Personal Narrative My Asthma

Growing up with asthma since a very young age, I cannot participate in sports and have to take asthma medications every day. I get used to ensure my inhalers are in my bag before going anywhere and seasonal allergies following up with runny nose or nasal congestion. However I still feel lucky because many people who have more severe asthma were struggling with their schooling. For me, as I grow older, I learn to manage my medical situation. I try my best to avoid dusty places, cigarette smokers, and car exhausts. Although I was not able to do sports in school, I manage to run every week with my sister to conquer asthma. I found that the more time that I spent to warm up before running, the better I can keep my asthma from acting up. Even though

Task analysis is the process of obtaining information about a job by determining the duties, tasks, and activities involved and the knowledge, skills, and abilities required in performing each task. There can be broken down into six

I had been an EMT and phlebotomist for four years at this point. I had seen hospitalized patients with asthma and how it limited their lives. I was determined not to let this happen to me.

Breathing is a vital process for every human. Normal breathing is practically effortless for most people, but those with asthma face a great challenge. During an asthma attack, breathing is hampered, making it difficult or even impossible for air to flow through the lungs. Asthma is an increasingly common problem, and has become the most common chronic childhood disease. At least 17 million Americans suffer from it(1), and although it can be fatal, it is usually not that severe(4). There is no cure for asthma, but with proper care, it can usually be controlled.

The feeling of a lead brick on your chest, desperately needing air but unable to draw a breath and the feeling of drowning in the very substance you need to survive. Shaking hands squeeze a canister and suddenly there is a rush of medication, an odd taste and then the brick gets lighter and lighter as gradually more oxygen comes in and once again air is flowing in and out properly. For an individual with asthma, an inhaler feels like the most amazing invention ever to grace the human mind or hands. Without the medicine stored in the tiny canister, life as is known by the average non-asthmatic would be but a dream for myself and around 25.7 million other people (Akinbami and Johnson, 2012). The idea of inhaling medicine to cure ailments started

Now, by this time my asthma had disappeared completely. For years now here in the US I have had no asthma attacks like the ones I used to have in Cuba, and for all practical purposes I was no longer an asthmatic. I was in good shape, but the concern was still there, especially for my mother, who had suffered through my asthma attacks alongside me in Cuba. The thinking for us was that perhaps the 14 hours at sea during the 1980 Mariel trip, and all that vomiting I did somehow had “cleaned me out” (that is what my mother used to say), and the sea had taken my asthma away. Looking back, what I think probably happened was that in Cuba we were living in very polluted surroundings, and for allergic people like me the air pollution exasperated me to the point of making me asthmatic. All that Hollin (soot) Grandmother Hortensia used to have to clean all over the house every day in La Habana was an indication of the pollution of the city air, pollution which at nighttime as the air cooled would condense further in the lower atmosphere, making people like me suffer asthma attacks. Here in the US, the air was a lot cleaner, and thus I was no longer asthmatic.

I never thought of it as a real problem until then. That night, I had a sleepover at my friend’s house when it happened. I woke up with a sharp feeling in my chest. I couldn’t do anything but writhe in agony and there was nobody I could call to help me because everyone was asleep and I was hurting too much to call out to somebody. A gnawing pain was getting harder and harder to handle. I sat there trying to breathe, when I realized what was going on. An asthma attack was occuring. I was dangling on a precipice of disorientation. I desperately needed to drag myself over the my bag and get my inhaler. I couldn’t stand up because I was lost in a never-ending sea of suffering. I couldn’t locate my inhaler after searching for what seemed like hours.

History of Present Illness: Ms. Johnson is a very pleasant 66-year-old woman who was previously evaluated in this office by Elvira Aguila, MD for the diagnosis of asthma. She was last seen in January 2015. She states that overall, she has done well. However, over the last two to three weeks, she has noticed increasing shortness of breath as well as productive cough, rhinorrhea and postnasal drip. She states that she has been using her rescue inhaler above and beyond what is normal for her up to 10 times a day yesterday and she states that she has had some improvement in her symptoms with her short acting bronchodilator. She denies any fevers or chills.

“Life is not a spectator sport.” In order to live to the fullest, you must overcome obstacles to achieve happiness and success. Millions of people break barriers every day, like Jackie Robinson and myself. I would like to share the story of how I broke my biggest personal barrier.

Nearly one half of children diagnosed with asthma has a decrease in symptoms and require less treatment by late adolescence or early adulthood. In a study of 900 children with asthma, 6% required no treatment after 1 year, and 39% only required intermittent treatment.

Even though physical activity has been found to be beneficial to asthmatics. Exercise-induced asthma have been prevalent in our society. As

As a result, I endured the from the time I left school to the time I got off the bus. Afterward, I could barely stand, and I felt this choking sensation in my throat. One of my cousins that was in the same bus with me went to get help, and my mom rapidly approached me with grave concern in her eyes. In addition, my parents drove me to Palos Community Hospital. By the time I got there, the doctors couldn’t control my asthma.

From the information gathered from the case study above, SE asthma is not well controlled because, she has been using her albuterol metered- dose inhaler approximately three to four days a week over the last two months. She has been awakened by cough three nights during the last month. She has shortness of breath during exercise, which does not usually occur to her during exercise. She has been hospitalized two times in the last year due to her asthma exacerbation and SE has visited the emergency department six times for the past six months due to asthma symptoms and exacerbation

Instead of being confined with asthma I would usually spend my days outside and fight. I told myself that asthmatics are stronger because we know what it feels like to not have air, to stare at the sky and wait for our air ducts to open, to be aware that we are still trying to grasp the slightest oxygen that would warm up our bodies. ‘I am an almighty god’ I chanted in my head. Even if there were medications, such as albuterol, I despised them because I believed that medications can internally destroy you. My rebellious mind discouraged supplements that ‘suppress’ my asthma symptoms. I did not believe that medications would permanently help a person; you would feel deteriorated the next day, creating a vicious cycle.

Hi Jackie! My names Danielle D'Alesio and I'm a sprinter and long jumper from McDonough Georgia! I don't know if you will ever read this message but lately I've been struggling with asthma. In practice I've tried and tried to keep up with some of the athletes on the team and in the winter I was totally fine with reps of 400s no problem at all. However when the spring season hit all of sudden one day it became a struggle to breathe. Over and over my coaches told me to stand up and catch my breath telling me I was fine but as much as I took my inhaler I try and not complain and make excuses. I came across your story online seeing your struggles with asthma and I wanted to ask for tips on how you managed yours over the years. Thank you for your