Do you have asthma? If you do, do you have breathing problems
when the weather is hot, like now? If
you do, you’re not alone. I, too, have
it and I don’t like it a bit.
Asthma, by definition is a disorder (sounds very
medical, which it is), whereby the
airways of your lungs swell. As a
result, you can hear a wheezing sound when you breathe. You have shortness of breath and your chest
tightens. Some times the feeling is
similar to that feeling when you have chest pains and shortness of breath (for
those suffering from heart condition).
I have a heart condition (I’ve had CBAG about
15 years ago and angioplasty last December 2011), and I also have asthma. More than three years ago, I thought I didn’t
have asthma (in fact, I was diagnosed with it only about three years ago) so I
thought that whenever I felt my chest tightening, accompanied by shortness of
breath I was coming closer to suffering from angina at the very least. As it turned out, a very young doctor at the
UPLB Health Services diagnosed me with asthma but I didn’t pay attention to it
perhaps partly because of the way she told me, e.g., “may asthma kayo” in a
manner that, to me, was obviously less than expression of concern directed at a
senior. And that was it. She didn’t give me any explanation, advise,
or medication but simply turned to another patient, student perhaps. I was greatly disappointed, to say the least
(I just completed my term then as Faculty Regent, and obviously she didn’t know
me but I didn’t make a fuzz about it). So
I just left. Following day, I went to
see my cardiologist, who immediately referred me to another doctor. This doctor did a thorough check up and
explained to me in detail that, indeed, I had asthma but that it could be
easily manageable.
Anyway, I’m straying into another story all
together. So, back to our original
story.
Asthma sufferers know that this disorder can be
triggered by many things such as the following: pet hair (you might not be able
to avoid your cuddly shi-tzu or kittens but their hair could trigger an asthma
attack), dust, changes in the weather (as in everybody’s shouting “climate
change!”), chemicals in the air or in the food that you eat (careful with those
vegetables that appear flawless), molds, pollens (Los Banos is the
manufacturing plant for pollens), respiratory infections, tobacco smoke
(smokers, please be kind to non-smokers), even exercise (so you’re jogging in
pollen country?) and, believe it or not, strong emotions (as in s-t-r-e-s-s, of
which I have more than enough of many times).
Sometimes your asthma attack can be serious
that it be considered of an emergency nature.
Emergency symptoms of asthma include decreased level of alertness,
extreme difficulty breathing, rapid pulse, severe anxiety due to shortness of
breath, sweating, and, at times, bluish color of the lips and face.
While there may be no cure for asthma, you can
do a number of things to control it. My
suggestion is, if you suspect you are suffering from asthma (listen to your
breathing each time and if you hear some wheezing sound as you inhale and
exhale deeply, you’re a candidate), see your doctor right away. Asthma is something you must take seriously
especially with the kind of weather conditions we have (too hot during daytime
with some sudden showers late in the afternoon or early evenings). Asthma may not be a killer, but you have to
manage it. See your doctor now. For the moment, avoid those asthma triggers
mentioned earlier.
***
As you may have deduced from the preceding
paragraphs, I have been suffering from asthma attacks all this summer. Sometimes, it’s difficult to decipher whether
what you feel is asthma attack or first stage of heart attack. The feeling that your lungs are swelling,
making you feel your chest is very tight, coupled with shortness of breath, to
me, is scary. I remember having
experienced similar symptoms more than 15 years ago when I suffered from angina
attack, which kind of forced me to undergo heart by-pass operation. I do have this asthma attack frequently,
especially because the weather is very hot.
It is compounded by the fact that I also have reduced levels of stamina
that leads to chest discomfort and pains when I go brisk walking or exert
sudden bursts of energy.
When these things happen to me these days, I
can’t avoid thinking that, indeed, time may be running out for me. Frequently, when I’m forced to simply sit
down and take a quick rest from whatever I’m doing I find myself floating into
self reflection (read, self pity at times), with my head just bowed. Each time this happens, I become a little emotional
because I know I may go anytime and yet I’m not ready to go, not just yet. I feel I have lots more to do in this world
and, for me, it’s also pay back time. But, then again, that’s hardly mine to
decide.
On and off, I’ve done some personal reflection
for quite sometime and I can say I’ve started preparing for the time when I
should go. Still, every now and then, one
can’t avoid some tinge of depression during such self reflection on matters so
close to the end of the line. And sometimes, it's difficult to recover from this.
This very brief personal account is probably grossly exaggerated, and I
might be a bit too melodramatic, because the situation upon which this self
reflection is anchored is simply asthma attack.
But that’s what an asthma attack gives you, which I’d rather not
experience again.
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