Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Asthma

When I was a kid and had severe chronic asthma they didn't have most of the treatments available now. I used an "adrenaline mist" nebulizer that consisted of a glass tube with a hole at one end, a round section with tiny fine glass tubes inside and a small hole in the side. It also had a rubber bulb, and two rubber stoppers. My mother would pour some of the liquid medicine into the small hole on the side and plug the small hole with the stopper. To use the nebulizer I'd remove the big stopper from the end of the tube, place the open part in my mouth, and squeeze the bulb. Some of the medicine would become a fine spray, which I'd breathe into my lungs.
Since my asthma was severe I had to carry the nebulizer with me all the time, and that wasn't easy for a kid to do. It was about ten inches long, fragile, and if one of the stoppers got loose the medicine would leak out. But to me, it was worth it. When my wheezing was intense the relief the nebulizer provided seemed like a life saver, and perhaps it actually was since my asthma was so bad.
I haven't needed that contraption in decades, but I keep it in a box of sentimental things because it meant so much to me when I needed it.

1 comment:

  1. Oh Gosh, Janet. Asthma is so awful. I used to get it pretty bad in the srping, but it's better now. Somehow I've become more immune to spring allergies over time.

    ReplyDelete