I developed asthma after a strange respiratory illness in medical school.
To this day, nobody knows exactly what caused it because I never went to the doctor. (I come from a family that doesn’t go to the doctor unless you are knocking on death’s door, literally.)
Years later, I still live with the aftermath.
I call it “Long Whatever.”
It is a lot better now than it originally was (due to an approach that involves a mix of convention and quackery) though there is one time of the month that I have to be careful: When I get my period. I don’t use my inhaler much anymore, except during that time…I know I need to be extra careful.
In this first Eeks Speakeasy episode, I talk about living with asthma, the strange relationship between panic and breathing, carrying a rescue inhaler everywhere, getting through an asthma attack in a pet store, why my dog Barnaby is definitely not a medical alert dog, and how a bathroom code somehow became the most useful thing anyone could have offered me.
Along the way, I touch on long-haul illness, perimenstrual asthma, American healthcare, helping strangers, and the increasingly long checklist required to leave the house as an adult.
Listen below.
Topics discussed:
Asthma attacks, living with ashtma, long-haul illness, perimenstrual asthma, anxiety and asthma, asthma first aid, rescue inhalers, health and aging, American healthcare, human behavior, and Barnaby.
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