Re: Very ill son

September 20, 2005

Welcome to the group!

Most of us have found that our insurance carriers will cover

Xolair. Sometimes you do have to nudge them. I think in our files

section over to the left there is a post from Greg stored where he

details how to work with your insurance carrier (he has a lot of

expeirence with this). BCBS PPO in my state covered my Xolair

completely.

We have all found this drug a life changing and life saving

medication. Read all you can about it, talk with everyone here.

Let us know how you're son is doing.

Addy

--- In , " ipedlnpadl " <IpedLnpadL@a...>

wrote:

> Hi there,

> so glad I found this! My son, 14 has had asthma all his life. He's

> been on Advair 100, Albuterol for several years, Singular for a

> year. However; the past 2 mos. have been hell. We moved into

> another home then. It's an older one in a much nicer area. This

> allowed my son to go to a better school and play football, his #1

> love in life, for a school who is known for a run offense. He's a

RB

> and MLB. Anyway, 3 wks. ago, he was getting good grades, walking

> around campus and making new friends and racking up yardage and

> sacks, albeit coughing and having attacks much more than ever. He

> started to need his portable nebulizer on the sidelines. Today:

he's

> on Advair 500/50, Prednisone 30 mg., day, Intal, Albuterol,

Xopenex,

> Atrovent, Singulair, Claritin D, Flonase and Spiriva and had a

> Prednisone injection. He is on " home hospital " and has a tutor

> visiting him every day. Forget football! He is still having

numerous

> asthma attacks throughout the day and night. The Pulmonary

> Specialists sent him to the Allergy Specialists today who tested

> him. They did the RAST on his back. All was calm except for a

fiery

> red, swollen area where she did molds. His Ig e levels came back

at

> 2300. The doctor said he is a good candidate for Xolair. We have

BC

> PPO but she said the insurance fight it. With his history (4 ER

> visits in 3 yrs) and the escalation in the past 2 mos., how COULD

> they? Anyway, I'm sure you've all gone through this. Any words of

> encouragement. He's basically " bubble boy " these days. What a

life:-/

September 20, 2005

Hi:

I read your e-mail and I'm really sorry about your son. As soon as I read a

little bit, I knew it was " mold " . Keep fighting the insurance company, he has

to have the shots. Also make sure there's no mold in his room no carpet and wipe

everything clean daily with damp cloth. If he has a carpet in his room there

could be mold under it???? Also, Honeywell make a good air purifyer

ipedlnpadl <IpedLnpadL@...> wrote:

Hi there,

so glad I found this! My son, 14 has had asthma all his life. He's

been on Advair 100, Albuterol for several years, Singular for a

year. However; the past 2 mos. have been hell. We moved into

another home then. It's an older one in a much nicer area. This

allowed my son to go to a better school and play football, his #1

love in life, for a school who is known for a run offense. He's a RB

and MLB. Anyway, 3 wks. ago, he was getting good grades, walking

around campus and making new friends and racking up yardage and

sacks, albeit coughing and having attacks much more than ever. He

started to need his portable nebulizer on the sidelines. Today: he's

on Advair 500/50, Prednisone 30 mg., day, Intal, Albuterol, Xopenex,

Atrovent, Singulair, Claritin D, Flonase and Spiriva and had a

Prednisone injection. He is on " home hospital " and has a tutor

visiting him every day. Forget football! He is still having numerous

asthma attacks throughout the day and night. The Pulmonary

Specialists sent him to the Allergy Specialists today who tested

him. They did the RAST on his back. All was calm except for a fiery

red, swollen area where she did molds. His Ig e levels came back at

2300. The doctor said he is a good candidate for Xolair. We have BC

PPO but she said the insurance fight it. With his history (4 ER

visits in 3 yrs) and the escalation in the past 2 mos., how COULD

they? Anyway, I'm sure you've all gone through this. Any words of

encouragement. He's basically " bubble boy " these days. What a life:-/

September 21, 2005

Hi Pedl

Welcome to the group. I am a nurse in one of the specialty pharmacies that

distributes Xolair. Some of the people here felt well within 3 months several

took 6 to 9 months. What I would like you to think about is removing all

carpeting from your home (especially in your sons room), have the air

conditioning/heating ducts cleaned, and have your insurance company for your

home contract with a mold remediator or the local county health department to

test for molds in your home. If the people who sold their home to you knew

there was mold in the home and they didn't disclose it, they are allowed to be

held monitarily accountable at least in Florida.

Your son will be much better on Xolair, but also removing the source of his

increased IgE, will change his life for the better.

Pat

__________________________________________________

September 21, 2005

Hi!

I've seen the posts from my fellow Xolair users, and I agree with everything

that they've said. However, a few things that you might also want to look

into...

Do you know the status of mold in your son's new school? What I mean to say

is do you know if it has been tested for mold infestation? I know many

schools in our district in Massachusetts had mold problems in the past. It

can't hurt to ask.

Definitely have your home checked for mold. Find out specifically which

types of mold your son is allergic to, and ask your doctor how to minimize

growth conditions. Most molds flourish in cool, damp areas such as

basements. Others flourish in warm humid areas. A dehumidifier may help

worlds, as well as keeping the temperature in a certain range.

Ask your son's doctor for a catalog containing allergy products. Many

companies sell products that will help clean/kill mold.

I think Xolair is the best thing to help your son, but if you really do end

up hitting a " brick wall " so to speak, with your insurance company, please

don't rule out good old fashioned allergy shots. They really can work

wonders for many patients. Xolair was the result of finding help for people

that didn't respond well to immunotherapy, or whose allergies were so severe

as to make allergy shots almost impossible. I myself kept having a reaction

to allergy shots and had to discontinue them. My sister however, is having

great success.

Xolair has helped me significantly in the last 6 months. I'm actually due

for my review this week, to see if I can wean off of prednisone. I've been

taking it for seven years now, and I've been on 60mg/day for the last FIVE

YEARS! My asthma has so many different triggers, I was very negative when I

first began Xolair. But, over time, I noticed a lessened need for my

nebulizer in the night, and I've been able to resume activities that I

thought I'd never be able to handle again. I'm still not " perfect " but I

really do have the hope that I'll continue to improve.

Both of my children are asthmatic as well. Unlike me, they were diagnosed

early on. My first asthma symptoms didn't surface until I was 14.

Hopefully my children are coming into a world where they will never suffer

as I have. There is also the possibility of their body chemistries

changing over the years. My older brother " outgrew " asthma and I'm hoping

that may also happen with my children.

Good luck, and please do keep us updated on your son's condition!

~

-------Original Message-------

From: ipedlnpadl

Date: 09/20/05 06:54:36

Subject: [ ] Very ill son