I have asthma and allergies, not just asthma.

"I feel bad for you," my doctor said.

"I feel bad for myself," I said, smiling.

This was after I told my doctor I wasn't going to be able to go to hunting camp anymore.  He said, "How about if I just prescribe for you a steroid pack.  You can start taking it a few days before you go."

I said, "The problem with that is asthma is only half my problem."

"What do you mean," he said. 

"Well, it seems my doctors of the past always diagnose me with asthma.  They treat my symptoms of asthma.  Yet it's the allergies that mainly trigger my asthma.  If I could avoid my allergies, I could probably control my asthma."

"Oh," he said, as though he had never thought of that before.

"I do give you credit, though," I said.  "You were the first doctor to diagnose me with extrinsic asthma."

A year earlier he told me most of his patients said they had no benefit from Singulair, so he told me I could quit taking it.  After I did my asthma sucked.  I think quitting that medicine was part of my problem.  So since that visit I have not only taken a Singulair every day, but also a claratin.  

Since then my allergies and my asthma have been controlled.  So, I want all my readers to know that for now on I am going to link asthma and allergies together.  I will no longer refer to my disease as asthma.  From now on it will either be allergies and asthma, or extrinsic asthma.  

Yet, to make my point more clear, I think I'll just say: I have severe allergies and severe, persistent asthma.  I have allergies and asthma.  I also believe it's this combination that make me a hardluck asthmatic.  

1200 B.C.: Asthmatic Hebrew Girl

The Israelite children were amused in song as the ladies stood by in delight.  Yet one girl, her name is Adina, does not sing.  She stands near the edge of the woods, leaning against a tree, her shoulders hunched high, her breathing obviously heavy.  Instead of song she mouthes words of prayer to the Jewish God for healing.

How blessed is he who considers the helpless;the Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble.The Lord will protect him and keep him alive,and he shall be called blessed upon the earth...The Lord  will sustain him upon his sickbed; in his illness, You restore him to health.

It's a psalm (Psalm 41:1-3), and she prays it when her breathing becomes labored, which lately was a lot.  She prayed and she stood in the back of the group hoping no one would notice; hoping savta (grandma) didn't notice, because savta surely would pay Adina special attention Adina felt she didn't deserve.

I interviewed Adina for several hours as we walked through the woods.  She showed me her favorite place of worship in a clearing where the sun showed bright and hot overhead.  It was her God peering down upon her, blessing her with His touch.  She knelt in prayer and encouraged me to do the same.  

In a mellifluous whisper she prayed, a psalm of healing (Psalm 57: 2-3):  "I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me.  He shall send from heaven and save me." 

As if on cue a soft, fresh breeze wafts over the field causing the grass and leaves to talk.  "It's our God talking," she says.  She smiles brightly, holding firmly in her grasp the device that saved her, the device that gave her her breath back, the device I brought with me from a distant time, a time when her God, the Israelite God, is still worshiped.  

"Do you not have natural remedies?" I ask.  "Something like that inhaler, something you inhale, that gives you your breath back like that inhaler did. It's a natural remedy.  "

"No," she answered swiftly.  "God alone decides who is sick and who is well.  His people see it as pointless, blasphemous, to take measures that would interfere with His will."  (Prioreschi, vol I, page 520)

"I consider that inhaler," I motion to the blue device in her grasp, "a gift from God. Why don't your people?"

"I guess we are not there yet," she closes her eyes.  "We do have physicians, although they are from distant lands.  They have what you call natural remedies.  They have salves and smoke to inhale through reeds.  Savta has me use such from the chabash (Prioreschi, page 521), although sometimes they make me worse.  I don't want to insult her, so I try to hide my," she pauses as though in search of the best word, "dyspnea as you call it."  

After saying several prayers with her, and listening to her sweet voice sing many others, I was summoned back to the time machine.  On the way back to 2012 I reviewed Plinio Prioreschi's "A History of Medicine, where he listed the following Biblical references to physicians and natural medicine:

And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father...  (Genisis, 50: 2)

And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseases in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great:  yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.  And Asa slept with is fathers, and died in the one and forieth year of his reign. (II Chronicles, 16: 12,13)

But ye ar forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.  (Job, 13: 4) 

Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?  why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? (Jeremiah, 8: 22)

...shall grow all trees... and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (Ezekiel, 47: 12) 

...thou has no healing medicines... (Jeremiah, 31: 13)

...in vain shalt thou use many medicines;; for thou shalt not be cured.  (Jeremiah, 46:11)

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:  but a broken spirit drieth the bones. (Proverbs, 17:22)

It seemed a lengthy task finding the above references on my own, so I referenced Plinio Prioreschi's book, "A History of Medicine," volume I, pages 516 and 521 for the above Biblical references.  

