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Putting a face on severe asthma
May is asthma awareness month, so I thought it would be fitting to share with you a 6 hour slice of a typical morning in this asthmatics life. No ...
Not just Asthma, Severe Asthma!
Not to downplay the heartache and suffering that people with milder forms of asthma have to sometimes contend with; obviously it's a big deal when you can't breath, but the ...
O2 sats and asthma attacks revisited
After 9 years of blogging about life with severe asthma, I still get a lot of traffic from people searching the web for specific information about O2 saturation and how ...
Air-Trapping
Ive written about this before, but this is such an important an misunderstood topic; one that effects most chronic lungers and causes more suffering than any other respiratory symptom, that ...
What's it like to be intubated for asthma?
The search term "Intubation" comes up fairly often on my blog's traffic logs, so I thought I take a moment to write about it. Lord knows I've had my share ...
My 133rd hospitalization for asthma
My 133rd hospitalization occurred on 10-9-2017. The trigger wasn't the usual environmental allergies or resp infection, this time it was smoke from wildfires that have been devastating portions of northern ...
The evil candy
(The Prednisone Molecule) Thanks everyone for checking up on me. I'm fine! ( well,... almost) I've been out of the hospital for 5 days now, and ...
Macrolide therapy
This past week I started on yet another experimental therapy. This time it's long- term Macrolide therapy using Azithromycin. As an add-on therapy, recent studies indicate that the long term use ...
The wonderful side effects of frequent asthma flares
Think a severe asthma exacerbation only effects your lungs? Check out the photos below. Each photo was taken appx 2-3 weeks after being discharged from the hospital after a serious ...
Exercise like your life depends on it
Everyone knows how important daily exercise is for maintaining good health, but I believe this is even more true when you suffer from a chronic breathing disorder such as ...
The A word
Im talking about the other A word.... ANXIETY As a Respiratory Therapist and a lifelong asthmatic, I know all too well that anxiety and breathlessness usually go hand in hand. ...
Cmon....Thank a Nurse, Thank an RT
As I was mentioning to AsthmaMom, the first rule of etiquette for an asthmatic who has just survived another bad flare and hospital stay, is to thank those who ...
The not so glamorous side of being a severely asthmatic marathon walker
Yeah, I made it to Boston , Ive walked the Rome and Portland marathons a couple times, and yeah Ive been written up in lots of walk magazines and ...
My asthma has changed again
I'm not talking about the disease itself, I still have the classic text book definition of asthma, maybe even to a greater degree than many. What I'm referring to is ...
Steve - 9, Asthma---a big fat ZERO!
This might sound corny, but I feel like Ive just been reborn. On Oct 5th I finished my 9th marathon at the Portland Marathon. If you've been reading my updates, this ...
Tour De Badass YVR
"Badassmatic (adj.): Person with asthma better defined by badassery. Possesses insatiable desire for growth, change and adventure." ( Brought to you courtesy of Kerri Mac Kay)(Part 1 of 8 clips) ***For ...
Treatment overload
Yes, another update about treatment options. Things seem to be changing at a lightening pace now and it's making my head explode. Too much for an over-thinker like me to ...
Opiates and Lung disease
No longer just reserved for severe pain control or to relieve end of life suffering, today a growing number of people with severe lung disease are using opiate ...
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 ...
When did my Asthma become COPD?
Im a Respiratory Therapist who's been in the field a long time, but I was a quite taken aback when my local Pulmonologist blurred out these sobering words... "Your COPD", ...
Breathing Basics ---O2 Saturation and Oximeters
Today's Breathing Basics review is all about Oxygen Saturation and Oximeters. If you have lung disease of any kind, no doubt you've come across the words "Oxygen saturation" or "O2 ...
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 ...
Prelude to an asthma flare
So my asthma is acting up again and I feel like I have the proverbial elephant sitting on my chest. I say my asthma is acting up, but ...
Mike Mc Bride
Think I have it bad? Meet my friend and fellow lung challenged athlete....Mike McBride. Michael has really bad emphysema and has to be connected to supplemental ...
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 ...Must-haves for Badassmatics
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