happens. No inhalers, no trips to the ER, no coughing all night, no nasal washes. Then there are the days like this:
TAKE BACK WHATEVER NEGLIGIBLE SELF-AWARENESS AND HUMILITY I HAVE GAINED AND GIVE ME A HEALTHY CHILD IN RETURN, RIGHT NOW. And by the way, all you parents who whine when your kid gets a little cold and you have to stay home from work for one day? Shut up JUST SHUT UP and take my kid for a week, see how you like middle-of-the-night breathing treatments watching an 8 year-old struggle for just one good breath. A runny nose doesn’t seem so bad anymore NOW DOES IT?
But those are the really bad days. I am sometimes calm and Zen-like about my kid’s asthma (although not usually) or wildly obnoxious and whiny about it. You never really know what you’re going to find here at the Blog of Inferior Breathing. Usually, I strike a healthy balance in the middle.
Usually.
