Indoor Waterparks

[anonymous]

Donna, after reading your post, I would have to say that it would be unnatural if you weren't overly concerned about your little one's health. What you feel is very natural, and even harder to "push" to the back of your head when you little one has CF (or any other illness).

I can't imagine, as I am not a mom yet, but I hope to be someday-soon and know that I have an overprotective side to me anyways. I have had good practice with my husband though, wanting to protect him from anything that might make him ill, but realizing that when this life is over and done for him, all he will have is the memories we have together, the memories with his family and hopefully millions of memories of good and fun times. I NEVER want him to think, "i wish i did this, I wish I did that, I should have gone and not stayed home..." Therefore, as much as I want to say, "we really should't go to your brothers, the kids are sick" he isn't dumb, he knows the kids are sick, and if he expresses that he wants to go, well then by all means let's go. Now, I understand that it is differnt for a child who can't make their own educated decisions for quite a while, and as a parent it might be hard to make one, on one hand wanting them to have fun, on the other wanting to keep them healthy.... but it the end it's about quality [of life] and not necessairly quantitly [length] of life.

All in all, I believe that you will start to feel more comfortable with time, not that it won't be difficult though. It's good that you realize and are aware that it could be a potential issue for you and that you are willing to address it/work on it when the time comes. I wish your son the best, as well as your family!


Julie (wife to Mark 24 w/CF)

 

[anonymous]

Mold and fungus can also be found outside. My daughter enjoys indoor waterparks and swimming pools because they are air conditioned. She has asthma with her CF and is unable to breathe outside in the heat.

 

[anonymous]

Jordan, I'm glad you mentioned what you did about chlorine. My daughter's cough is always worse over the summer and she swims a lot. I'm curious now if the chlorine may be contributing to that. Thanks for giving me something to look into!

 

[anonymous]

I am not disagreeing with Jordan's theory of the chlorine, as a matter of fact I have NO idea either way but I just wanted to point out that it is important to remember more activity (expansion and contraction of the lungs) will produce coughing. And coughing, while somewhat annoying if you are doing it all the time (I know I get annoyed with myself when I get a cold, but hardley notice my husbands coughing anymore) is very healty to bring up sputum and clear out any bugs that might be in the lungs.

If your daughter is coughing more in the summer, and it's not a nagging cold like cough (or accompanied by fever, irritation, pseudomonas smell) its very likely that all the activity she is getting is causing the coughing-and again while somewhat annoying to her, it is healty. It may be more apparent in the summer vice winter because she is more active, I know I was that way as a child. Just some food for thought though,

Julie (wife to Mark 24 w/CF)

 

[JazzysMom]

Please remember that most bathrooms in America have mold growing that we dont see. To overexpose oneself to it unneccesarily I dont believe is wise, but once in a while for pure enjoyment like at an indoor water park....live it up!

 

[anonymous]

Hello again. Here's some evidence on the unpleasantries of pools and "communal dipping," as well as chlorine, since many people here have expressed some doubts on the subject:
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands">http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands</a>
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg184.html">http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg184.html</a>
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming/6_pleas.thm">http://www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming/6_pleas.thm</a>

I know these are long; use the "find" command in your web browser (usually under the Edit menu) to look for the following terms in the articles: "respiratory", "health", and "irritation".

- Jordan, age 16

P.S. To respond to the last post, it might interest Jazzysmom to know that I always cough more when I am in my bathroom than when I am out of it. So even the small amounts of mold and whatnot you mention can have a noticable impact on people with CF.

 

[anonymous]

Julie
That's an interesting theory on her cough,too, however out CF Team is always of the opinion that less cough is better. We have questioned them about a cough being a good thing at times but they always treat an increase in her cough aggressively to get it back to baseline. I've never been completely comfortable with that but I'm not a doctor so I've adopted their belief that less cough is better.

 

[anonymous]

That's very interesting because our doc says that it depends on the cough as to whether or not it is something to worry about. Very interesting though, I wonder how the doctors recommend you do chest PT if they think the coughing is bad. Very strange.


Julie (wife to Mark 24 w/CF)

 

[SeasonsOfLove]

Thanks for the articles, which are very interesting!

 

[anonymous]

Oh, Luke. How disheartening. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0"> That must have been tough as a kid.

I know this is probably after the fact, but I hope you had a GREAT time at the water park. Maybe a year ago, I would have told you NOT to go or be VERY VERY careful. But, to be honest, I have changed (thanks to a lot of people on this board....right, Emily?). <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> Really, I think you need to let your kids be kids and just enjoy life. Just use common sense, right? My kids have had a blast swimming this summer and I don't think they'd trade these experiences for anything.

Carey

 

[anonymous]

My daughter's CF doc has said the same thing about coughing. Of course the cough/huff after chest PT is entirely different and for the most part she has to force herself to cough. Anytime she has an actual cough brewing they treat her aggressively because normally she does not have a cough.

 

[forsaxon]

<img src="i/expressions/heart.gif" border="0"> Hi Julie, Thanks for your lovely words. I did have a big cry when I read it. Yep, I am a big emotional mess every now & then. I know it's early days & I am sure you are right, once I guess I can get a hold of this things will become easier with time. And I know & do truly believe that it is quality of life over quantity of life, I was only thinking about that yesterday what I would want if I had CF. It sure does make you appreciate life more though & that certainally can't be a bad thing!

Your in health
Donna (mum to baby boy 4mths W/CF & daughter 3 1/2 WO/CF)

 

[anonymous]

Donna, thank you. I appreciate the nice words. If you ever want to chat with me (I knbow your child is young but it's never too early to start) please do feel free to email me at division902@hotmail.com


Take care,


Julie