Obama banning medical devices he can"t pronounce (asthma inhalers banned over "environmental concerns")

I must have posted this video several dozen times already, usually associated with his propensity for gaffes:

Asthma Awareness

By Nurse Diane

A few years ago, a friend of mine, my doctor, had an asthma attack.  It was so severe that he was flown to Jackson to the hospital and put in ICU.  He did not survive this attack.  He was a young man, in his 40′s, a well-known physician, married to a nurse.

According to worldasthmaday.org, World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, 300 million people suffer from asthma and it’s the most common chronic disease among children. WHO also notes that asthma affects people in all countries around the world regardless of development although most deaths occur in lower income countries.

Asthma is a chronic disease of the air passages (or bronchial) that lead to and from the lungs that makes breathing difficult. Usually there is inflammation, which results in a temporary narrowing of the passages that carry oxygen to the lungs.

Symptoms vary from person to person and in intensity, but generally include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure. Asthma sufferers often have recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing. Symptoms may occur several times a day or week and may become worse during physical activity or during the night.

During an attack, the lining of the bronchial tubes swells, causing airways to become narrow and reducing the flow of air in and out of the lungs. These attacks can cause sleeplessness, fatigue, reduced activity and absenteeism from work or school.

The basic causes of asthma are not completely understood, but risk factors for developing the disease include a genetic predisposition along with exposure to particles and substances that irritate the air passages and cause allergic reactions. Some irritants include dust in furnishings, pets, tobacco smoke, chemicals and air pollution.

Other causes include physical exercise, medications (aspirin and beta blockers), cold air and even emotional reactions such as stress, anger and fear.

Today is World Asthma Day.  World Asthma Day is an annual event organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma with a goal to improve asthma awareness and care around the world.  For ways you can help get the news out about asthma, visit this site: http://worldasthmaday.org/support/

Smoking and Asthma

Smoking is bad news for everyone, but especially for kids who have asthma. And yet between 15 and 20 percent of people with asthma still indulge in the habit, even though it makes them wheezier. Pregnant women who smoke increase the risk of the baby being asthmatic and having other respiratory illness. Tobacco smoke contains 4,000 chemicals, present either as gases or tiny particles.

You do not have to smoke yourself to inhale the fumes. Every time you walk into a bar you will get a blast of tobacco and if your asthma is severe you should avoid such places. Other people’s smoking habits can make your life a misery and if you live or work with a smoker there is little or no escape from smoke related risks.Children of smokers are more likely to have wheezy episodes and time off school than those with non smoking parents. It is generally worse when the mother smokes because many children spend more time with their mother than their father.

Keep your home smoke free. Remove all ashtrays and should a guest ask for one, explain that it is necessary to keep your home unpolluted, and suggest they smoke outside. Offer them a nicotine patch if they do not want to go out. It is important to have fresh air circulating throughout your home but beware of room fresheners as they also can be triggers. Open a window back and front of your home for a little while twice a day. Children are much more sensitive to cigarette pollution than adults. Seek out practical information on how to protect them against asthma using new and innovative methods. Look up a website with an alternative solution about how to cure asthma the natural way.

violations of civil rights page 16 Appeal to Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield of ILLINOIS,TX,OK, NM

Attached are a recap summary of all claims back to 8/1/00 which are currently appealed or are new items received not paid correctly. All claims need to be referred first to federal workers compensation and your contact should be the regional office manager in Dallas, TX, not the non- compliantcontractor as to how this can be facilitated. New actions since your last, inaccurate decisions based on false and incomplete information. Remember you are alleging OPM’ past director gave you one set of ‘ facts’ and ACS, the paper controller and claims processor for US dept of labor, claims they were told an opposite set of ‘facts’ by that same director.  Trailblazers has been non cooperative with judges, etc. but Cigna Govt services did cooperate and the only Final decision was issued by Medicare’s appellate judge on 9/29/2010 was based on the  internal documents that were withheld from you, even from the officials at OPM? , by that director. Federal workers comp gets claims first. Then you and last would be Medicare for any co- pays or deductibles on medical issues not yet reviewed or accepted  yet. All conditions accepted or filed on 1/10/89 injury . HIPPAA reqeust for written recap of who said what, when to solve. not yet answered.

