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“Asthma doesn’t stop you, you stop you…” What it’s like to be a teen with asthma… Constaince shares her #AsthmaStory
Hi, I’m Connie! Being a 16-year-old with asthma has always impacted my life.
From dancing, swimming, singing and just my family being big on sports in general, asthma has affected everything. It has always been the dark cloud hanging over me and at times I have let it beat me down, preventing me from pushing myself to my true limits.
Personally, when I have a bad asthma attack it then later turns into a chest infection and most of the time, I get pneumonia.
Dancing two days a week for a total of nine hours, my inhaler is my best friend really. After every class, I must take four puffs of my inhaler (at least!) so I can catch my breath. Swimming really helped my asthma a lot with learning how to breathe properly and in rhythm, but as I got older and the demands for squads kicked in, swimming outdoors in the cold just didn’t work for me and my lungs. So, at 13 I had to sadly give it up. I know some other people with asthma can swim competitively – including Olympians – and they are truly remarkable to me.
All my siblings all have asthma. An inhaler is taken with us whenever we go out, in every car, and one in every bag. Asthma has been part of mine and all my sibling’s life and it’s been the norm since day one. I guess there will always be stages in my life where it gets me down, but my mum has asthma too and she inspires me to keep going, reminding us all that asthma doesn’t stop you, YOU stop you.
So, I guess her being asthmatic helps us all. She never freaks out when we have an attack or are hospitalised – that helps keep me calm when I just want to freak out.
I don’t think I will ever not have asthma. I’ve lived with it for this long, I just have to learn to be smarter about never letting it get the better of me.
Asthma Australia would like to thank Connie for sharing her story. What courage you have! Thank you for being a voice for young people with asthma.
If anyone else has interest in sharing their asthma story click here.