Hello, and if you've got this far in reading my first blogpost - I say stick with it, it may get better!
I'm Liz. A woman in her more mature years (you'll note I didn't say quite how mature!) and I've had Asthma for 40 years. (there's a clue - I ain't 40!) That's quite a long time isn't it............ and I don't think it's caused me as many problems as it has done the last few years.
So what is Asthma and what are its effects on me?
Well, it's managed to turn me nicely from a confident outgoing person, who's had some big careers and loves to travel, pretty much feared nothing person into an anxious, often scared person who now acknowledges that having Asthma is actually not 'just Asthma' but a shitty illness that means my whole life can be turned upside down in a very short while.
Someone who worries that 'what if' the next Hospital admission is my last? Will my Husband, Son and family know how much I really loved them? Hence the poor loves can't get through a day, a phone call or a visit that ends in smothering 'love you's'!
My Asthma means that if I'm on steroids for too long I turn into a psychotic, raging bull who will quite likely one day do or say something that may not be repaired with an apology. Ouch!
That plans (often laid down ages ago) can and most probably will be disrupted, family and friends have had to get used to receiving phone calls apologising for my absence.
My Asthma means having an inhaler with me everywhere I go. It means that my calendar is full of Hospital appointments for various check ups. It means that my travel insurance is bloody extortionate!!
In short, having Asthma is an absolute fecking nuisance!
BUT - I am fighting back. I'm educating myself about my Asthma as much as possible.
I'm learning to know the signs that I'm on a downward slope with it. I'm learning to be kind to myself - now, THAT'S been one of the biggest things I've had to learn. I've learnt to say 'yes please' to every opportunity to do fun things RIGHT NOW rather than wait a while.
It's not all doom and gloom, there have been a number of funny moments I'll share with you, some sweary ones and some quite sad ones.
I truly hope that by writing about my experiences in this blog it will help me work my way through this and also help someone reading it, whether that's a fellow sufferer, a relative or a health professional to understand from my perspective what it's like to have Asthma.
Till next time I only have this to say:-
