Hello, my name is Kelsey and I am nine years old. I have had asthma since I was very little. I was only two months old the first time I got sick. My mom took me to the family doctor because she thought I had a cold. I really had an ear infection, I was wheezing, and I had lots of junk in my chest. For the next few months I would keep getting sick with bronchitis and pneumonia. I was getting to be a fussy baby. Some people, especially my Grandpa, said I was spoiled. When I was only six months old, my mom and dad went on a cruise for one week. Everyone stayed at home with the babysitters but me. I went to my grandma and grandpas to stay. When my parents came home, my Grandpa said, "This baby needs to see a special doctor because she does not breathe very well!" He found out I was not just a spoiled baby!
My mom and dad called the Children's Hospital and got an appointment with a pediatrician for that very day. The pediatrician said that I had reactive airways and would need to start using a nebulizer. A nebulizer is a machine that delivers medicine to my lungs when I breathe the mist that it makes. A special person came right to our house to show my mom and dad how to use the nebulizer machine and the medicine.
Even with having the nebulizer, and using reactive airway medications, I was sick very often over the next few years. I would have ear infections with sinus infections that would not go away. It was getting hard because I was becoming allergic to lots of medicines called antibiotics that are used to treat these infections. I had to go to the emergency room lots of times and stay at the hospital for many days until I felt better. When I was 12 months old, my pediatrician felt I needed to see a doctor who knows more about lungs and breathing. This kind of doctor is called a pulmonologist and knows about why kids have trouble breathing. Dr.Pulmonary gave me lots of tests. One test scared my mom and dad lots. It was called a "sweat test," and it is a test to see if you have a disease called Cystic Fibrosis. I had to have this test done two times. The test does not hurt, but if you have this disease it is a very bad illness to deal with. The nurse puts a little wristwatch kind of band on your arm and you have to wear it for a long time to see what color it turns. My mom cried when she found out I did not have Cystic Fibrosis! I had lots of x-rays, blood tests, CT scans, and allergy tests. Dr.Pulmonary told my mom that we should get rid of our dog, Bitsy, who was our little Schnauzer. He also said that people, even my mom, must stop smoking in our house. We were not supposed to use our fireplace either. My room was supposed to be dust free, and have plastic covers over the mattress and pillows, and not have carpet on the floor. My brother, Adam, was very sad that Bitsy had to find a new home. He told my parents that they should find a new home for me instead! Brothers!
After all of this testing and a medication plan for me Dr.Pulmonary had me go to see another specialist called an ENT. ENT means, ears, nose, and a throat doctor. Dr.ENT is very nice and I like her a lot. She put tubes in my ears right away to help stop the ear infections and had a CT Scan done of my sinuses. A CT Scan is a special x-ray where they can look at a place on your body in a special way. Because I was so little and could not lay very still without moving while they did the test, they had to put me to sleep. My dad says I walked like a drunken sailor after the test was over, and he has me on video tape falling down on the floor! Some people! After Dr. ENT discovered that the CT Scan showed my sinuses were blocked up, she told my parents that I needed to have a sinus surgery that no one as young as I ever had done before. She and one of her partners at her office were going to put me to sleep and cut windows in my sinuses. All of the infections had blocked up the places where air comes through my nose, and my sinus openings had closed up. The doctors all agreed that this surgery had to be done and it would help me feel better. I kept getting sinus infections and ear infections and had lots of trouble breathing. I had allergic reactions to many things, medicines, animals, grass, bee stings, trees, and lots of other things. I still had lots of trouble breathing, and spent many days staying in the hospital. Either my mom or dad stayed with me all of the time when I was in the hospital.
When I was about two years old, I even got Whooping Cough, and was sick from that for about four months. My doctors had me see an Infectious Disease doctor then to see if I needed testing done to see if there was something wrong with my immune system. I had a special IV in my arm that ran into my chest, near my heart, into a special vein to deliver medicine. The doctors let me go home after two weeks in the hospital. A special nurse came to our house three times a week to see me, and the medicine for my special IV was delivered right to our house for me to use.
I went to preschool when I was four years old, but I missed lots of days from being sick. When I was five and it was time to return to school, I did not want to go. My mom was afraid I would start thinking I could be sick just to get out of things I was supposed to do. I only did that with going to school. There were lots of days that I did not feel good, and it was hard to go to school, and I did not like it. I wanted to stay home with my mom and dad. I am in the third grade now and I love school!
