[JP-Facebook-Like] Wow…Ive hit the big time! I’m major player now. A force to be reckoned with. At the top of my game. Watch out world, I’m going places now! Today I got one of these… Ben at his finest.That’s right, my blog is finally paying ME! So after 5 years, I finally reached the $100 [...]
From the Archives
I look too Healthy
I get this all the time......... "You look so healthy" "You don't look like you have a disability" "You can walk farther then I can" "You look amazingly fit for someone with severe asthma" "You make marathon walking look so easy", and so ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Multi-tasking
When you spend as much time behind a nebulizer as I do, you learn to put that time to good use. A back massage, reading a good
Is too much of a good thing, bad?
For 5 years now, I’ve been heralding the benefits of daily exercise in people who have severe lung disease. That message is plastered all over this blog, and I believe is the reason that Ive lived so long. But wait, just as with every other facet of this frustrating disease, there’s a catch 22. While [...]
Born again Respiratory Therapist
Following up on a previous post, I’m happy to announce that the state RCP board has accepted my RCP renewal application. I now have a valid license to practice Respiratory Care in the State of California. Yah….I’m legal again! I have no plans on ever returning to the traditional work force as an RT, but [...]
The letter
I receive of dozens of letters from people living with really bad asthma, but this one really touched me, because the person who wrote it….. is only 16 years old. Hey Stephen, Read your website have to say it was quite intriguing! Just want to say you are a hero and a role model for [...]
Hospital survival Kit, don’t leave home without it.
This is what I call my Hospital survival kit. Always packed and on standby 24/7, my HSK is a small carry bag I keep in my bedroom, that’s filled with everything I might need for a hospital stay. If (or when) I get sick and have to go to the hospital, all I have to [...]
There’s a lot going on in our small airways
You’ve probably heard me talk about the “small airways” in our lungs, but you might be surprised on just how small they actually are. Here’s a color enhanced photo of the inner surface of our smallest airways taken with a scanning electron microscope. The hollow cavities you see are the alveoli ,this is where the [...]
6th incarnation
Unless you’re new here, you probably noticed that I changed the appearance of my blog… (slightly). This is the 6th makeover I’ve done in almost as many years. Hope it looks OK. To be honest, I was getting really tired of all those blue colors in the old layout, and the core theme itself, was [...]
ah….the age innocence
Me and my brother at age 5. Can you tell which one is me ? (girlfriend ) Related Posts:No Related Posts
World Cup Racewalking Championships
Dave Mc Govern who will be competing this weekend at the Chihuahua Mexico. Dave will be doing the 50K race ….that’s 31 miles! I was checking the local weather report for Chihuahua, and the temperature for the 50K at race time on Saturday morning is expected to be 70 degrees F, and heating up to [...]
No Thermoplasty for Steve
Ive been getting a lot of email lately from people asking me if I’m gonna have the new clinical trials phase of this new procedure back in 2006, because my asthma was deemed “too severe” by the study investigators. People with very severe chronic asthma usually have a fair amount of scarring, and some have [...]
My drugs are still in the closet
(Get it?) Actually, I was inspired by Kerri’s messy drug drawer posts, to straighten up my own medicine storage area. ( There’s all kinds of double meanings here) No , this isn’t my medication drawer, it’s my medication ROOM! I have so many boxes of Albuterol/Atrovent nebules.. I could open up a pharmacy ( a [...]
Lessons learned from Boston/
It’s been just over 2 weeks now since I did the Boston marathon, and except for today, which I can’t blame on the marathon, Ive managed to stay pretty healthy. That hasn’t always been the case right after a big race. Looking back on how things played out on Boston weekend, I think the strategy [...]
