Last Thursday our youngest daughter had a serious asthma attack brought on by a bad cold. She woke us up at about 4:00 am barely able to breathe. After a call to our clinic, we took her to the hospital emergency room. They ended up admitting her, and she spent a day and night in the hospital, coming home on Christmas Eve. The time was stressful and draining, but that’s just part of life. You learn to roll with the punches.

To help reduce inflammation in her lungs, the doctor prescribed Prednisone, a corticosteroid. I had it once myself when I had a persistent sore throat. It was the nastiest, bitterest medicine I’ve ever had, and I could readily understand my daughter’s reluctance to take it. She could barely get it down. I called the pharmacist but was told that Prednisone is not available in capsules or with a coating that would permit swallowing without tasting. Why not? Apparently no one knows.