Conquering Asthma!

Since the time my son Henry could turn over, he was cursed with the genetic dysfunction of asthma. He simply didn’t have full use of his lungs like we do. He was diagnosed with asthma by the time he was two. Before Henry was four years old, we had already had 18 hospital visits for sickness, exercise, smoke or cold weather induced asthma attacks.

Henry started preventative medications for his condition by the time he was four which included a daily nebulizer treatment of 1mg Pulmicort, a 4mg tablet of Singular and one dose of Nasonex per day. And for the most part, the medication limited his hospital visits to once or twice a year until he was seven…with an occasional Albuterol treatment here and there when he did have an attack. For these reasons and the fact that Henry has never been the competitive sort, I kept him out of organized sports…until yesterday.

Now that Henry is eight and has been six months free of all asthma medications, his doctor told Henry, “I think it’s time for you to join a team.” My immediate internal reaction was to scream “NO!” because of all the times I watched Henry struggle to breathe. But I had to remind myself that he was doing great and that he just might be ready to conquer his asthma and a team sport.

So we signed him up in the same league as his brother and sister, Keith Van Eron, and I told his new coach, Ziggy, that this was Henry’s first experience in a team sport and that he was asthmatic. The coach replied, “No worries, I have asthma too, I will take care of him.” And with that, Henry went off to play a full hour of outdoor soccer.

My reaction…tears…lots of them. I was so relieved. So proud of my boy. So happy to see him enjoy himself without fear of the repercussions. Of course, Henry wasn’t the fastest or most talented kid on the field, but he was ON THE FIELD dancing about and having a great time while learning how to support other children and make new friends.

Sigh…time can heal all wounds…physical and psychological. It’s a miracle…but then again, Henry has always been my miracle baby. Love you boy!