I was diagnosed with asthma at the age of 3, and ever since that day, I have had really bad anxiety about going somewhere without an inhaler. Once, as a child, I was in the car with my grandma, no inhaler, no nebulizer, and I started turning blue face and we got home, and I took my nebulizer, and that day, my grandma saved my life.
If I don’t have an inhaler near me at all times or one in reach, I get so worried, and it ends up making my breathing worse, and then an anxiety attack makes it even worse. I knew a child who was having an attack, and it worried me so much because we didn’t have a way to help. Life with asthma is an everyday struggle, and it gets harder as you get older. I was constantly in the hospital for asthma-related problems.
I’ve had times when I went months without one because I didn’t have insurance. And when I worked at the hospital, I would make sure I had one in my pocket at all times, and sometimes I didn’t need it, but it’s like a life jacket in a boat; you are not getting in the water, but just in case.
One day I had to use my nebulizer at the park, plug it into a wall, and it was miserable. Asthma is so much more than just not being able to breathe and shortness of breath and all that. It hurts, it’s scary, and to not have that inhaler to prevent attacks its just heightens that fear of not being able to breathe and that you could pass out or worse.
I remember when I was in grade school, I would have to bring my nebulizer to school and go to a special room to take it if my asthma got bad, and at a daycare I went to, I remember using it and being in a room full of babies. I just can’t imagine how my mother felt when, from birth till I was 3, they misdiagnosed me, and I think that is why it got worse and worse with age.
Asthma awareness is so important, and more schools and workplaces should be more aware of it to reduce anxiety and attacks!
