I have been dealing with asthma and allergies for 9 years now. Asthma is a chronic lung disease where your bronchi or breathing passages of the lungs become inflamed. I was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma when I was about 9. Exercise induced asthma is when your breathing passages become inflamed and swell after exercise, making it hard to breath. I had been swimming competitively for years and every year things would get harder. I thought I was just working harder and well getting older so I didn’t mention it to my parents. My coach asked then asked my mom if I had been to the doctor lately. We headed to his office and he prescribed an inhaler right away. Since then, it has grown to be much more than that. When we moved to Florida from Iowa about 5 years ago my asthma got much worse. Not only exercise, but strong smells and odors, allergens such as dust mites, a common cold, and many others things cause trigger problems with my asthma. It makes my life very difficult but I try not to let it stop me from doing the things I love. I still dance, shop, and act like a typical teenager just with a lot more precautions. One of the unfortunate precautions is that I don’t get to go to school anymore. I went to school a few years ago and ended up in the ER several times. No matter how hard you try, you can’t control a school environment. I am now taking all my classes online through the Florida Virtual School. Although I would love to be at school with my friends, I know that being at home will keep me much healthier. With the support of my friends and family asthma is a lot easier to cope with. Asthma doesn’t rule my life but it does play a big part in it. Having asthma has taught me a lot of things, like how important it is to live every day to its fullest! Asthma can be scary, it’s like your body has a mind of its own and no matter how hard you try sometimes you can’t control it on your own. I want to make a difference in peoples’ lives. I want to show people that having asthma is not the end of the world it is just something that you have to deal with every day. And as hard as it sometimes is, you have to stay positive.
