Asthma has made me a ninja - World Asthma Day
The theme for World Asthma Day next week is: You can control your asthma - it’s time to keep our kids out of hospital.
Stealth is a new tool that has been acquired by mum Jenner Ballinger-Judd and husband Rob to manage their two-year-old son Berkeley’s asthma.
"Rob and I are up repeatedly during the night just to check on Berkeley's breathing and colour, because we have seen firsthand how quickly things go downhill. We’re like ninjas in the night because we want to keep Berkeley out of hospital," said Jenner.
New figures from the University of Otago show there were 8,000 hospital admissions for asthma in 2011. The sad thing is that 37 percent of these admissions were for children under 5 years old - that’s 3,000 toddlers in hospital because they can’t breathe.
Jenner knows exactly what it is like to see your child not able to breathe. Last winter after three visits to the Emergency Department, Berkeley was admitted to hospital for two days. After this admission Berkeley's doctor explained that asthma is rarely diagnosed in children under 2 years old (Berkeley was 18 months old at the time). The doctor suggested they learn more about asthma and be vigilant when Berkeley appears unwell. The following day Berkeley developed a cough and rapid breathing in the morning. Jenner held him, and tried to comfort and calm him, but he seemed frightened and couldn't be settled. He was once again taken to the Emergency Department and en route became very pale. On arrival Berkeley was rushed into RESUS. He then suffered a major asthma attack and went into cardiac arrest.
Jenner remembers, "This was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen and I honestly thought I was watching my son die. Those moments will always haunt me."
Berkeley was sedated, intubated and taken to Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Starship, where he spent the next two days.
"Seeing Berkeley unconscious, and hooked up to various machines and drips was heartbreaking. It was inconceivable that this is where he was, considering a mere 24 hours before he had been happily playing at the park," said Jenner. What made this all the more challenging was that Jenner was 40 weeks pregnant at the time; Berkeley’s little brother, Clarke, was born the day after he was discharged."
The day after Clarke and Jenner came home from hospital Berkeley had another asthma attack, spending two days in hospital. This was rough on the whole family as they were unable to be together. Clarke was only days old, so Jenner had to stay home with him while Rob stayed in hospital with Berkeley. Having the experience of Berkeley's previous life threatening asthma attack fresh in Jenner’s mind from only days before, made her very fearful and anxious. It was a very difficult time and affected the whole family significantly. It was also the first time Berkeley and Jenner had been separated. Six weeks later Berkeley had another attack resulting in another stressful two-night stay in hospital.
As well as the emotional toll on the family of having a child who is unwell with asthma, there are other implications. All of Berkeley's hospital admissions exhausted Rob's leave, so he now has to take unpaid leave when Berkeley is unwell or in hospital, which is an extra pressure on the family financially. "This will be particularly hard once winter hits. We are already bracing for the increased power bills from keeping the house warm enough to help Berkeley stay healthy," says Rob.
The biggest effect asthma has had on their family is that it has made them much more fearful. Every time Berkeley catches a cold they are worried about how this might result in another asthma attack. "We are so scared that we are going to have a repeat of last year's winter, and we're also worried that Clarke is going to develop asthma too."
The family understands the importance of controlling Berkeley’s asthma. They liaise closely with their health team, have purchased new bedding protection, removed soft toys, changed the way they clean (using wet dusting as Berkeley is allergic to dust mites), and they are planning to move later this year into a house with hardwood floors. Rob and Jenner are also reading and researching what else they can do to minimise any future asthma attacks.
World Asthma Day is an annual event organised by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) to improve asthma awareness and care around the world. Asthma affects approximately 235 million people and causes an estimated 250,000 deaths annually worldwide.
Over 8,000 hospital admissions for asthma in 2011, with 3,000 admissions for children, is too high," says Angela Francis, chief executive of the Asthma Foundation. "New Zealanders, like other people across the world, need to be aware of just how dangerous asthma can be if it is not controlled."
Dr Kyle Perrin, medical adviser to the Asthma Foundation says, "We are asking New Zealanders who have children with asthma to make sure they keep using their medication as prescribed and keep their asthma under control at all times. Don't just wait until their asthma is out of control to do something about it. We recommend parents consider getting a child asthma management plan. These are filled out with a health professional. They are designed to help parents manage their child’s asthma and recognise when their child’s asthma is deteriorating before it gets to an emergency situation."
Jenner wants people to understand how quickly an asthma attack can happen. "I felt completely blindsided by asthma, and I'm sure there are other people out there just the same as us," she said. "In the mean time though, we’ll just keep sneaking into Berkeley's room like ninjas to check on him throughout the night - just for our own piece of mind!"
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