#178 Asthma

The curse of my genes is asthma. I got sick so many times as a child that I despise the taste of cough syrup. If you haven’t witnessed asthma, you have no idea. It was a mystery for Janne.

It went away when I became a teenager. It’s the natural course of this disease. When I was 42, asthma showed up again. I decided to undergo examinations. The cause was mainly an allergy to dust mites. I just had to vacuum our bed regularly to take control. In the winter, I should use an inhalator once a day. The pulmonologist said that it’s normal when getting past 40 for asthma to make a comeback.

Today, I recognized the unmistakable sound in Daniel’s cough. He is healthy, but Janne and I knew that he is allergic to cats. Funny enough, Félix likes to be vacuumed, but it’s not enough. Trevor has also other allergies. Janne would take them for a yearly checkup. Both boys were prescribed an inhalator twice a day.

In May 2023, just when Janne was dealing with thromboses, she took them for a checkup. As she told me, the doctor suggested a break with the inhalator. During her last week, she told me to take them for a yearly checkup around May, that I would figure it out.

I notified the school today that Daniel is sick and started figuring it out. For Estonian mothers, this would be a piece of cake. Actually, for Estonian fathers or, now that I think about it, for any Estonian, this would be a cakewalk. Not for me, but I can learn.

I checked in the electronic health system. Trevor was indeed prescribed a break from the inhalator, but not Daniel. How it got lost in translation, I don’t know. Either Janne was overwhelmed or I didn’t hear correctly. In any case, Janne didn’t get a new inhalator for Daniel.

I wrote an e-mail to our family doctor. I told her that she must know Janne had died, that I’m learning how to deal with this, and that I need to renew Daniel’s prescription. Also, how do I deal with that yearly checkup Janne told me about? The doctor answered within minutes telling me that I’m very good and brave. The prescription was ready to be picked up at any pharmacy. I know the next steps.

Daniel took one inhalation and the cough went away within hours. Tomorrow he will be like new.