Oct
9
9
Filed under: Family, Me, Rants
I had to write this down SOMEWHERE because I am really pissed off. I thought about Facebook, but there is too many in-laws and family members not my own that read it, that would get angry.
My family has allergies. I’m pretty sure that in some of my many entries I have stated this fact. So if you are a reader who has stuck by me from the beginning, you know this.
Matthew has had Asthma since he was a kid. Supposedly his parents also had a cat when he was little and it made him very ill. I have had Asthma since I was a toddler. Back then it was mostly controlled by a heavy dosage of meds. My parents weren’t very responsible and bought animal after animal, EVEN AFTER learning that I was allergic to animal dander. These days my allergies to them are much more severe, but my Asthma is better and controlled by exercise and not much else (I do use my inhaler occasionally, but it’s mostly when I’ve been around animals or cold weather).
When Leilani was a toddler we noticed she would get sick whenever around animals. Then in Florida she developed a cough that later we found out was Asthma. Her’s is mild, but can get worse when around allergens and cold weather.
Forrest has some form of an animal allergy. We aren’t sure if it’s all animals, but he is definitely allergic to dogs. It seems his DNA decided to go another direction and gave him Autism instead of Asthma.
Lauralei was breastfed for 14 months. I tried my damnedest to make sure she didn’t develop Asthma and I am so angry that it didn’t turn out that way. She is the sickest child of the three of them. Always developing colds. Every time she gets a cold she gets extremely sick and has to use the Nebulizer for a week. Regular Asthma drugs like Albuterol do nothing, so she needs it combined with a steroid inside the Nebulizer. She has been sick so many times this year I have lost count. When she is around ANY animal dander she gets a cold, which in turn develops into her respiratory infection.
Matt’s family doesn’t seem to understand. We have gone to many of their family events through the years and most of us come away feeling awful. Wheezing for days (sometimes more than a week for Lauralei and I) and feeling like someone has squeezed our lungs with a vise. It isn’t fun to feel that way for a long time.
So just recently I have decided to forgo every single event in the future at his dad’s house (his dad owned a dog for years and the dander is EVERYWHERE even though the animal is gone) and possibly only go to his Granny’s twice a year. His grandma doesn’t own pets, but most all of his family members do.
Can you believe it only takes a little bit of dander on someone’s clothing to make us sick? You probably don’t, because you don’t have Asthma or allergies to animal dander.
It’s not fair to live like this and make the kid’s lives miserable by not letting them go to friend’s houses that have pets, but it’s life. It’s our life. And I know I may sound like an overbearing parent, but I want my kids to be able to breathe well and not feel terrible.
Matt’s dad invited us over for dinner at his house this Sunday. The last time we went, Lauralei got very sick. It took me a week to recover. He has been putting new flooring down and the dog is gone. But his father doesn’t clean. The house is always dirty. I can guarantee there is dander lying around. So we aren’t going. It upsets Matt a little and I understand where he is coming from. It’s his family…but this is MY family and I need to protect them. So I am finally taking responsibility for their health.
So if his family doesn’t like it, then they can all just kiss my ass. I am literally SICK and tired of their ignorance.
Tags:allergies, Asthma, Family, illness
Posted in the early evening | 1 Comment
