Life As An Asthmatic Part 2

Today was one of those yay moments for someone who has asthma. I got a letter from the Vocational Rehabilitation Department of Human Services saying I was finally off the waiting list. What this means in English, for those that don't live in Oregon or in a state that might offer this sort of program, is that what they do is help people who need help getting into the work force again due to various reasons that might have either caused a disability or something related to that. Some of the other things that Vocational Rehabilitation can do is help with getting to doctor's to figure out all that is going on with you without much or any cost to you, give you help on finding a job, classes that can help you with job related things, and other things that I am not sure of since until now I've been on the waiting list. The reason why people have been put on the waiting list is that there hasn't been enough resources especially counselors and time to be able to see all the people they are getting.

I had to call them though because I didn't receive the form I was suppose to send back to let them know I still want the services. No, what I received was someone else's congrats you are off the list. Sort of funny in a way. It made my day after going to a job interview that I did very well at and could do the job very easily. The only bad thing is right now there is no training classes that would work with the bus schedules I have to deal with on taking public transit.

That is one other thing that I have had concern about especially the last few years with my asthma seeming to get worse and not better. Not having health insurance has costed me a lot of things it seems. The ability to try to get my asthma to be more controlled is one of the things not having health insurance has costed me. Another thing, and as ironic as it is, is being able to get and keep a job so I could take care of my asthma. I have had some very violent asthma attacks in my life, some that scared me to the point that I wondered if it would be the last, and ones that I thought that I would have to call the ambulance to take me to the ER.

These attacks that I have had, even if I don't have them that often, is one thing that has worried me at times about getting a license and a car so that I would no longer be on public transit. There are sometimes little things to bigger things I worry about due to my asthma. Everything from being able to get the car and license and being able to handle that even if I was to have an attack while driving, to staying on the job long enough to not only get health insurance but also to just keep a job outside of the house, and to many other things that can cross my mind at any given moment. Asthma is not, and I mean is not, just a only think about it when you are dealing with it at least if you have moderate to severe related asthma. At least in my life, I have seen people think about it beyond just the times they have attacks, especially if they have certain types in order to avoid those triggers that cause the asthma attacks.

Some of the things I want people to learn about, not only about my life with having asthma but asthma in general. People need to see what asthma looks like in it's many forms, what can cause asthma, and how serious asthma really can be. Think about what you might or might not know about asthma. Most have heard the word, but might not know all there is to know about it, or the fact that there are so many types of asthma out there. This time I am going to just go through the overview of what asthma is and the symptoms in the next blog I will go over more of the various types of asthma, what causes it, treatment, stats on asthma, and etc.

According to Webmd online (http://www.webmd.com/asthma/default.htm) "Asthma symptoms, which include coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness, are common in an asthma attack." Some other things, at least from my personal experience of symptoms I have dealt with is also headaches sometimes leading to severe migraines, chest pain related to the chest tightness, and severe tiredness from the coughing and wheezing that can happen from these asthma attacks. According to Webmd what asthma is (http://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/what-is-asthma) "Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways that makes breathing difficult. With asthma, there is inflammation of the air passages that results in a temporary narrowing of the airways that carry oxygen to the lungs. Even though there are seemingly miraculous treatments for asthma symptoms, asthma is still a serious -- even dangerous -- disease that affects more than 22 million Americans and causes nearly 2 million emergency room visits ever year."

This is very important to point out. There are treatments for asthma, there are inhalers, breathing treatments, herbs, and many other things you can do to help your asthma, if you have it, to lessen the amount of attacks. This however, doesn't solve the fact that as it is state on Webmd it is a disease. A disease that affects so many lives in America and those figures don't count those in other countries around the world.

Take a moment now to think wow or anything else that might come to mind. This is a lot of information some people might not be aware of. Another thing to be aware of is the three main features of asthma. Those being Airway Obstruction, Inflammation, and Airway Irritability according again to webmd from what asthma is. That is a lot of information to digest in one reading.

I will close this portion of life as an asthmatic with this: Do you know someone with asthma? Do you talk to them about it? Do you give your support when they are going through their attacks and rough times that come with asthma? Do you show that person you care and love them everyday? Think about those things and the answers until the next time.

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