Hey Chicks!

As you may recall, about a month ago I was at the Pulmonary Clinic getting some breathing tests done to try and determine what the cause was for my wheezing and shortness of breath. The breathing issues surprisingly were not during working out or any activities but more when I was asleep at night is when I would commonly feel it.
As promised here is my update on what is going down with my lungs!

So I went to get a methacholine test done – this is something typical that you get done to see if you have asthma. It is conducted at the hospital and consists of you breathing into a machine similar to the one I had previously and then inhaling some methacholine which is a gas type of liquid which will irritate your lungs and cause respiratory failure for those who have asthma.
This test is broken down into 8 stages, level one being the weakest then going all the way up to level 8 with the gas. If by level 8 you do not have any symptoms then you are said to not have asthma but if you do have asthma then what will happen is what happened to me at level 3 – shortness of breath, no lung capacity and the feeling of a 100lb weight on your chest and lungs!

So it turns out that I do in fact have asthma which came as a surprise to me since I have never had any symptoms in the past – strange right?!

So this got my doctor thinking that it might be allergy induced asthma so off I went to get some allergy tests done. When I got to Dr Lee’s office I thought that this first meeting would be a simple consult and then we would meet again to do the actual tests but surprise out he came with 18 little needles and started to stab my arm! Now, I am totally cool with getting needles, they do not freak me out but OMG this little ones really prick especially down by the wrist – yowza!

After a half hour wait it and a super itchy arm it turns out that I do in fact have allergies to all of the following:
·    Trees
·    Dust
·    Dogs
·    Cats

Dr. Lee then asked if I had any cats or dogs to which I replied yes, I have two rescued cats now which I am not willing to part with – I mean look at them who can kick these two out?!

Sleeping Beauties

So we discussed and the other solution is for me to now have a steroid pump that helps with my breathing, to have an emergency inhaler for, well, emergencies and to keep my cats out of my bedroom so that at night I can sleep a little better.

The only problem with this is Dr. Lee didn’t know that when you don’t let them in the room they spend all night meowing and putting their paws under the door to fight to get it.

So, I am willing to give up proper breathing essentially for my little rescued kitties, that has got to be love right?
Amanda xo