Asthma and Cruising

[adkaul]

Hi All

We'll be cruising for the first time on the July 13th cruise.

My four year old son has been recently diagnosed with asthma that he gets when he has a cold. We need to travel with his
nebulizer. Are there outlets in the staterooms so we can plug his nebulizer in if we need it? Also, do we need to let the cruise line know that we have the nebulizer?

Thank you.

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

Yes, there are outlets in the staterooms that you can plug in to - you may want to consider bringing a short extension cord though in case they aren't convenient for the nebulizer.

 

[smorowski]

they also make small portable nebs that have rechargeable battery and can hook up to car lighter etc. they are very nice!

 

[Otisp]

We've used one of those portables (a "little" ultrasonic job) for several years. We carry it everywhere we go with our little wheezer (we're terrified from hearing stories of people dying from sudden attacks away from home). It was not cheap, but it has been one of the best investments we've ever made.

 

[tony3331]

can someone tell me were i can purchase one of those. thanks

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

Check your yellow pages under Medical Equipment; you'll likely need a prescription from your doctor (the place we delt with required one for my spouse, and amazingly enough, the insurance even covered part of the cost - luckily with the treatments that she is currently on she hasn't had to use the thing in years - she's been diagnosed with the "sudden onset, life threatening" variety).

 

[tony3331]

thank you so very much

 

[Otisp]

The one we have (and love) is an Omron MicroAir Omron NE-U03V. We actually got ours a couple of years ago on walmart.com (they don't have them any more), but try http://www.ultrasonic-nebulizers.net/Omron/Nebulizer/ne-u03v.htm
or http://www.comforthouse.com/comfort/micneb.html (no endorsement implied here... just did a Google search and these looked like the cheapest sites)

 

[tony3331]

thank you all very much i will be purchasing this item real life saver.

 

[joellen2]

Just a note of warning: If your child is on Pulmicort (a steroid) for the nebulizer, you must have a compresser nebulizer. It is not recommended to use an "ultrasonic" nebulizer. My four year old DS has had asthma since he was three months old. For our first cruise last year, we bought a small, portable nebulizer that weighs less than a pound. It is also made by Omron, but it is a compresser model. It has an ac adapter, as well as a battery unit that can do about 8 treatments on a single charge. We also bought the cigarette lighter adapter for emergency use in the car. You can go to Omron's website for more information. I think we paid about $140 or so including shipping (we did not buy directly from Omron, but we searched for that model # on Yahoo.) Good luck. If you need the exact model number I have, please reply to this post, and I will check it for you. Good luck! We will be on our first Disney cruise (Magic) on April 27th!!!

 

[Otisp]

Good point. The ultrasonic seems to work fine with Albuterol and Atrovent, but we don't have experience with the other medications (through the nebulizer, at least).

 

[joellen2]

I know this is off the main point, but that Atrovent medicine is great stuff! It dries up all of that mucous very fast! We use it in the nebulizer when he is very "junkie sounding", and sometimes we use the nosespray for the runny noses. It is a miracle drug. The Pulmicort has really improved my son's asthma. We used to get it from Canada, because t was not approved yet by the FDA. However, now that it is US approved, we can get it here much, much cheaper.

 

[adkaul]

Thanks everyone - you guys are great. Our family is new to
the Disney Cruise and new to the asthma (DS - 4 yrs old).

I'm going to look for a more portable nebulizer.

 

[tony3331]

thanks for the info joellen we will be on the same cruise my ds 10 has been battling asthma since the age of 3 we are looking for a smaller unit that he can carry and use anyware