tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post109479125792817467..comments2024-02-21T14:12:55.866-06:00Comments on coming home to myself: Fourth-Grade Cure for AsthmaDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-85892857423179517612012-12-20T14:20:19.077-06:002012-12-20T14:20:19.077-06:00Sweet!!!!!Sweet!!!!!Stephanie Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08117481136259148223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-16100824926923044622012-12-10T17:35:17.272-06:002012-12-10T17:35:17.272-06:00Dear Rita, thank you for sharing this story about ...Dear Rita, thank you for sharing this story about Dagan. You were so wise--as was my mother--to think of a way to help him. I'm so sorry to learn that he had severe heart defects. I'm wondering how that shows itself in the present time. But for him to stay calm in the midst of crisis is such an achievement. A truly admirable one.<br />And one that makes him the kind of person others would always want to be with during hard times.<br /><br />Yes, I've been blessed with many people who have loved me and helped me on this journey through life. Mom was "really something." She died in 1968 at the age of 58 and I miss her still. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-46034770342383545882012-12-09T16:44:35.604-06:002012-12-09T16:44:35.604-06:00In a strange way it was for oxygen that I taught D...In a strange way it was for oxygen that I taught Dagan to remain calm, too. With his severe heart defects he got less oxygen to begin with and if he panicked or was stressed his heart beat faster and then it pumped even shallower and he got even less oxygen. And every time he ran a temp (until he was 12 and got a pacemaker) his heart went into arrhythmia and skipped beats like crazy--so that he turned greyish blue and could go semi-conscious from lack of oxygen. So I taught him from the time he was a baby to stay calm when he was sick or in any kind of a crisis. He's really, really good at it to this day. :)<br /><br />You certainly did have people who loved you and taught you wonderful survival skills. Your mom was really something, Dee. And you grew up to be a wonderful woman. :) :) Ritahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02043285884495492598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-35796257382893343322012-12-09T09:05:46.756-06:002012-12-09T09:05:46.756-06:00Dear Pam, I so hope that your sister has outgrown ...Dear Pam, I so hope that your sister has outgrown her asthma. Having it so bad that she had to drop out of school is a tragedy. I hope that hasn't adversely affected her life.<br /><br />And you have a blessed Sunday also, Pam. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-618011117177622262012-12-09T07:29:12.220-06:002012-12-09T07:29:12.220-06:00Asthma is a big concern these days because it is o...Asthma is a big concern these days because it is on the rise in children and they do not know why. <br /><br />My sister missed so mush school due to her asthma, lung decease and hospital stays that she finally left high school.<br /><br />Have a blessed Sunday, Dee. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-58385731816076468722012-12-08T14:22:32.323-06:002012-12-08T14:22:32.323-06:00Dear Manzanita, I'm always delighted when you ...Dear Manzanita, I'm always delighted when you have the time to stop by. Thank you. Like you, I'm mesmerized by charm bracelets. I don't see them much anymore but what a joy it was when Mom gave me mine at the end of fourth grade. I hope all is well and that your health is good and that you are living fully in this Advent season. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-13017410099429724022012-12-08T14:15:04.056-06:002012-12-08T14:15:04.056-06:00I hear about so many kids having asthma but they m...I hear about so many kids having asthma but they must grow out of it as they get older. Didn't you love charm bracelets back them? I still like them. I was having lunch with a friend last week and the gal at a table next to us was wearing one. I could barely carry on a conversation I was so mesmerized by the bracelet. She was a hand talker. :)<br /><br />I'm happy you got your awards.<br />Love and peace...Manzanitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06467261212623663365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-17136062167800056272012-12-08T10:34:50.744-06:002012-12-08T10:34:50.744-06:00Dear Bev, that's the word: persistence. I didn...Dear Bev, that's the word: persistence. I didn't think of it as I was writing the posting last year (it's a repost) but that is exactly what Mom and Sister Corita and I had. We persisted in believing in change. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-85653769837613951612012-12-08T10:33:44.993-06:002012-12-08T10:33:44.993-06:00Dear Sandie, my asthma is minimal now. I didn'...Dear Sandie, my asthma is minimal now. I didn't have any for nearly 60 years and then it came back. But I have an inhaler now and take Singular so I'm hardly aware of it. I hope that you, too, have gotten help with asthma. <br /><br />I truly was "loved and taken care of." Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-86766328967448295222012-12-08T10:32:09.970-06:002012-12-08T10:32:09.970-06:00Dear Crystal, thank you for sending love and hugs ...Dear Crystal, thank you for sending love and hugs my way. Today is overcast and the temperature is steadily going down into the low thirties. Such weather has the power to make me feel a little melancholy. But as I write these responses to comments from all of you, I'm feeling the warm regards sent my way and so the chill outside isn't invading the inside! Peace. Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-20696031272401165042012-12-08T10:30:12.552-06:002012-12-08T10:30:12.552-06:00Dear Arleen, yes. My mom's love saw me through...Dear Arleen, yes. My mom's love saw me through so many difficulties throughout my life. That is, until I reached 32. She died in May 1968 and I miss her still. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-3923852829646349122012-12-08T10:29:11.783-06:002012-12-08T10:29:11.783-06:00Dear Penny, the modern inhaler is a marvel for it ...Dear Penny, the modern inhaler is a marvel for it opens those bronchial passages and allow a person to not only breathe in, but also breathe out. Both being essential. <br /><br />So many children today have asthma. I'm not sure why--whether it's smog or air quality or what. But I can see them in stores and recognize the look in the eyes and the mouth held open. That's the thing, an asthmatic has to breathe through his or her mouth. