The Confusing World of Asthma

Asthma. It's such a strange thing. For the first couple years of Alex's life not a single doctor could properly diagnose him, as young children sometimes wheeze with illnesses. Small airways equal wheezing and all kids have small airways. So when our current pediatrician finally clued us in that Alex did, in fact, have asthma, I felt like we were making progress simply by diagnosing the problem. So since then, we've had breathing treatments for him that have fluctuated in several different directions. One a day. Two a day. One every other day. Just when you think you understand asthma, the doc tells you something you were completely clueless about. First up, I should stress that as far as asthma goes, Alex's case isn't severe. It's pretty much viral asthma, meaning he is symptomatic during illnesses (colds, etc.). And most of his problems are with coughing. Well, the great news is that his flares have become significantly less than they used to be. For example, he hasn't wheezed (even during colds) for months now. It's awesome so praise the Lord for that. So the doc thinks he might be "growing out of it". I write it like that because you can't really outgrow asthma. If you wheezed once, you can always wheeze again later in life. Come to find out that kids who have wheezing from the young age like Alex did tend to get better and 'outgrow' it. Kids who develop it later? Not so lucky. So I suppose it was a blessing in that way. And just when I thought that the surprises wouldn't end, the super-expensive daily preventative treatments he has been taking for at least a year now (probably longer but I can't really remember) he no longer needs...for the summer. When I called to request a refill the nurse was shocked that he is even on it. Supposedly summer months don't require the treatments. Who knew? Surely not I. I hung up the phone and tried to make sense of the situation. Asthma. Does anyone really know how to treat it or are the docs just as clueless as the parents? The world may never know.