asthma or bi-cuspid aortic valve?

[bethanne]

My son (who is currently 11) has been taking inhalers and singulair for activity induced asthma. Since his asthma is not consistent, and during sports he seems to be more winded than I think he should be. I want to make sure that he does have asthma and versus inheriting my bi-cuspid aortic valve. All three of my daughters have been checked out with a cardio and their valves are fine. (Jase is the youngest) I am taking him to an asthma specialist at Texas Children's. The bottom line is our pcp has been treating him for asthma and our appt next week (we waited 3 months to see this new doctor) will be able to confirm or dismiss this diagnosis.

Looking back at my childhood I always had a hard time with running distances, etc. so I am wondering how much of his problems are related to his asthma...

I am curious with others experience with this. Can you help with question I can ask during appointment?

 

[Mary]

Ask to have an echo run to rule out the possibility. My son was thought to be murmur free, but I insisted he have an echo since he wanted to enter the military. Our PCP sent him, and sure enough, he also has the same bicuispid aortic valve problem.
Just ask to have it done for your own peace of mind.
Mary

 

[Turkey Hunter]

I was very frequently more winded than I thought I should be all through my life.
I was a wrestler in school and stayed very active after high school. I would always get winded before everyone else, but I would have the stamina to keep on movin'.
I always told myself that I just had a bit of asthma, and it was no big deal.

I was wrong, obviously.

I never knew how much the valve had been effecting me!

It's a good plan to explore all avenues of the possibilities of your son's "windedness".

Keep us posted on the docs reprts.

Ben