DS With Asthma

[ittybittybabynurse]

DS (5) was diagnosed this week with asthma. We leave for WDW on Sunday. Does anyone have any advice to make the most of our trip? His doctor told us to rent a stoller for the week. I am so overwhelmed right now.

 

[livndisney]

Have you checked out the Disabilities board? There are stickies at the top that may help a lot!

 

[kids1617]

What medication did they send him home with? Does he have rescue medicine in case of an asthma attack and preventative inhalers? Also with asthma there are different triggers that make asthma worse..like exercise or weather..what about your son?

 

[PrincessTigerLily]

Are they sending you with an inhaler or a nebulizer? Is he doing peak flow measurements? You will still have a great vacation, it is just all so overwhelming at first! I am a certified asthma educator and a respiratory therapist, and if you want to respond here or PM me, I'd be happy to answer any questions I can for you.

 

[Erin1700]

My little guy is just 15 months old but was diagnosed at 9 months...right before we left for WDW. The one thing I did do, was take his nebulizer with us to Animal Kingdom. I had no idea how the animals and trees would effect him.
Otherwise we kept him cool (but it was Dec. so not too hot anyway) and made sure to give him his meds.
Good LUck!

 

[MOMOFC&C]

When we went to Disney in September my son was diagnosed with Asthma the night before we left. The doctor gave him a couple of breathing treatments in the office, put him on steroids, an antibiotic (he also had an ear infection), singulair and sent us with an inhaler. He said that was not what he would normally do but with us going out of town he felt that that was the best route. He also told us to make sure that we kept his inhaler with us at all times while we were there. It took a couple of days before he was feeling better, but the rest of the week he was great. He still takes the Singulair once a day and we give him his inhaler as needed, usually when he has a cold. By the way he is 6.

 

[ittybittybabynurse]

Thanks everyone! He has severe outdoor allergies, too. In addition to his Zyrtec and Nasonex, he is now on Pulmicort, Singular, a rescue inhaler, a nebulizer, a steroid eye drop, another type of eye drop (Patanol/Pataday - RX for both, what's the difference?), and Prednisone (he had ended up in the ED on Monday, was diagnosed with allergic croup, but infact it was asthma). She told me to bring the nebulizer and rescue inhaler along with the daily meds.

I am a NICU nurse, so I really don't know that much about asthma. He's still coughing. Does this stop when the asthma is better controlled?

 

[luvmy3]

Do you have a peak flow meter? I would ask for one so that you can take it with you. We use ours to monitor ds because he doesn't always have the typical symptoms. This is the worst time of year because his allergies are a big trigger, but sometimes he doesn't wheeze or cough. I can tell when he is having difficulty but having the PFM helps us confirm that he needs a nebulizer treatment or his inhaler. NOw that he is older he can let us know if it "feel tight" when he breathes.

 

[kids1617]

If his allergies trigger his asthma then sometimes until you get the allergies under control then it will help calm his asthma symptoms. Just keep up with the meds and soon he'll feel better!

 

[james'mommy]

My DS5 has been asthmatic since about 6 months. His ped told us straight up when he was born he had a 80% chance of asthma due to family history. He's on flonase, singular, claratin, rescue inhaler as needed and neb as needed. We always make sure we travel with his neb and rescue inhaler. My son is a cougher when his ashtma flares up. Also be careful if he likes to laugh himself silly. My son will laugh alot and then start coughing so hard he throws up. We try to keep him calm to avoid this and him needed neb or rescue inhaler.

 

[ittybittybabynurse]

. Also be careful if he likes to laugh himself silly. My son will laugh alot and then start coughing so hard he throws up. We try to keep him calm to avoid this and him needed neb or rescue inhaler.

This is great info! My DS is sooo silly and laughs until he coughs, too!

Thanks for the ones who suggested the peak flow meter. I know they did a computerized one in the office, but they did not give us one to take. I'll ask about that!

 

[DevilDuckie]

Do you have a peak flow meter? I would ask for one so that you can take it with you. We use ours to monitor ds because he doesn't always have the typical symptoms. This is the worst time of year because his allergies are a big trigger, but sometimes he doesn't wheeze or cough. I can tell when he is having difficulty but having the PFM helps us confirm that he needs a nebulizer treatment or his inhaler. NOw that he is older he can let us know if it "feel tight" when he breathes.

And the good news is that 5 year olds think the PFM is *cool*!

OP, I am sorry for your troubles. I have lived with debilitating asthma for a couple decades now. Fortunately this is a condition you can teach him to monitor and eventually to control to a large extent. Best of luck!

 

[maxiesmom]

Another thing to keep in mind is the smoke from the fireworks. Make sure you are not standing the way the smoke is blowing. I made that mistake before, and was wheezing the whole next day. Not fun!

 

[liznboys]

I don't have anymore advice to add, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry and I can sympathize. My 6 yr old has asthma, he was diagnosed right after he turned 2 and had his first wheezing experience (very scary).

He is now MUCH better than he was in the early years, and hasn't wheezed in ages! His asthma symptom now is only a dry cough. He takes Singulair, Zyrtec, and Nasonex every night before bed, and he has an Albuterol inhaler to use as needed (not very much, thankfully!) He used to need the nebulizer treatments, but we haven't had to do that in years.

I hope you have a wondeful trip. And I hope that although things are tough for you now, he will get better as time goes on like my son did. Best wishes!!

