Improving Community Health -- $7.4 million, supporting more than 279,000 people

Conquering Asthma

Gwendolyn Montgomery was a single mom with triplets born too soon. Seven weeks premature, with underdeveloped lungs, all three girls -- Anache, Breana and Chakya -- were diagnosed with asthma as infants. The struggling young family suffered through constant respiratory infections, bronchitis, pneumonia and trips to the emergency room.

Once the girls reached school age, a common cold in the household was enough to cause them to miss a week or more of classes at a time.

Their lives changed when the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Healthy Kids Express visited their school and taught them skills for asthma management. Gwendolyn learned how to help keep the girls’ asthma under control. Better yet, she says, the girls learned how too, and were given the information and tools to do it. Together, they learned the proper use of an inhaler and a peak flow meter and all about asthma medications. The nurses contacted the triplets’ doctor’s office to develop an action plan for each girl. Gwendolyn learned about how pet dander, insects and cleaning products could affect asthma, and the family received free bedding cases to enclose the girls’ mattresses.

Through education, determination and commitment to the program, the girls’ asthma improved significantly. “That changed everything in our house,” says Gwendolyn. “For the first time ever, my kids could go outside and play with other kids. They could get through a gym class without an asthma attack. And I could finally work with few interruptions on the job, helping me provide better for my family.”

Gwendolyn, the girls and their stepfather now have the confidence they need to keep things under control and know what to do at the first sign of distress. “I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. The kids take their asthma in stride now because they know exactly what to do to keep it under control. I went from fearing for my children’s lives to watching all three of them get perfect attendance awards and make the honor roll. I stood up and cheered.”

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