Wesley Baker plays baseball and football. He participates in gym class at school. He plays outside in his neighborhood with friends. If he has trouble breathing, he knows the school nurse, his coaches or his parents have the inhalers or medicines he needs.
Eleven-year-old Wesley has asthma. But he also has a childhood.
Asthma is a chronic condition that causes the airways to temporarily narrow, making it hard to breathe. Certain things in the environment can trigger asthma, such as smoke, fragrances, pollen, mold, dust mites and viral infections, but the triggers might be different for each person.
“Asthma is probably a bunch of different diseases,” says Dr. Laura Fisher of Allergy and Asthma Center of Lancaster. “There are a bunch of different ways it presents. It’s all asthma, under the asthma umbrella. There are probably a lot of different types of asthma, but more research is needed,” she says.
“About 10 percent of the pediatric population has asthma,” Fisher says. “It has gone up significantly over the years.” No one knows why asthma is increasing.
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America website, asthma is the disease that causes more school absenteeism for children and more lost work time for parents than any other.
“Allergic and asthmatic children disproportionately lose out on all the things that childhood is supposed to be about,” the site says.
Fisher firmly believes in not letting that happen.
“It is important that the child have an inhaler at school. You shouldn’t inhibit them from participating in anything. One out of five people in the Olympics have asthma, and obviously they didn’t have to stop,” Fisher says.
Wesley Baker of Reamstown, Lancaster County, suffers from severe asthma. He began having symptoms before the age of 2. He was tested for allergies, says his mother Amanda Baker, and they “found out the poor kid was allergic to everything under the sun.”
So the family made the changes recommended in their home to make it better for Wesley. They put air purifiers in Wesley’s bedroom and the areas where he spent the most time. They removed carpet from the whole house. They use dust protectors on all of his bedding. They make sure he is not exposed to cigarette smoke.
“It is important that the child have an inhaler at school. You shouldn’t inhibit them from participating in anything”
—Dr. Laura Fisher
According to Fisher, the foremost trigger for asthma in the home is second-hand smoke. The American Lung Association cites second-hand smoke as a big trigger for upper respiratory infections and asthma, says Fisher. And children still get exposure if an adult smokes outside because the smoke comes into the house on clothes, she says.
The Bakers are veterans in dealing with childhood asthma. While they’ve had fewer severe episodes lately, for about four or five years, the family took Wesley to the hospital emergency department every couple of months, Mrs. Baker says. Wesley develops pneumonia quickly, she says. The only time she feels nervous about Wesley’s asthma is when his temperature goes to around 104.
To help reduce the number of hospital visits, the Bakers have all the same medicines at home that would be given to Wesley in the emergency department, and they have been trained to administer them.
If Wesley is coming down with a viral illness, that can trigger his asthma, as can the change of seasons with increases in pollen, says his mother. And sometimes when he runs outside on a warm, humid day his asthma will be triggered. He will have shortness of breath and begin wheezing.
But even though Wesley’s asthma is severe, Mrs. Baker says, “I don’t put him in a plastic bubble.”
Because asthma has been part of Wesley’s life for so long, he doesn’t know any differently, says Mrs. Baker. Wesley knows if the pollen is high, he will have to stay in, and he accepts that, she says. “He never complains about it.”
Wesley’s school, Reamstown Elementary, is aware of his asthma triggers and keeps inhalers on hand. They make sure to take an inhaler on field trips, also.
Fisher suggests that schools do not keep furry critters as class pets and teachers and staff do not wear perfumes or fragrances in school since so many children have asthma.
But she is a proponent of keeping children active.
“Never stop them from going outside and exercising. [Asthma] should be controlled by your doctor, allergist or pulmonologist,” says Fisher.
Mrs. Baker shares this belief.
“I don’t think you should shelf your child. Just because a child has asthma doesn’t mean he can’t play baseball or go to the park and play on the jungle gym. As long as he is maintaining his asthma, there is no reason he can’t have a childhood,” she says.
Asthma Resources:
American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology http://www.aaaai.org/patients/just4kids/default.stm Games, puzzles, videos, stories and projects for kids with asthma
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/asthma/partners.html
A wide variety of no-cost materials in multiple languages to help raise awareness of asthma and environmental asthma management. Includes a “Funbook” for kids featuring “Dusty the Asthma Goldfish”
The Consortium of Children’s Asthma Camps http://www.asthmacamps.org For asthma camps nationwide
