Taking Things One Day at a Time

When I was 13 years old my parents felt that I was old enough to start mowing the lawn at our house. I had done chores around the house and I was willing to give it a try. One sunny morning the grass needed to get cut. I started to cut the front yard. It went okay at first. Then my eyes started to water. My nose started to itch and my throat started to feel tighter. I didn't know what was going on with me. I tried to keep going but started to cough and a few seconds later I heard a wheezing sound through my nose. I was having my first-ever asthma attack. There's nothing scarier than not being able to breathe. My mom took me to urgent care, where I got a breathing treatment, which luckily made me feel better.

Discovering my asthma triggers

I had suspected even before that maybe I had asthma. When I was in elementary school my chest would get tight whenever I ran too much or I would start to cough but I thought that it was normal for people to feel like that whenever they would run. After my scary experience mowing the grass I got a doctor's visit, which confirmed that I had asthma. I was given a Ventolin inhaler with an Aerochamber as well as a Peak Flow Meter, which I checked every morning and night.

Understanding my asthma triggers

I have been fortunate enough to have not had many serious asthma attacks where I have had to go to the emergency room. I was diagnosed with a mild form of asthma. My triggers are grass, poor air quality, second hand smoke and seasonal allergies. There's always one week every May and every October where it feels like I have more symptoms and may need to use my rescue inhaler more. I use Singulair every night and a Ventolin inhaler when I need it (which seems to be about once a month). I have learned that as long as I am aware of when I could be around triggers and avoid them when possible I can control asthma and not have it control me.

Managing my asthma triggers

With proper education and a good asthma action plan I have lived pretty much a normal life. I just have to make sure I take my daily controller medicine and if I run into trouble to have my rescue inhaler ready to use.