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-46957484678229776122012-12-08T10:26:58.491-06:002012-12-08T10:26:58.491-06:00Dear EC, thank you for your kind words. The truth ...Dear EC, thank you for your kind words. The truth is that I felt so "dumb" for so many years longer. It wasn't until I was in my fifties that I finally realized that I had a fairly good mind. Those old tapes often keep running in our heads! Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-9336336549180472102012-12-08T10:25:38.837-06:002012-12-08T10:25:38.837-06:00Dear Elisa, I can remember just bubbling over with...Dear Elisa, I can remember just bubbling over with joy when the class picked the top five smartest and I was #5. But the truth is that as a retired teacher, I cannot imagine a teacher let that happen in the classroom. The remaining children, beyond the five, would feel so left out and so grieved and hurt. It wasn't a good technique.<br /><br />I sorry to learn that Cade also was sick a lot in school. I wonder what his memories of that are. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-63158842283361671862012-12-08T10:23:34.812-06:002012-12-08T10:23:34.812-06:00Dear Janie, not being able to breathe is terrifyin...Dear Janie, not being able to breathe is terrifying. Asthma didn't rerturn until many years later--maybe in 2003. Now I take Singular and use an inhaler when needed. But that's truly seldom. <br /><br />You know I think kids can be cruel without knowing what they are doing. They don't have the ability when young to empathize and imagine what someone else's life is like. So I don't fault those children. They were simply being who children are. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-55749698960163430712012-12-08T10:21:38.554-06:002012-12-08T10:21:38.554-06:00Dear Fishducky, I was one loved kid and one downri...Dear Fishducky, I was one loved kid and one downright lucky kid! Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-85105527344312484852012-12-08T10:21:14.513-06:002012-12-08T10:21:14.513-06:00Dear Perpetua, I so feel for you also to think tha...Dear Perpetua, I so feel for you also to think that you were 14 before you managed to attend school for a whole term of perfect attendance. Mom and Sister Corita did work a small miracle. In my life at the time, it was an enormous one for it changed so much of my school life and my friendship with my classmates. <br /><br />I did treasure that charm bracelet and wore it up until the time I was 22 and entered the convent. When I came back home 8 1/2 years later, the bracelet wasn't there. I don't remember what had happened to it. But I do remember it fondly. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-70712477993637187812012-12-08T10:18:52.159-06:002012-12-08T10:18:52.159-06:00Dear Debra, my mom was very wise and she loved my ...Dear Debra, my mom was very wise and she loved my brother and me in a deep, abiding way that placed our needs front and foremost. I know Mom felt hopeless before those asthma attacks. She cared for me so gently during them. Rubbing my chest with salve and boiling water that she brought and put on a table so that I could lean over it and inhale in the hope that my bronchial passages would open. <br />My mom had a hard life with my father who was an alcoholic and spent much of his earnings on drink. But she was a survivor and she loved him just as she loved my brother and me. I think of her as a woman who gave her life for all of us. And I wonder sometimes what her life would have been if she'd been born fifty years later. She was so wise and so intelligent and so creative. She was and remains one of the gentlest blessings in my life. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-73800704108748278982012-12-08T10:14:58.555-06:002012-12-08T10:14:58.555-06:00Dear Shelly, your words are so true. That we can t...Dear Shelly, your words are so true. That we can turn things around when we work together as One--as a community of support and concern, compassion and love. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-91188784869680916182012-12-08T10:14:13.898-06:002012-12-08T10:14:13.898-06:00Dear Baiba, thanks for the compliments! I'm si...Dear Baiba, thanks for the compliments! I'm sitting here grinning. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-28019291300654252512012-12-08T10:13:52.510-06:002012-12-08T10:13:52.510-06:00Dear Broad, I think you're right, that I learn...Dear Broad, I think you're right, that I learned a lot about challenges and demands from living with asthma those first ten years. As Juliana of Norwich said, "And all shall be well, and all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be exceedingly well." And so my life has been. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-77107279660857998202012-12-08T10:12:24.811-06:002012-12-08T10:12:24.811-06:00Dear Inger, I'm pleased to learn that you are ...Dear Inger, I'm pleased to learn that you are going to blog about Dulcy's 5th Habit that she meows about in her companion book "A Cat's Legacy." I'm so touched that her book/habit helped you and Samson survive the loss of Angel this year. <br /><br />As to the asthma, with the three of us working together, it didn't have a chance!!! Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-27152200148317757932012-12-08T10:10:16.484-06:002012-12-08T10:10:16.484-06:00Dear Sister Ann Marie, it was a major success and ...Dear Sister Ann Marie, it was a major success and asthma didn't return until 2003. So most of my life I've been asthma-free. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-78065692842061271682012-12-07T01:34:22.069-06:002012-12-07T01:34:22.069-06:00dear dee. this was a very sweet story about persis...dear dee. this was a very sweet story about persistance. i credit your mother but also you for sticking with it. great jobBevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09800433104178336837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-53620254034659103602012-12-06T21:36:04.802-06:002012-12-06T21:36:04.802-06:00I have asthma, but not that bad. And I like how m...I have asthma, but not that bad. And I like how much you were loved and taken care of. sandieChatty Cronehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02232040517217024681noreply@blogger.com