Strategies to Control Asthma

This summary from the NHLBI provides invaluable information to parents of children with asthma.  SS

World Asthma Day and Asthma Awareness Month

Together we can help control asthma.

This World Asthma Day (May 1, 2012) and Asthma Awareness Month (May) the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) encourages you to discover how.

One of the first steps—whether you have asthma or know someone who does—is to develop a written asthma action plan (AAP) in partnership with your healthcare provider. AAPs that meet the specific needs of a patient include details ranging from how to take medication to reduce airway inflammation, to ways to reduce environmental triggers of asthma such as dust mites or tobacco smoke.

But AAPs don’t stand alone. 

They are part of a comprehensive approach needed to improve asthma care and control. Like diabetes or high blood pressure, managing asthma symptoms requires daily attention and ongoing education.

An APP is just one of  the following six key actions, recommended by the NAEPP, that clinicians, patients, and all others who touch the life of someone with asthma can work together on to seize control of asthma so that asthma doesn’t seize control of asthma patients.

• 
  Use inhaled corticosteroids to control asthma if you have persistent asthma. Your doctor will help you choose the best treatment.


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  Use a written asthma action plan to highlight two things: 1) what to do daily to control your asthma, and 2) how to handle symptoms or asthma attacks.


• 
  Assess asthma severity at the initial visit to determine what treatment to start to get your asthma under control.


• 
  Assess and monitor how well controlled your asthma isat follow up visits. Your doctor may need to increase, or decrease your medicine to keep asthma under control.


• 
  Schedule follow-up visits at periodic intervals, and at least every six months.


• 
  Control environmental exposures such as  allergens or irritants that worsen your asthma.

When taken with these other actions, AAPs can help people with asthma live without limits. The NAEPP has identified personalized AAPs as “must-haves” for allasthma patients, particularly those with moderate and severe asthma, a history of asthma attacks, or poorly controlled asthma. 

It may take time to develop and guide a patient through an AAP on the front end, but providing patients with detailed instructions and educating them on how to manage their asthma themselves will ultimately save clinicians time and effort on the back end. And, if followed as one of the NAEPP’s six recommended actions, it could ultimately save lives.

Currently, only about one in three patients with asthma has an AAP to guide them. So, for this World Asthma Day and throughout Asthma Awareness Month, the NAEPP and NACI encourage those without an AAP to get one.

Read more  below:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/lung/asthma/naci/news/world-asthma-day.htm

Is it Walking Pneumonia? Bronchitis? Or Asthma?

Sweet Baby Tate has had a cough for weeks now, at least 4.  It was a dry cough at first, and I was doing much the same thing.  It always felt like I had a frog in my throat that needed clearing.  I just thought we were both suffering from allergies.  The weather here unpredictable at best, with rain and wind blowing all the pollen and mold etc about all the time, 30 degrees one day and seriously 83 degrees the next.   As last year it never froze or truly got cold none of the spores died.  So now double the crap is flying about in the air.  People are miserable.

In any event, I just thought we were suffering from allergies.  While we were in Dallas in early January I was on a Z-pac that I requested from my friend as I felt like I had a sinus infection (Note to self who is a pediatric dentist, don’t ask S for a specific antibiotic for something of which you know nothing about; let her choose as apparently a Z-pac is not the drug of choice for a sinus infection.  But I digress.  Are you reading this S?).  I just felt a little gunky and had that strange yucky taste in my throat and was congested.  I suppose it helped as I never got a fever and I felt better a couple of days after we returned.  I mostly didn’t want to get my girl J sick who was possibly going to need to start chemo soon after the weekend (Sadly she got bad news and has finished one round. I’m so sad for her, but I’m positive she’s going to be cured!)

Then Tate started coughing;  the dry cough.  It was  sort of constant, but never seemed to bother him and it would be one hack and then 10 or 15 minutes later another hack.  Nothing concerning though.  He just seemed to always need to clear his throat.  H also had one fantastic screaming fit and became hoarse about 3 1/2 weeks ago.  But the hoarseness has never gone away.  Again I just thought well maybe it was coincidental to the screaming fit, and his little voice was going to be changing.  Now of course when I hear him I can barely remember what he used to sound like, so I’m wondering if there has actually been a change.

