"Oh, is she a Dripper with her nebulizer?"

You know, I've never heard of my daughter called that before, but.....okaaaaaaay. Apparently Instacare Doc didn't mean that in a BAD way.

We were at Instacare last fall because we were on vacation and didn't pack our nebulizer. It was a short 3 day trip to grandma's and my teenage daughter Kitty had packed her albuterol inhaler, so I wasn't too worried. 

But Kitty had a cold and we had a major change in elevation. Those two things combine must have made her feel that her albuterol inhaler just wasn't helping. 

So, Mean Mom that I am, I dragged her to the Instacare.

Instacare Doc could tell that she needed a breathing treatment and I sheepishly admitted that we hadn't packed our nebulizer and that's why we were there.

She was really nice about it and assured me that I wasn't a bad parent. She went off to get the nebulizer and brought one back with the canister and mouthpiece.

 

Sometimes people drip (or slobber) when they use a mouthpiece with the nebulizer. You can really taste the medication with the mouthpiece - it's sort of salty, which of course make your mouth salivate (or slobber/drip) a little bit. 

When Instacare Doc came back to check on Kitty, she could see that Kitty had wrapped a pile of tissues around the base of the canister kit. She said, "Oh - is she a Dripper?"

Never thought of it that way, but yes.

I should have told Instacare Doc when she first went to get the nebulizer that Kitty HATES the mouthpiece. She would much rather use the mask. But Instacare Doc was busy and I didn't want to bother her to hunt down a mask.

These is what we use at home. The big nebulizer is 17 years old, and the smaller one is new. Instacare Doc had home health care deliver a nebulizer to grandma's house so we didn't have to keep going back to the Instacare every 4 hours for a breathing treatment.

You can see a mask on each nebulizer. The mask on the smaller nebulizer is just like the mask you use when you get oxygen at the hospital. The one on the right is also works as an oxygen mask, but it's shaped like a dinosaur. We still have it from when the kids were little!  Some kids like the dinosaur shape because it's not so scary. I think we have one shaped like a fish somewhere too.

If you or your kids are using a nebulizer, you can try different options to see what you like. I'm not a big fan of the mouthpiece either, it is salty and I do drip. I would rather use a mask.

If your kids don't like using the nebulizer, that could be a reason why. Try a couple of different masks or a mouthpiece and see what they like best.

After all, who want to be called a Dripper?!