We must understand that the Ancient Hebrews, the Israelites, as Adina said, had access to physicians and natural medicine, although they were more focused on using prayer for it's healing purposes.

The reason was, or may have been, because the Hebrew believed God created all things, including health and sickness.  For this reason, to seek a physician for medicine may have been seen as "blasphemous," according to Prioreschi (page 526-7).  Physicians were only sought when prayer failed to work.

This may have been for the best too, as natural remedies were sometimes worse than allowing nature to take it's course.

Many medicines, especially if they aren't prepared ideally, or if they aren't taken by the ideal route, may be as have only a placebo effect, just as a prayer.  In this sense, prayer may be better than natural medicine as it has the immediate effect of allaying the mind, and easing the breath in that way.

Note:  Chabash is a Biblical term used for healer (Prioreschi, "A History of Medicine," Vol. I, second edition, 1996, page 460, page 521 in the first edition printed in 1991).  Teruphah is Hebrew for "healing reemedy." (Prioreschi page 535)

Doctor secretaries should be asthma smart

Back in the late 1990s when my asthma was acting up I would call my asthma doctor, and his secretaries would have me in his office in a heartbeat.  If I called, I was seen within three hours. 

Fast forward to 2012 and I can't get an appointment at the same doctor's office.  I find this odd because on their door there is a sign that says: "Open appointments daily from 2-4 p.m."

I was having a true asthma attack, and I could have died.  Surely I could have gone to the emergency room, but I don't want to do that.  Why would I go to the ER when my doctor's in his office?  Why would I go to the ER when I could be saved by a prednisone pack my doctor would prescribe if I could just get in to see him?

I explained to the secretary I didn't even care if I saw one of the other doctors, she still wouldn't let me be seen.  It was frustrating.  Thankfully I work with my doctor and he got me an appointment. 

It seems there's a lot of medical office secretaries that are the same way.  It seems to me there should be some kind of medical training medical secretaries have to go through.  They should know if someone calls and says "I'm having trouble with my asthma," that he should get in ASAP. 

Yet such common sense seems to elude some folks.  Either that or they are told to be strict screeners.  Either that or doctors are busier for some reason these days, and really don't have open spots on their daily schedule. 

I make asthma doctors smarter

I have had many doctors take care of me during the course of my hardluck asthmatic life.  And I can honestly say that just about all of them become asthma smarter because of me.

My current asthma doctor is my latest proof.  Here he's been moseying through his medical practice taking care of your normal, typical asthmatic.  And then, just when he thinks he knows it all, here comes me. He quickly realized he can't treat my asthma the way he treats their asthma. 

If he didn't realize that I'd have another doctor by now.  I don't dink around anymore.  And he also has to realize that I have to have control over my treatment.  It's just a simple fact that either my asthma doctors get smarter, or they get fired.  So far I've only fired one doctor since 1988 (and he actually was fired because he was a prick, and not because he wasn't asthma wise). 

Hardluck Asthma: a top 10 asthma blog

Wow, I was surfing the net and I came upon the top 10 asthma blogs of 2012, and this blog was listed.  I imagine I was informed of this a while back, although I've been so busy working, raising a family, and blogging that I must have overlooked it.  It was over at healthline.com.

I really love what they wrote about my blog:

The asthma dad/asthmatic blogger at Hardluck Asthma keeps the punches rolling. This funny, informative blog keeps readers “Inhaling Lung Wisdom” with every post. He offers personal stories and a thorough, well-researched history of asthma and related lung conditions. One of the most educational and unique blogs on asthma, Hardluck Asthma blends innovative takes on asthma lore with true tales of hard-knock asthma history. From here, hop to the author’s other blogs – all great reads, all with a touch of asthma flair. 

I just want to say thanks to all my readers for inspiring me to go on with this.  Every time I read something like this, every time I hear kind words from my readers (fellow asthmatics and non-asthmatics alike), it encourages me to keep breathing forward. 

I suppose if my blog were a book, this would be a perfect fit for my back cover.  I think I'll have to find a place to stick this in my about page. 

A quote here is fitting.   

Kind words are more effective than the best of gifts, and if you are really concerned, you will give both. (Sirach 18:17)

Thanks everyone, and have a great day. 

