"Mommy, I can't breathe all the way!" These words would instill
fear in any parent, but for the parent of an asthmatic, such a
comment can spell the difference between life and death. Teri
LaBarbera of Poughkeepsie, New York, never thought she would
hear these words from her seven-year-old son, Brian, but in
February, Brian had his first asthma attack and was brought to
the hospital emergency room. "Brian never [used to have] a
problem with his chest, lungs, or breathing, but after having
bronchitis in March, he couldn't seem to shake being sick,"
explains Teri. "After four visits, the doctor told us, 'I think
it's time we consider it could be asthma.' Bronchitis just
sounds like a cold in kids, but asthma sounds so serious."
Asthma is serious. It affects more than 17 million Americans,
and of this number, nearly five million are children. According
to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), asthma
is the leading cause of school absences from a chronic illness
among children ages five to 17. "It