WWYD? Asthma attacks....

[Inspired by Reggio]

A cold can severely complicate asthma for sure

IME it does not take long for your oxygen levels to get low and dangerously low to cause damage to the brain and other organs ... if he is not responding to the emergency puffer to relieve his symptoms he needs to go to the hospital and get a masking treatment and oxygen supplements!

If his asthma is chronic like that they have portable masking units for home and daycare ~ we use to have kids in centre in the winter months who had to get the machine verses the little 'puffer' for treatment!

[Momof4]

I completely understand that her employer is going to give her a really hard time. I've been there and done that. However, our children are the most important, precious things in our lives and the ladies are right, she has to take the responsibility for her sick child. You were too kind and caring to keep him today. I hope it all worked out well.

[mamaof4]

As a mom, with severe persistent asthma, and a mom of a child with asthma- I would call.

Medically speaking, kids airways are so much smaller than an adults so it takes less inflammation to have a problem.

Additionally, kids can compensate (their bodies work extra hard to stay stable) and then crash so so fast.

The kid needs an asthma action plan with peak flow guidelines and the mom could use some solid comprehensive asthma education.

If he needs it, a nebulizer is a great thing- it can save ER visits and hospitalizations really frequently. If he is the type of kid to get bad fast an epi pen is also a good thing to have.

[Mamma_Mia]

The fact he isn't normally on a puffer at your house and assuming he uses two - the slower 2x a day one and then the emergency puffer which is used more often as needed

Mom says the Dr/Hospital isn't giving her a refill of the 'orange' one for emergencies which I found hard to believe.

So I called mom and told her he has maybe 20seconds of a rest between coughs and he was complaining that his chest/tummy was hurting. So she came to get him (took almost an hour )

While she was here boy ws asking for McDonalds for lunch (his treat when they have Doctor appt days). Mom says "ask daddy later mom has no money". She then on her way out says "I even have to stop by my mom's to get parking money". Now it got me thinking do they not have the 'orange' puffer because of money issues.....which I'm angry with, my childs health comes first!

Anyways I know they weren't in a GREAT shape, dcb's pants are short and he's been wearing his sisters socks lately. But they've never been late with payment. I know it's not easy to judge.....dad is 47 and already a grandfather and has the 3yr old with mom. Mom is in her late 30's....her kids are 15, 5 & 3. I feel bad for them....

[Mamma_Mia]

Mom took him straight to the hospital (per my advice) when she got here dcb was wheezing. I told her don't bother going to the clinic, it's just waisting time. She came later to p/u 5yr old. She said they put the mask on him right away and he has a oral steroid to take 4 times a day for 4 days. Still no "orange" puffer.....we'll see how this goes. Poor little guy.

[bright sparks]

Poor Guy, it breaks my heart and I hope his mother has some kind of support, sounds like she could use some. Let us know how he gets on please Mamma.

[Momof4]

Dammit MammaMia doesn't this really tick you off? Be tougher next time for the child's sake, ok? Do these people qualify for subsidy? Tell them to apply. Advertise and replace the family. No matter how badly you feel for this little guy you are taking on a big responsibility and liability and I'm worried for you.

I have a child who is 4 and her Mom gives her a puff when they get here to get through her day, and I know the puffer is in the backpack if we ever need it but thankfully in 4 years we never have had to use it. But there are times when I make her sit down and breathe deeply when she's been running and playing and I recognize that she is wheezing. You have to be careful with what you can handle.

[sunnydays]

Thank you for this post! I have a little guy with asthma in my care and I never really thought it would be a big deal...his mom told me he has astham in such an offhand way that I didn't think it was very serious. I do have a consent form and puffer here for him, but hadn't thought about the fact that it could be life threatening or I probably wouldn't have taken the child! After reading this, I am going to be very careful!

[Momof4]

I also had a child with a peanut/tree nut allergy in care for a few years and I cook most things from scratch but I really had to read labels on crackers and any food I bought in packages. I had to carry an epipen around everywhere we went which was kind of scary but she never needed it thank goodness. All the other daycare children watched out for nutshells for her because people feed them to the squirrels at our park.

For almost 4 years I've carried around the puffer for my little girl with mild asthma. I count my lucky stars that we've never had any incidents, but I know for sure that both of my dcMoms were great and if we ever had an emergency that they would be here FAST. I think that's really important. If you have a child with any chronic illness or allergy make sure the parents work close to you and can get there at the drop of a hat to take the responsibility off your hands and take care of their sick child.

We probably all have the same arrangement in place that we tell parents that if we ever have to call 911 and send a sick child to the hospital they will be responsible to meet them there. We can't leave the other children. Make sure you have a clear policy like that in place.

[dodge__driver11]

In all honestybeing someone that suffers from Lung issues, I would not have kept him I went to the hospital in an ambulance with an oxygen level of 77% or so I was told...I blacked out and can't remember much besides calling 911 for help... I would have called an ambulance and had the parent meet the child there.