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View Full Version : rough draft Asthma section of hsl


Emily
04-07-2008, 06:41 AM
this is just a section of my health hardship. It's a rough draft obviously so it is rough around the edges:)


I was diagnosed with Asthma as a child, and have suffered attacks my entire life. I cannot be in extreme heat or I will have a severe asthma attack. I was born in Oregon, and live in Washington state, a part of the country that is considered the Pacific Northwest. A state that has a very cool climate with lots of rain, and little sun. It is not possible for me to live in a climate of extreme heat because of my Asthma. If I were to be forced to live in Mexico I would need to live near a hospital at all times because I could not rely on prescription medication alone; I would need regular breathing treatments so I could stay alive. I currently take 2 medications for my Asthma. I take Albuterol Sulfate, an inhalation aerosol 4 times a day to keep me breathing regularily. I also take Beclomethasone Dipropionate, another inhalation aerosol that I take 2 times a day to keep me from having an asthma attack. If I do not take these medications I could not breath regularily, and would need to be hospitalized. Because of my asthma if I were to live in Mexico I would not be able to work, go to school, go to the park, or partake in any outside activities. I would not be able to walk my children to school, go grocery shoppping, or even go swimming. I would basically have to live my entire life indoors away from the heat at all times or I would become overheated, and suffer an asthma attack. Because I could not work my family would have to relly only on my husband income. We would not have money for food, or neccesarry things to live a basic lifestyle. If I had an asthma attack we would not have enough money to take me to the hospital. It is imparitive that I live in a climate that is cool, with a consitant low heat. Unfortuntly, Mexico is just too hot of a place for me to live a fuctioning lifestlye.

NYCwife
04-07-2008, 07:35 PM
I think I would leave out the hypothetical information and discuss asthma, the disease, symptoms and how they are exacerbated by warm weather. Because of this, you are most comfortable and your asthma most stable in the weather of the Pacific Northwest. You are fearful of having to live in Mexico because of the difference in access to medical care. In Washington state, you keep your asthma stable with a variety of medications that may or may not be available to you in Mexico. (you can relate this to your financial hardship/ and/or lack of insurance coverage depending on how you now pay for them.) You can discuss the average temperature and rainfall for the area of Mexico you would likely move to and discuss how this may exacerbate your asthma symptoms and how dangerous that would be.


Good luck with it.

nycgrrl