To Breathe or Not to Breathe: My Story About Asthma

Hi, my name is Anne, and Im 14 years old and in the 9th grade. I was born in Washington, DC on July 26th, 1983. When I was born, I was considered to be a healthy baby. I lived in Washington for about 6 months. After DC, I moved to Boston, where I lived until I was in kindergarten. When I was around 6, we moved to Illinois. After a few months of living there, I developed severe asthma. Asthma is a disease in which your airways get constricted and you have these attacks where you cant breathe. My parents say that I got it on Easter, and that I asked my mom to carry me around to look for my candy because I couldnt breathe. I dont know if that was a joke or the truth, but oh well...!

After I was diagnosed with asthma, I got my inhaler and nebulizer. An inhaler is a little thing and when you push down the top and suck in, you inhale medicine that clears up your lungs and airways. A nebulizer is a big electronic thing that has a mouthpiece with medicine in it, and you breathe into it for about 5 minutes. I never got a full nights sleep. It was awful. I had to carry my inhaler around with me everywhere, and it was a pain in the behind. I was constantly sick and was always missing school. In Illinois, there are so many things that I am allergic to and I was having trouble breathing 25-50% of the time. This makes me think of a funny story. Im allergic to grass and trees, so when I was 7, I tried to climb a lamppost instead of a tree. While I was climbing, I grabbed a parking meter for support and ended up getting a huge electric shock that

ran between the post and the meter. So take my advice- don't try this!

Anyway, my family decided to move up to New Hampshire. We moved mostly because of my terrible condition. Things got better here, but I still wake up every night to use my inhaler.

One thing that really bugs me is my inability to do sports. I cant run, so that limits the number of sports I can do. I am able to do swimming and crew, though. But if we have to do dry land training for crew, Im always at the back of the pack. When most people see me run, they dont realize that I have asthma, so they just assume that I am really out of shape.

There is one good thing about having asthma: I think that it taught me a great deal of responsibility. I always remember my inhaler. I need to know what I can and cant do, and there is a harsh consequence to forgetting this. My parents are very helpful and they treat me like a normal teen. But my mom asks me every morning if I have my inhaler, even though Ive never forgotten it (once it fell in the river during crew, though). I can do most things other people my age can do. I came in 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th in the state swimming championships, I make crew practice at 5:30 in the morning, and Im an A student. I love having parties and hanging with friends.

I know I have a disease, but I think of it as a hurdle and not a brick wall.