Lauren's family fights to breathe

By ALAN PERROTT

Asthma is part of daily life for the Slack family.

Four of the five family members have the illness, and during the worst times it is not uncommon to find them all at an accident and emergency clinic getting treatment.

Despite having no family history of asthma, Gill Slack, a 46-year-old nurse and midwife, had her first attack nine years after arriving in Te Atatu from England in 1983.

The illness has since struck daughters Lauren, 12, and Caroline, 9, and son Ryan, who is 6.

Mrs Slack hopes the new study will encourage research into why New Zealand has such a high rate of asthma.

"We have been overseas and had no problems, then when we come home it's back in two days. Why is that?"

Lauren's condition is the worst, and she suffers from several other allergies as well.

She did not attend school for one full week last year because of attacks, and there were only six weeks when she was not on a daily diet of steroids, which control asthma but cause weight gain.

Before the family bought their own nebuliser, a device fitted with an air compressor which provides medication in mist form, Lauren was going to clinics three times a week, sometimes twice a day, for treatment.

Mrs Slack always checks her daughter's friends and hosts know what to do if she has an attack. She maintains stocks of the seven types of medication Lauren needs.

She is also searching for new ideas to treat the illness, enforces strict diets and uses special equipment to rid the house of dust.

The family's medical bills are more than $2000 a year.

The Slacks are already dreading winter, an annual nightmare when colds and minor infections bring on severe attacks that bring normal life to a halt.

"I love New Zealand," said Mrs Slack. "But sometimes you have to consider leaving for the children. If you've never had asthma, you are very lucky - not being able to breathe is a terrible thing."

nzherald.co.nz/health