Back toKatie describes what caretaking looks like when your child has asthma.
Transcript
Addison was like, "What's asthma? You know, I don't I don't think I have that." And then once we explained to her, "It's what your lungs do,"
she was like, "Oh, yeah, I have that." Addison was diagnosed with asthma about four years ago,
so about six years old was when we got the official diagnosis. Ever since Addison was born, she was always
in and out of the hospital with sickness. Other kids, you know, they just get the sniffles and it passes. Addison's asthma flares, and the common cold
puts her into the hospital. They would say it's walking pneumonia or bronchitis. We actually went to a follow-up appointment,
and her doctor was looking at her chart, and she said, I think she might have asthma. When we got the diagnosis, I felt,
I guess the word would be relief, knowing that there was a name for it, and that there was something that we could possibly
do to prevent, you know, every time she got sick, going into the hospital. I'd say emotionally, it's been hard on Addison.
You know, you have a 10-year-old who just wants to go play. And when she's having an asthma flare-up, she can't just go play.
It's, "We've got to use your inhaler first. We've got to make sure you're breathing fine, you know, if you're OK, then you can go play.
But then we have to stop and take breaks to use the inhaler." So it's hard, especially on a 10-year-old.
Well, I think you [INAUDIBLE] Whoo. It's OK to be angry that Addison has asthma.
It's OK to, like, feel grief about it. It's OK to feel those emotions, and it's OK to talk about those emotions.
Mental health is super important. And if you don't take care of your mental health, then it affects every area of life.
And so I feel like it's really important that I take care of myself so I can give my best to Addison. [MUSIC PLAYING]