I have gotten healthier as I get older, just like Dr.Pulmonary told me I would. I have four doctors who help take care of me now. My pediatrician. Dr.Pulmonary, who is a Pulmonologist, and my asthma specialist. Dr.ENT takes care of my ears and sinuses. Then there is the doctor I don't like. It is my allergist! She is very nice, but I DO NOT like having to go to the allergist! Over the years of being sick the doctors have discovered that I have many allergies. At least four times I have had to have allergy testing. This is where they poke your skin on your back and arms with little tiny needles. You must lay very, very still while they do this, even if it hurts or itches. It is hard to do! The doctor decides what exactly they want to test for and then the nurse pokes you on your back and arms with a little needle to make a tiny hole for this special solution to go on. The special solution is actually a very weak mixture of what you might be allergic to. If, after a little bit of time, maybe 10 to 15 minutes, these little tiny holes get like mosquito bites you are allergic to whatever the nurse put there. I am allergic to lots of medicines, bee stings, weeds, some kinds of grasses, birch trees, ragweed, dogs, birds, and especially to molds! I do not get allergy shots because the doctors are not sure there is a mixture of allergy solution that would help to make my allergies better. When I get sick with an infection, my doctors have to be very careful which antibiotics I take so I do not get even sicker. I have my Epi-Pen with me at school in case I have a serious allergic reaction or get stung by a bee while I am there. An Epi-Pen is a shot kit, which is epinephrine for serious allergic reactions. People should only use their Epi-Pen in an emergency!
I take an allergy medicine in the morning, and a different allergy medicine before bed time. I use a nasal spray every day to keep my nasal passages as clear as possible. I have an inhaler that is a very new medicine. Dr. Pulmonary has me use a different inhaler before I swim with my swim team because there is lots of mold in the swimming pool area and locker rooms. I also have another inhaler that I use only if I am having trouble with being short of breath or wheezing. I also take a bronchodilator that is new on the market. I have been on, and used, dozens of different kinds of medicines over the past eight years, and my parents always allow me to learn how to take my medications with their supervision. Dr. Pulmonary has always made sure that my mom understands absolutely everything about my asthma, allergies, and treatment plan because she is the one who takes care of me. When she calls the clinic to talk to him, he trusts her judgement of exactly what the situation is and what I need. This plan has kept me out of the emergency room and the hospital many times.
Even with having allergies and asthma, I can do anything that other kids can do. I run, laugh, cry, swim, play basketball, go to gym class and recess, whatever I want. Just sometimes I have to take my asthma medication first. Swimming is a very good sport for kids like me to participate in because it helps keep our lungs strong. I love swimming. I also love collecting teddy bears, reading, watching movies, and creating arts and craft projects.
For a report in my third grade class this year, I did a demonstration with all of the students in my class on how it feels to have asthma. I gave a regular sized straw to each kid and told them to hold their nose while trying to breathe through the straw for one minute. They were all really surprised to know how hard it was to breathe that way! Exactly like having an asthma attack!
Sometimes my friends, or other kids at school, ask me questions about having allergies or asthma. If you would like to ask me a question, or would just like to say, "Hi" to me, you can sign my guest book and leave me a message! Either I can write back, or my mom will, if it is a question that I cannot answer. Thanks for reading my story!
" `Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair
And I have many curious things to show you when you are there."
"Oh, no, no," said the little fly. "To ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again.'
"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the spider to the fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest a while, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
"Oh, no,no," said the little fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again who sleepupon your bed!"
Said the cunning spider to the fly: "Dear friend, what can I do
To prove the warm affection I've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome--will you please take a slice?"
"Oh, no, no," said the little fly. "Kind sir, that cannot be.
I've heard what's in your pantry, and i do not wish to see!"
"Sweet creature," said the spider, "you're witty and you're wise;
How handsome are your gauzy wings! How brilliant are your eyes!"
I have a little looking glass upon my parlor shelf;
If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, for what you're pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."
The spider turned him round about and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly fly would soon come back again.
So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready to dine upon the fly;
Then came out to his door again, and merrily did sing:
Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!”
Alas, alas! How very soon this silly little fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes and green and purple hue,
Thinking only of her crested head. Poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiesrcely held her fast;
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den.
Within his little parlor--but she ne’er came out again!
And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words I pray you ne’er heed;
Unto an eveil counselor close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale of the spider and the fly!
by Mary Howitt
  This Athsma Sufferers Web Ring site is owned by Julie and Kelsey Kennedy. Want to join the Athsma Sufferers Web RIng?? |
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