Shortly after our son Skyler turned one year old, he began having severe coughing spells. They went on for months. During that time, his pediatrician tried nearly every cough suppressant available, but nothing helped.

One night, Skyler woke up coughing and gasping for breath. At one point, he stopped breathing for several seconds. It was terrifying.

The next day, we took him back to the pediatrician, who confirmed what she had suspected all along. Skyler had asthma. That day marked the beginning of what would become a long, exhausting, and frightening year for our family.

We purchased a nebulizer and began frequent breathing treatments. Between 14 and 17 months of age, Skyler was on treatments every three to four hours, almost around the clock, for months at a time. He was also constantly sick and placed on antibiotics one to two times per month. Despite testing negative for allergies, he was treated for severe allergy symptoms as well.

At one point, Skyler was taking seven different medications, including steroids. Keeping track of everything became so overwhelming that we had to create spreadsheets just to manage his medication schedule. I’ll never forget the first time we picked up his prescriptions and the total was over $500. I didn’t know whether to cry over the cost or over the fact that our baby “needed” so many medications.

For over a year, we lived in constant fear. We were afraid to leave the house without a nebulizer nearby. We were afraid to leave Skyler with family members in case an attack happened and they didn’t know how to respond.

By November 2007, we felt out of options. An ear, nose, and throat specialist told us the only remaining option was surgery to remove Skyler’s adenoids, with no guarantee it would even resolve the asthma. After reading about the procedure and its recovery, we knew we couldn’t put our son through a surgery that might not help.

We were desperate for another option.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had been a patient at Marshall Spinal Care for years. I called the office and asked whether they had seen success with young children and asthma. The answer was a confident yes. We scheduled an appointment.

That decision changed everything.

Skyler has now been under care at Marshall Spinal Care for about eighteen months. During that time, he has needed only a handful of breathing treatments, mostly early on or during seasonal changes when his symptoms were historically the worst. He has not needed antibiotics once during this period.

Today, we no longer live in fear of the next asthma attack. With consistent care, Skyler’s symptoms are well controlled, and breathing treatments are rarely needed. Instead of frequent trips to the pediatrician, we’ve only gone a few times in the past year and a half, mostly for routine checkups.

On one occasion, when Skyler developed a mild cough after we hadn’t kept up with visits as we should have, we took him to the pediatrician. After listening to his lungs, the doctor was amazed at how much progress Skyler had made.

Most importantly, our son can breathe freely.

That alone is a gift beyond words.

We are incredibly grateful for the compassion, care, and support we have received at Marshall Spinal Care. Thank you for helping our family move from fear to peace and for giving our son the chance to live fully and breathe easily.

Sincerely,
Sarah and Skyler A.