The following is a perfect example of what prednisone can to an otherwise intelligent and creative mind…… I was at the town grocery store the other day, where I noticed they were having a contest to see if you could guess the weight of this huge pumpkin they had as part of a Halloween display. [...]
From the Archives
Do you know when it's time to go in?
The idea for this post came to me during the middle a recent severe exacerbation. Actually, it was the same exacerbation that put me in the hospital for 12 days, for which I am still recovering. Foremost on my mind during one of these really bad flares is the ...
My Trip to Churchill
My journey begins in Winnipeg (my very first time crossing the Canadian border). Just 2 days earlier there had been a pretty bad snow storm and potential weather delays at the airport were a big concern.Fortunately things worked out and I got there on time without any problems. ...
Asthma guilt trip
How many times have you had a really bad asthma flare, but had serious trepidations about going to the emergency room for treatment? How many times have you felt guilty that maybe you weren't sick enough to be admitted to the hospital? Well, that's pretty much been the ...
Double Whammy Asthma
I often find it frustrating that here I am, a life long asthmatic, a Respiratory therapist and an asthma educator, yet still unable in normal conversation, to describe what makes my type of asthma so different from others. When asked to define asthma in general, I usually give the ...
I'm a recovering Albuter-holic
Rick, the author of the Respiratory Therapy Cave , wrote to me the other day talking about what it was like growing up with severe asthma. One of the things he mentioned that I thought was kinda funny, was how he used to sleep with an inhaler ...
Healing Walks
Carolyn Scott Kortge's new book is finally out and guess who's in one of the chapters? Carolyn contacted me about year ago for this project. She thought I had an interesting story to tell, and that it would fit in nicely with the motivational theme of the book. It's really ...
My New Old Passion
It's actually not a new passion, more like the reigniting of an on again, off again love affair Ive had since early childhood. I'm referring of course to the bass guitar, or for that matter any other heavy string instrument. My introduction into the world of making music actually ...
Boston 2011 Race Report
They don't call it the best marathon in the world for nothing , and this year was no exception. The weather was near perfect and the spectators and volunteers outdid themselves. The moment I entered athletes village and the disabled athletes staging area early Monday morning, my worries and stress about ...
Buried Alive
The photo is from the movie "Awake" , but what happened to me last September was not fiction. It was the real deal. I'll share with you now, what I couldn't 9 months ago because of pending legal action. Ive since withdrawn my lawsuit against the parties involved and ...
A quarter million puffs
Care for some Albuterol? (Hey.....how did the primatine mist get in there?) I sometimes jokingly claim that Ive
Questions for Dr. Wenzel
Last week after finding out just how damaged my lungs really are, the only thing going through my head was..WHY? All of the assumptions I had made about my asthma throughout the years, suddenly didn't seem to make sense anymore. I was beginning to wonder if ...
Asthma Breathing Zones
This is the 2nd installment of my " Breathing, the mini series". This one is more for the non-asthmatics out there, but I think some of our lung challenged friends might learn a thing or two as well. If you hang around asthmatics or browse as many personal asthma blogs ...
#97 , misinformation and a virus from Hell
Battle scars: 4 failed arterial line attempts and 12 failed IV attempts. I have no veins left and my radial arteries are so scarred up from previous insertions, that it's virtually impossible to get access unless they put a central line in. Very frustrating for the doctors and ...
Considering BT ?
As this new treatment for severe asthma becomes more readily available to the general public, I think it’s important that prospective patients arm themselves with as much information as they can about the procedure. A physician by the name Steve Gupta, a board certified internist and an allergy immunology specialist practicing in Southern California, has [...]
Asthma Breathing Zones
This is the 2nd installment of my “ Breathing, the mini series“. This one is more for the non-asthmatics out there, but I think some of our lung challenged friends might learn a thing or two as well. If you hang around asthmatics or browse as many personal asthma blogs as much as I do, [...]
No Cowbells for Stephen
You train hard and wait months in anticipation to accomplish a goal you’ve been aiming for, and then BAM! ….in a matter of hours, a severe
Running on empty
I actually had something else prepared for this weeks post, but since there’s a good chance I’ll be heading to the slammer shortly, I thought Id do a quick update on what’s been happening. If you’ve been watching my sidebar lately you probably noticed that my numbers have been all over the place. Ive been [...]
Asthma guilt trip
How many times have you had a really bad asthma flare, but had serious trepidations about going to the emergency room for treatment? How many times have you felt guilty that maybe you weren’t sick enough to be admitted to the hospital? Well, that’s pretty much been the case for me for as long as [...]
Evening walks.
Heading out for the evening walk. A while back I wrote about some of the night walks we were doing . Well, my partner Douglas liked those night time walks so much , that about 3 weeks ago we started doing something similar on a nightly basis. No, I’m not trying to turn Douglas into [...]
Breathing……the mini series.
I thought Id do something a little different with today’s post and teach some Respiratory Therapy 101 to my fellow asthmatics . A mini series if you will, on topics that I think every asthmatic should be familiar with. Things like.. Dyspnea, what exactly is it? Or, Air-trapping? Or how about, Obstructive lung disease..what is [...]
When the Cows come home
…….Yeah, that’s just about the time I’ll be crossing the finish line at my next race. For my October race choice, Ive decided to go with the Urban Cow Half marathon, Relay and 5K race. Held in an area near the state capital of California in Sacramento, the Urban Cow marathon looks like a fun [...]
Going to Paris this weekend
Don’t I wish……. Actually, I’m going to the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas . I’m finally following through on one of the promises I made to myself the last time I got out of prison, which was to treat myself to a Barry Manilow show if I survived. No front row seats for me this [...]
6 months—Hospital Free!
I hope I’m not jinxing myself by writing this post, but if you’ve been monitoring my little “days out of the hospital” widget, then you know that this week makes 6 months that I’ve been hospital free **YAY!** I wouldn’t break out the campaign bottles just yet, as I still have twice as long to [...]
Healing Walks
Carolyn Scott Kortge’s new book is finally out and guess who’s in one of the chapters? Carolyn contacted me about year ago for this project. She thought I had an interesting story to tell, and that it would fit in nicely with the motivational theme of the book. It’s really cool to finally see the [...]
Fun with Fluenz
If you’ve wondered why I haven’t been updating my blog as much lately, it’s because Ive been super busy with other projects. As strange as it may seen, there’s actually more to my life than racewalking and asthma. One of my other passions , is researching my Italian heritage and learning to speak “La bella [...]