However, for about a week and a half now I’ve been given him an anti-histamine at night, usually Benadryl, approved by our allergist, for the cough.  It alleviated the cough and his sniffling while Zyrtec does not.  I’ve been keeping him on his Singulair now almost constantly since September where as last year he got a break November – March.  (I hate him constantly being on medications).  But when he goes off he tends to get a bit of a dry cough (ahhhh…asthma warnings right?.  Sigh)

But then this past Monday his teacher texted me twice saying he had been coughing all day long, so much so that he wasn’t able to nap.  He was doing fine, but poor baby had red eyes and looked so tired.  She asked if she could put a small piece of peppermint in some cold water to have him sip to help soothe his throat.  I gave my blessing of course.  He finally fell asleep after everyone else woke up, and she let him sleep an hour while keeping the other 4 kids sort of quiet, so he could rest (I love her!).  That night Tate told me “Ms. JoAnnie gave me some peppermint water, and it made my throat feel ‘bedder’.  I’m going to give her a little hug tomorrow.”  Not a big hug mind you, a little hug

Monday when I picked him up his cough was very wet and productive sounding and he coughed constantly.  I loaded him up with Benadryl and Singulair and he happily played as usual and went to bed just fine.  Yesterday, Tuesday, I called and made an appointment with his pediatrician for today.

My parents, who are AWESOME!, picked him up from school this morning and took him to his appointment.  I wrote the following note for them to give to his pediatrician…

Dr. R….

Tate’s tantrum behavior stopped about 2 days before his half year birthday on January 23.  It was as if a switch had gone off.  I’ve chalked it up to the half year disturbances.  His sleep went back to normal…which is minimal sleeping and fighting naps and he’s reasonable again.  Thank you so much for calling me and talking me off the roof.

This cough of his doesn’t have me terribly concerned as I’m thinking it’s just a cold.  But it’s been present in one manner or another for the past 2 1/2 weeks.  It was a  constant (all day long) dry cough (and his teacher called me twice concerned) until yesterday evening when it became productive and wet sounding.  He’s been afebrile and no change in behavior.

He takes 4mg Singulair in the evenings, though I ran out and he didn’t have it Friday-Sunday and that is when his cough worsened.  I’ve given him Benadryl (12.5mg) the past 3 evenings to help alleviate it otherwise he coughs all night.  He’s very congested and sniffing right now as he’s trying to go to sleep.  Dr. A said I could give him the Benadryl as it works on his cough better than Zyrtec or Allegra.

He had another skin test about 3 weeks ago and is still allergic to eggs and oranges.

Thanks so much!

(Dr. A is the allergist Dr. R referred us to).

She examined my Tate this morning and diagnosed him with having either walking pneumonia or bronchitis!!!  He had rales in his  chest. She also mentioned that sometimes the first episode of asthma can sound like this. (This was my biggest fear!  Though I wrote in that note I thought he had a cold, I knew it could be asthma simply from the way he was sounding)  She knows I’m desperately praying he doesn’t develop asthma as those medications to treat asthma have so many horrific side effects, but I will do what I need to do.  

She called in a prescription for a Z-pac and if he isn’t better by Monday or Tuesday I need to take him back in.  

I so pray he gets better with the antibiotics which would mean he has pneumonia or bronchitis.  He has more of the symptoms of bronchitis (to me) than walking pneumonia as he has no fever and he has the hoarseness commonly associated with bronchitis.  But who knows?  I just want him to stop coughing and I want him to be fine.  Absolutely fine.

So, if you pray, please pray for my sweet boy.  Pray that he is healed and that he isn’t developing a possible life long condition (asthma).  I’m also praying he continues to be his happy go-lucky train loving self and that he’s completely well soon.  

I do know that if he’s not better by Sunday, I’ll be taking him in to see his pediatrician on Monday myself.  While I’m so very glad my parents are so willing to take him to any and all appointments, I know that if he’s not better, it’s something serious and I need to be there to get all my questions answered.  I’m his mother after all.  

He’ll need his mother.  He deserves his mommy.  

When you’re ‘sick’ (his ped said he could return to
daycare!) Mommy lets you have a hot dog
AND hot cocoa in your Polar Express cup for dinner!

Medical News: ACAAI: Sublingual Ragweed Pill Wins in Pivotal Trials - in Meeting Coverage, ACAAI from MedPage Today

Medical News: ACAAI: Sublingual Ragweed Pill Wins in Pivotal Trials – in Meeting Coverage, ACAAI from MedPage Today