I was trying, and failing, to stay calm.
I was trying to focus on taking one breath at a time.
The bathroom down the hall looked impossibly far away.
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I turned and stumbled back into bed.
I could get a breath in a little bit more easily if I was lying down.
I whispered my boyfriends name.
He couldnt hear me.
Each Chris that came through my lips was laboredas my chest tightened.
I raised my arm and nudged him awake.
He asked if I was OK and if I needed anything.
Mom, I whispered.
He went toward my parents bedroom door at the same time that my mom was coming out.
It was almost 6 A.M., and she was getting up to walk the dogs.
She leaned down close to me and asked what I needed.
Despite my hesitation, I desperately needed to get to a hospital.
It got to the point where I didnt want to know what would happen to me if I didnt.
She asked if I was sure, and I noddedso she grabbed her keys.
With an arm around me, Chris helped me through the kitchen to the door.
My feet shuffled across the floor; I couldnt find the energy to pick them up.
I tried to take in oxygen, but my airways would only open so far.
Chris was leaning over me, his face only inches from mine.
When I was 12 years old, I remember going hiking and wheezing uncomfortably for much of the trip.
I didpeak flow teststo measure my ability to blow air from my lungs.
I also had mylungs X-rayedand my blood drawn.
I was given an inhaler and told to keep it with me at all times.
My asthma was very manageable as I grew up.
One to two puffs was always enough to reduce my wheezing.
I didnt avoid petting them, but each visit home required a few puffs of my inhaler.
I nonchalantly grabbed my inhaler and took a puff.
But the relief that usually sunk in within a few seconds didnt occur.
After waiting a minute, I shook the inhaler and tried again.
My inhaler wasnt empty, and I knew it wasnt expired.
By the following day, mid-afternoon on Christmas Day, my wheezing had worsened.
All day I continued to puff my inhaler, but to no avail.
I was far exceeding the recommended dosage of two puffs four times a day, but I didnt care.
My asthma was never serious throughout my life, so I tried telling myself that this was no different.
But the next day it was clear that something was very wrong.
Each breath was short and sharp and my lungs seemed like they would barely fill up with air.
Walking around the house exhausted me.
When my mom asked if I wanted to go to the hospital, I kept insisting I was fine.
Itll pass, I said.
I was starting to panic, though.
I told myself going to the hospital would be dramatic.
As the doors slid open and we entered the lobby, I fell from their arms and collapsed.
I was conscious but light-headed and barely breathing.
I remember a doctor lifting me from the floor into a wheelchair.
I relaxed as the tightness in my chest reduced and I realized I would be OK.
The combination created the perfect storm, rendering my inhaler ineffective.
I had my prescription refilled, and within another week I was finally feeling better.
Id dealt with asthma for half my life and thought I knew how to manage it.
So its always better to be safe than sorry, Dr. Parikh says.
A common problem is that people dont always take asthma seriously, she says.
People dont realize it can be life-threatening.
Dr. Parikh also points out that coughing is often an overlooked symptom of an asthma attack.
As for helping prevent an asthma attack?
And when in doubt about whether an attack is serious, go to the hospital.
Anything that seems out of the ordinary should be addressed.
I havent had another severe asthma attack yet, but I now know what Id do if I did.