 

[Lisa Anne Colling]

My son has had severe asthma since he was 2 months old. We have made many trips to Disney. Now that he is 5 we have figured out what are his triggers, how to avoid triggers or make the best of it. Any parent of a child with asthma will tell you that it is all about knowing your child and how things will effect him. Hotel rooms are terrible for kids with asthma, with dust and mold and who knows what else. We have learned to travel with our own blankets. As soon as we get to the hotel, my husband folds up the blankets on the beds and places them in the closet, they are full of dust. I also wipe every thing down with anitbacterial wipes as a child with asthma is also more likely to react to germs. About two days before leaving we also bump up all his meds even if he is fine at the moment. IT helps make that transition to the hotel or different climate much easier. ALways travel with two sets of your meds in case one runs out or is lost. We also always travel with prednisone in case of a bad attack. Remeber to carry his rescue inhaler every where. Going in an out of air conditioning to heat can also be a trigger. Your doctor is right about the stroller. My son is 5 and a busy, active boy, but he gets tired easier then my other two kids espeacially when his asthma is bad. He's small for his age, about the size of a three year old so we never get funny looks when he rides in the stroller.
Asthma is part of our life now, but we haven't let it become our life. We won't let it stop him from getting the most out of everything! Just be prepared and he'll be fine!
Have a great trip!
Lisa

 

[PrincessTigerLily]

Be sure to bring your inhaler with you, and if he is still flaring up you can bring the nebulizer into the park with you and use it at the first aid station. Definitely get a peak flow meter. Peak flow meters can signal to you that the airways are becoming irritated before any symptoms show (hours or even a day in advance of an actual asthma attack), and by getting the meds in right away you can potentially head off attacks. They will give you a predicted amount of how well he should do based on age and height, but keep in mind everyone is different and may not achieve this. After your son's wheezing/coughing/etc. has leveled out to normal for two weeks, then you want to work on measuring his "personal best". Measure his peak flow twice a day for two weeks (best is when he wakes and after lunch, but you can also do before bed) and his best reading becomes his "personal best" that you should compare against. Also, since predicteds are based on ht and wt, don't forget to recalculate on birthdays and after big growth spurts.
Also, if flying, definitely bring your meds (with script of course) as carryon in case of misplaced luggage.

 

[moxiecola]

My DS who is 3 was diagnosed this past fall after a bout of wheezing and coughing. He's on nightly singulair and we do the nebulizer as needed. Just this week he's been coughing and sounding terrible so I began the nebulizer again. I am so glad I read this thread because it never even occurred to me that allergies could be a trigger (duh). We are leaving for Disney a week from today....I guess I'll be taking him to the dr. tomorrow just to be on the safe side.
Thanks for sharing everyone!

 

[WantToGoNow]

My son actually had a little problem with the "artificial" smoke that Disney uses in some of the attracations. Just make sure you have all of his meds in case he needs them.

My son's asthma has always been triggered by viruses so if we keep him healthy, he stays controlled. However, he's just getting over a bout that was not caused by a virus -- I thought he had a cold but it ended up being his asthma really inflamed. On a daily basis he takes Allegra (just switched from Zrytec), Pulmicort, Singular. He has Xoepenex inhaler and nebulizer as needed. He's also on Prevacid and we carry an EpiPen due to a Latex allergy. After a while, you just get used to carrying everything around. My ds6 is in the hospital right now (bowel issue) and I forgot to even take his drugs when he went in so he had nothing at all yesterday and they wouldn't give any of them to him because they weren't in the dr's orders.

 

[liznboys]

My son actually had a little problem with the "artificial" smoke that Disney uses in some of the attracations. Just make sure you have all of his meds in case he needs them.

My son's asthma has always been triggered by viruses so if we keep him healthy, he stays controlled. However, he's just getting over a bout that was not caused by a virus -- I thought he had a cold but it ended up being his asthma really inflamed. On a daily basis he takes Allegra (just switched from Zrytec), Pulmicort, Singular. He has Xoepenex inhaler and nebulizer as needed. He's also on Prevacid and we carry an EpiPen due to a Latex allergy. After a while, you just get used to carrying everything around. My ds6 is in the hospital right now (bowel issue) and I forgot to even take his drugs when he went in so he had nothing at all yesterday and they wouldn't give any of them to him because they weren't in the dr's orders.

I hope your son gets well soon... Best wishes for him!!

 

[jinia]

Thanks everyone! He has severe outdoor allergies, too. In addition to his Zyrtec and Nasonex, he is now on Pulmicort, Singular, a rescue inhaler, a nebulizer, a steroid eye drop, another type of eye drop (Patanol/Pataday - RX for both, what's the difference?), and Prednisone (he had ended up in the ED on Monday, was diagnosed with allergic croup, but infact it was asthma). She told me to bring the nebulizer and rescue inhaler along with the daily meds.

I am a NICU nurse, so I really don't know that much about asthma. He's still coughing. Does this stop when the asthma is better controlled?

My son was diagnosed with cough variant asthma at 3 1/2 and we took him to WDW last May. He was on Pulmicort x1daily -if he was actively having troulbe then 2xdaily, Dehistinex2 daily, inhaler as needed, albuterol for nebulizer as needed. The stroller is a must! Just don't forget and think I should let him sleep.. instead of doing meds. I know that you know that but....Don't let him get over tired!! Take advantage of the cooler mornings...Any Questions please feel free PM...