Little Emir had a rough start at life.  He’s only 3 years old, but due to his asthma he’s already spent his first two years in and out of emergency room.  As you can imagine, his mother, Maria, was really worried she would lose her son to asthma.  Last year was the toughest year she lived through.

“I was terrified,” said Maria.  “I couldn’t help my son get better and I didn’t know what to do for him. I really thought I would lose him.”

After an incident where Emir was rushed to Stanford Lucile Packard with a severe asthma episode that kept him in the hospital two nights, they sent Maria home with a nebulizer machine and medication.  Maria was still worried for Emir.

“Asthma was like this little monster that would pop its little face at any given moment. I just never knew when,”  said Maria.

She would stay up at night to check on him, and this meant that during the day she was so tired at work.  Eventually, she had to change jobs and was almost ready to give up working outside the home because Emir was always sick.

“It was very stressful because I would get a call suddenly and have to run home to take him to the emergency department.”

That’s where Breathe California’s asthma programs helped Maria increase her knowledge, confidence and skills to manage Emir’s asthma.

“I have more confidence. I know what to do. That scary monster, Asthma, no longer has a hold on my Emir,” she said with a big smile on her face.  “I’ve learned so much that this last time he caught a cold, I could talk with his doctors and knew exactly what to tell them even when my English is not that good.”

Your support for Breathe California’s Asthma Programs changes lives!