Breathing – most of us rarely even think about it. We just do it. Every minute.  Every hour.  Every day.  But some of us think about it all the time. Some of us spend minutes, hours, and days struggling to do it. Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness and can significantly impact quality of life with missed school days, difficulty with physical activity, and exacerbations resulting in Emergency Department visits and/or hospitalization.

Lyla is a beautiful nine-year-old asthmatic who struggles with her diagnosis on a daily basis. Asthma prevents Lyla from participating in some sports with her friends. It keeps her from going places, participating in play dates, slumber parties and hikes.  “I realize that asthma isn’t a disease you might consider as life altering but to this nine year old and family it is,” says Lyla’s mom, Ellen.

Lyla’s asthma has changed the way her active family approaches every day. She can’t participate in sports and other activities that her older sister can. Lyla requires upwards of 5 maintenance medications daily – more when her asthma is exacerbated.

At Nationwide Children’s Hospital, outpatient asthma care is delivered by specialists in both the Section of Allergy/Immunology as well as Pulmonary Medicine. Both areas offer teams of physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses to provide state of the art asthma care through diagnostic testing, up to date treatment strategies, and comprehensive education for patients and families. In addition, Nationwide Children’s Hospital offers a Complex Asthma Clinic that is staffed by both Allergy and Pulmonary for patients who have a history of severe asthma exacerbations requiring prior hospitalization, ICU admission, or more than one Emergency Department visit for asthma within a year.

“When we were recommended to Dr. Ramanathan we were in a constant state of exacerbation and steroids were routine. It wasn’t good. We have since then had minimal problems and the access to Nationwide Children’s resources has changed our lives,” says Ellen.

Last winter Lyla played basketball for the first time ever.

While Lyla has had to fight hard and be strong just to breath, she is still all girl. She loves American Girl dolls, glitter glam and makeup. She also loves arts and crafts and plans to be an art teacher when she grows up. Until then, she plans to spend some time being an awesome Patient Champion cheering on the participants who pass through her mile at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & ½ Marathon.

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• Name: Lyla H.Lyla Horsley
• Condition(s): Asthma
• Age Today: 09/20/200716 Years

Breathing – most of us rarely even think about it. We just do it. Every minute.  Every hour.  Every day.  But some of us think about it all the time. Some of us spend minutes, hours, and days struggling to do it. Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness and can significantly impact quality of life with missed school days, difficulty with physical activity, and exacerbations resulting in Emergency Department visits and/or hospitalization.

Lyla is a beautiful nine-year-old asthmatic who struggles with her diagnosis on a daily basis. Asthma prevents Lyla from participating in some sports with her friends. It keeps her from going places, participating in play dates, slumber parties and hikes.  “I realize that asthma isn’t a disease you might consider as life altering but to this nine year old and family it is,” says Lyla’s mom, Ellen.

Lyla’s asthma has changed the way her active family approaches every day. She can’t participate in sports and other activities that her older sister can. Lyla requires upwards of 5 maintenance medications daily – more when her asthma is exacerbated.

At Nationwide Children’s Hospital, outpatient asthma care is delivered by specialists in both the Section of Allergy/Immunology as well as Pulmonary Medicine. Both areas offer teams of physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses to provide state of the art asthma care through diagnostic testing, up to date treatment strategies, and comprehensive education for patients and families. In addition, Nationwide Children’s Hospital offers a Complex Asthma Clinic that is staffed by both Allergy and Pulmonary for patients who have a history of severe asthma exacerbations requiring prior hospitalization, ICU admission, or more than one Emergency Department visit for asthma within a year.

“When we were recommended to Dr. Ramanathan we were in a constant state of exacerbation and steroids were routine. It wasn’t good. We have since then had minimal problems and the access to Nationwide Children’s resources has changed our lives,” says Ellen.

Last winter Lyla played basketball for the first time ever.

While Lyla has had to fight hard and be strong just to breath, she is still all girl. She loves American Girl dolls, glitter glam and makeup. She also loves arts and crafts and plans to be an art teacher when she grows up. Until then, she plans to spend some time being an awesome Patient Champion cheering on the participants who pass through her mile at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & ½ Marathon.