Should I change our family moniker from the Beeno family to the Asthmatic Family?

Hi all!

Yes I'm still alive and well as is the rest of my family.  I still haven't figured out how to upload pics from my camera to this new computer and taking pics with my cell phone just isn't cutting it.  I like to be able to have pictures to go along with the majority of my posts and for some reason, without them I lose motivation.  I promise to try and figure this out soon and be back to regular posting.

In other news we have had a lot go on this past month:

We got Boo'd by some great friends and then proceeded to carry on the tradition and had a fun time driving up to other friends' houses with the lights off and sneaking up to their front doors, knocking and running like hell back to the car.  Me of course, I was was laughing so hard, I had to use every last ounce of  muscle control NOT to pee my pants.  Damn side effects from child birth! 

What else, let's see now...

The little princess might be asthmatic after all these years of me thinking she had no breathing problems what so ever.  After MANY bouts of pneumonia they think asthma may be the culprit.  She is going to see my son's pediatric pulmonologist next week for an evaluation.  Apparently my genes are just too damn strong and I may have passed this illness on to both of my children now, (insert sigh from mom guilt). 

The coach too, thinks he may be developing a bit of asthma.  He finds himself getting winded very easily and needing to use a rescue inhaler.  He too has an appt. with my doctor to find out if he has adult onset asthma.  (I can visualize my medical and prescription bills soaring through the roof as I type this!)

Speaking of asthma, after 30 or so years of living with asthma coupled with allergies,  I have decided to try and do something about them.  I started by having allergy testing to see where I'm at.  I can report to you all that unfortunately I am no better off now than I was when I first got tested as a child.  Still allergic to cats and dogs, (and yes I have 3 cats and know I would probably be a lot better off without them but after 4 years, they aren't going anywhere, so don't even bother telling me otherwise.  I already know this.)  Rant over.

I'm allergic to EVERY tree common to New England, especially the birch tree.  (Can you say screwed?)  I learned something pretty freaking cool from the nurse doing my testing.  While she was documenting my allergic reactions she asked me if I had any trouble eating fruit.  I quickly responded, "No".  To which she asked more specifically, "Do you ever get a numbing or tingling sensation in your mouth when you eat apples?"  That rung a bell. As a matter of fact, every damn time I eat an apple that happens to me.  I actually try to avoid them because I don't like the way it makes my mouth feel.  It turns out that in some people with a birch tree allergy they also have something called "Oral Allergy Syndrome".  Basically your body mistakes a certain fruit that you consume for the pollen of the birch tree causing you to react.  It can happen with different kinds of fruit, with me it's apples.
Cra-zazy,  Right? !!!

As if I didn't have enough allergies to deal with, throw in a severe allergy to dust mites, ragweed, and mold and I think you get the diagnosis of pretty much doomed to suffer year round or so I thought.  There are a couple different treatment options that my doctor is currently looking into for me.  So until I here otherwise I'm assuming there is still hope for me and others like me.  I might not have to just shut up and deal.  There's a chance I might actually get some relief from the constant throat clearing and stuffy nose.  Hallelujah!

And since I have spoken about the medical state of everyone else in the fam, I can't leave out the athlete.  It is a pleasure to say that despite being asthmatic and an allergy sufferer, I can honestly report that if you never knew he's asthmatic, you would never know it!  He is doing fabulous on his current regiment of meds.  He runs three miles without batting an eyelash.  He can play an ENTIRE soccer game without subbing out.  If he gets a cold it doesn't slow him down like it used to.  He responds to them like a typical non-asthmatic child.  It is so nice to see him doing so well! 

I hope that some time in the near future we will all be feeling as good as the athlete!


Fingers crossed until next time!