Note to self: Yes I still have hardluck asthma

So my breathing is greatly improved these days.  I have come to the conclusion that even a longtime hardluck asthmatic can suffer from the common asthma symptom of: "I felt so good for so long I forgot I had it."

If you have asthma you know what I mean.  You go so long feeling good you start to feel invincible.  You start to do things you know you shouldn't, like mow the lawn without wearing a mask. 

It all started for me in the spring of 2010.  I was feeling great, so I told my doctor I credit him for me feeling better. So by the spring of 2011 my new doctor decided to start tinkering with my medicine. 

He takes me off Advair 250 and puts me on Symbicort.  He tells me most of his asthmatics can't tell any difference with Singulair, and if I want I can start weaning myself off it.  So I do and I do.  I also quit taking my daily dose of Claratin. 

And I do all this for another reason too: money.  The cost of taking all these medicines starts to add up.  If I could just take a daily dose of Symbicort and scrap all those other meds, that would save my wallet some.

Then in October of 2011 I had my worse asthma attack in at least five years during hunting camp.  A few months later I have two more bad asthma attacks doing simple things, like organizing old VCR tapes that probably had more dust on them than I observed.  Then I had another asthma attack while cleaning under my bed and closet. 

For the first time in a long time I was placed on steroids.  For the first time in a long time I had to see my doctor every 2-3 months because my asthma was no longer controlled.  For the first time in a long time I felt like my asthma had the better of me.  For the first time in a long time I felt defeated.

Then October 2012 happened.  I told my doctor I'm going to scrap all the experiments.  I went back on my Advair, only this time it was Advair 500.  I went back on Singulair, only now it was generic and costs much less.  I put myself back on Claritin, the generic form also. 

And, lo and behold, my asthma is back to normal.  I can take a deep breath and not feel the wheezing inside my chest, and the tightness.  I can do things around the house, like normal things, and not be knocked down 2 days to 2 weeks. 

Surely I have also been avoiding things that bother me, like dust.  I have made a gallant effort, once again, to let someone else do the moving of the lawn, the raking of leaves, and the like.  I do as little messing around in closets and under beds as possible.  Although I did do some cleaning in my daughters room (something normal people do) and I didn't have trouble breathing.

Yes, this is a testament of the fact that asthma never goes away.  A gallant asthmatic must never forget he has asthma.  Plus, a gallant asthmatic doctor must also never forget that asthma doesn't go away.  Plus a gallant asthmatic doctor must know when what is working is working, and to leave well enough alone. 

Perhaps we'll call this a good reminder and lesson learned. 

206-220 A.D.: Quack doctors kill people

If you had asthma in Ancient China in the 3rd century A.D. you had access to some rational treatment for your asthma, most significantly Ma Huang, which was an asthma remedy discovered for the west at the beginning of the 19th century.  It's a medicine almost as potent as epinephrine with the ability of quickly ending an asthma attack.

Yet chances are you were very hesitent to see a doctor.  Some historians speculate, based on writings of the era, that many Chinese people feared physicians.  According to Plinio Prioreschi, in his 1991 book "A History of Medicine," "Little is known about the social position of physicians in the earlier times.  We know that later, and throughout Chinese history, they were often the object of derision and scorn.  In the Spring and Autumn Annals of the State of Lu (one of the feudal states in which Confucius was born in 551 B.C.), for example, we read: (Physicians) employed poisonous drugs to expel diseases, hence ancients despised and assigned them a low position in society."

Plinio lists many ancient proverbs that show the inferiority of doctors, such as:

• Doctors cannot cure their own complaints. (Huai an Tsu)
• What the doctor says is all right, but what he sells is false.(Proverb)
• Quack doctors kill people (proverb)
• Do not take medicine compounded by a doctor who is not backed by the experience of three generations.
• Medicine does not kill; the physicians kill (Proverb)
• To take no medicine is the best cure. (Proverb)

However, some debate that doctors were held to such a low status in China.  Some believe these were just proverbs warning people to be careful, and not to seek medicine if they could resolve their medical problems on their own with household remedies. 

If you lived in Ancient China during the Han Dynasties of 206-220 A.D. you would have been wise to be wary of quack medicine, although you'd also be wise to seek a doctor who was knowledgeable of the medicine called Ma Huang.  Hopefully you'd learn to find the plant yourself, to prepare it into a powder, and to mix it into a tea to drink when your asthma acted up. 

Reference:

• Prioreschi, plinia, "A History of Medicine," volume I "Primitive and Ancient Medicine," 1991, The Edwin Mellen Press, New York, chapter II, pages 124-5