How Michelle Obama Copes With Asthma
According to First Lady Michelle Obama, in a piece she wrote for the Healthy Child Healthy World book, when her daughter Malia was about three years old, they took a family outing to the circus where Malia’s breathing became more and more strained. The Obamas rushed her to the emergency room where the doctor diagnosed [...]
Fighting for Clean Air
Around 11 p.m. most nights I find myself standing at the foot of each of my three boys’ beds. I stand and I listen. Sometimes it’s hard to hear over the roar of the heat or the drone of the fan, but I don’t leave until the sound I’m waiting for is confirmed. I patiently [...]
Hispanics in Massachusetts Burdened by Asthma
LAWRENCE — The American Lung Association released a new report, Luchando por el Aire: The Burden of Asthma on Hispanics, which provides an overview of the complex biological, environmental, political and cultural factors that increase asthma’s burden on the Hispanic population in Massachusetts and across the country. This report is part of the Lung Association’s [...]
Why?
I wrote this post ,on my phone, this morning at 2:25 . It’s 2 in the morning and I just gave my son his asthma medicine. 2 puffs of Albuterol. Out of nowhere, he started to cough in the middle of his sleep. The first cough woke me up and the first thing that came [...]
Raising a Tree Hugger
The other day I finally went on a long-overdue walk in my neighborhood. The sun was shining, the birds chirping, I passed two fishermen in their boat… I took a deep breath and was really enjoying myself, thinking that I need to do this more often, when a big diesel truck drove into the street [...]
A Long Awaited Victory for Children, Families and Our Future
Today, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the adoption of historic safeguards against mercury and other toxic air pollution which will help to protect our children from increased risk of brain damage, cerebral palsy and other neuro-developmental problems. The Mercury and Air Toxics standard, or MATR is a major new measure to protect kids and families [...]
Six Reasons to Support Clean Air for Kids
1. Our kids are hurt by dirty air. We need to protect them, like we do by buckling them up in car seats. The numbers are staggering. Each day in America: *40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma. *30,000 people have an asthma attack. *5,000 people visit the emergency room due to asthma. [...]
The Wheezing Sounds of Summer: Air Pollution Is Hurting Our Children’s Health
It’s just the beginning of hot weather across many northern states, but time to recall what rising temperatures do to air quality. Heat worsens air pollution, which harms health in ways that are measurable and pose concerns for society’s most vulnerable, especially children. Warmer temperatures lead to higher concentrations of ground-level ozone, or smog. A warming climate [...]
The Night Health Reform was Passed
My son was born with a genetic disorder called Williams syndrome. His health care costs totaled $1 million before he turned two years old. The night the Affordable Care Act passed was the best night’s sleep I’d had since he was diagnosed. Shame on any presidential candidate who says he will repeal this act if [...]
Keeping your child healthy is stressful enough
My two year old son was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when he was 2 weeks old. My son’s pre-existing condition means that we would have been unable to find any insurance for him had we lost our jobs. Approximately, 30,000 people in the U.S. have cystic fibrosis and many of them are diagnosed as children. [...]
Thanks to the ACA, my daughter is safe from losing coverage
Our daughter has Type 1 Diabetes. It’s a chronic, life threatening disease, and, before the Affordable Care Act, it excluded her from insurance coverage because it’s a preexisting condition. Having your child lose coverage is a serious and constant concern for parents like me. At diabetes support group gatherings, I’ve talked to countless parents who [...]
Kntting hats for babies: Why I’m grateful for the Affordable Care Act
My son, Cody, was 22 years old when his Crohn’s Disease became active. He was employed full-time in the public elementary school system as an aide to two boys with autism. The job offered no health insurance. He also worked part time at Panera Bread—another job offering no health insurance as it was part-time. He [...]
A lifetime limit on insurance would limit my daughter’s lifetime
I have paid for healthcare my entire life either through an employer or with an individual plan, and at the age 31 I gave birth to my first child. I was not overweight, didn’t drink or smoke and did everything my doctor said to do while pregnant. Our daughter was born with a rare and [...]
Now a beautiful grown woman, but still my baby girl – with a pre-existing heart condition
I am the mother of two girls. My daughter Jennifer is 27 years old and a third year law school student. My daughter Julie is 25 years old. Julie’s life has been filled with numerous road blocks. Julie had her first heart procedure at age 12 and the last 13 years have been filled with [...]
The Affordable Care Act Allows My Children to Invest in Their Future
Despite the fact that my husband and I both had jobs and were covered by private health insurance, our family’s credit history was damaged after I was in a car accident in 1998 and needed hip replacement surgery. We had to take drastic financial measures in order to pay for thousands of dollars in costs [...]
How much more pressure do families have to face?
Our 8-year old son has been battling a rare cancer called a sarcoma for over 4 years. Unfortunately, this disease will be treated as a chronic condition for the rest of his life. I was so grateful and relieved the night that health care reform was finally passed back in December of 2009. We personally [...]
Diagnosed with liver disease at 19, planning for my health coverage
When I was 19 years old, I was diagnosed with liver disease. It was caused by a birth defect. After having major surgery, I have been fine but need regular monitoring by liver specialists to maintain my health. I am 23 years old now and am lucky enough to be covered by my parents’ insurance [ ...]
Thanks to the ACA, our son is fully covered
I have a son with a pre-existing eye condition that requires surgeries. My husband and I are both self-employed and secure our own health insurance. After my son’s first eye surgery in 2008, our insurance company dropped us, simply saying they can no longer extend coverage to us. The next company we got a policy [...]
An Unusual First Four Years of Life
My son, Ethan, has had a very unusual first four years of life. Most of his first year was spent in and out of the hospital, receiving out-patient chemotherapy, three sclerotherapies, and intensive physical therapy - all due to a rare, non-cancerous (but very harmful) vascular tumor on his lower right leg. There was even talk of amputating his leg [...]
Health reform has given our family hope
Health reform has given our family hope during this difficult economic downturn. My husband and I have two adult children (a son and a daughter) who were both out of work for several years. Both of them are single parents with two children each. On two pensions and a Social Security check, we [...]