I am not one to let health issues restrict my life. I get migraines way too often, the doctors can't figure out why I get them, yet they are pretty consistent. I still go into work though. Once I can see alright and the nausea for the most part passes, I go into the office. Everyone I work with knows I get them, so my morning absence doesn't mean I'll be out all day. I just means I may be at work from noon until 8pm.
My back was hurt in my car accident, I unfortunately couldn't run for years, but found Pilates and other forms of exercise so that I could keep myself somewhat fit.
For the years prior to the accident and the years since my surgery, even though I have asthma, I am a runner, an athlete. I have tried not to let my asthma get in my way. I have run half and full marathons without needing a single puff of the inhaler. I believe that by keeping my lungs strong, I am not letting the asthma get the best of me. I recently learned though that this is not necessarily the case. I learned that I should still use my inhaler as scar tissue is most likely building up in my lungs, even if I am not gasping for air. But my lungs always feel so icky a few hours after using my inhaler, I don't like to use it, especially if I don't feel like I need it.
But the ickiness I feel right now makes me think the inhaler's not so bad. I sit here at 4:30am, up for the third time tonight because I can't breath. You see, as an asthmatic, I really shouldn't live in Utah. Yes, there are the beautiful outdoors and the year round activities in which I participate. But with all the mountains, we are always experiencing "inversion." What's an inversion you ask? It is an atmospheric condition where the temperature increases with height (or elevation). The warm air above traps the colder air below. Along with the colder air, the pollutants are not able to escape. An inversion can lead to pollution such as smog being trapped close to the ground, with possible adverse effects on health.
I am one of those people who's health in affected. When the news says it is a yellow or red day, it's a day for me to stay inside.
I remember a few years back I was on a hike with my roommate and we hiked from below the inversion, into the disgusting air and then above the air, return the same way we came. My lungs, ya, not happy campers. My lungs are not strong enough to cough out the high quality of inversion air they inhale. So I start out with just really weak lungs, an inability to go running or really anything aerobic because my lungs just wheeze. I feel like I really need to cough because I can feel something in my lungs. And this inevitably leads to my developing bronchitis or an infection of some sort in my lungs.
Apparently, I was outside too much lately. I started getting the weak lung feeling last week. But I've tried to be careful, stay inside, no strenuous activity. Then today, I started losing my voice. And tonight, I've started coughing stuff up. It apparently moved into the infection stage now. Of course this happens over a holiday weekend when I would like to be relaxing and playing with friends and family.
Instead, I am waking up because my throat is swollen and I'm choking for air. I do the old fashioned - turn on the hot water in the sink and put a towel over my head to inhale the steam - method. Now I'm drinking my second cup of hot tea. And every time I do cough, it hurts so bad, and the deep bronchial cough is hardly doing it's job in bringing anything up, though yeah, this last cough brought up blood. (Don't freak out readers, it's not uncommon for me when I get sick like this. It doesn't mean I have TB, it just means I'm too coughing hard.)
If only I was a silly person who enjoyed the 5am Black Saturday sales. I've been up this time since 4am and could be standing in line at some story, ready to go find some killer deals in a few minutes. But really, I just want to be able to sleep. Hopefully I'll be able to again soon.
I believe I would like a new set of lungs for Christmas please. Do any of the stores offer lungs as a 5am special?
1 comment:
You know, just last night Patti and I were talking about you. I was telling her how much I've really come to admire you. It's partially because of things like this, not that you're asthmatic, but how you deal with it, that as much as possible you don't let it slow you down. There are many other things I admire about you, this is just one. You are a good woman, Caprene.
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