Me again! OK, so I promised an update on yesterday's MD appointment -- here we go!
The appointment started off like any other - weight, BP, pulse etc. Then things got interesting.
My wonderful doctor (seriously, she's the best, if anyone in the Unionville area is looking for a new doctor, I'm always happy to recommend her practice) pulled this little gizmo out of her pocket and hooked it up to the computer while handing me the other end. It's called a spirometer and was used to measure the volume of air inhaled and exhaled. Of course it would be harder to detect exercise induced asthma without having me run, but she told me that if I have that it is likely that I have some in everyday life that will be detected that I just don't notice.
The results are instantly up on the laptop screen and after three huge breaths in and out it shows that I have the lungs of a 24-year-old (I'm 31, by the way). Score! The doctor then says "Wow, that's great! I'm betting you don't have asthma, but let's continue just in case."
So, the next step was to do a nebulizer breathing treatment. The nebulizer converts liquid medicine into a mist that you breathe in for 5-10 minutes. It was boring just sitting there all alone with the horribly loud buzzing from the machine, but luckily I had my cell phone and 4 unplayed games of online Scrabble with my husband that needed my attention. ;)
I'm not going to lie, after the nebulizer I felt a little queasy and super-jittery. My doctor informed me that it is totally normal and I'd be OK in about an hour, and I was.
We then repeated the spirometer test. I could already tell that my breaths were more forceful and my breathing was easier (isn't it amazing how you can think nothing is wrong until it suddenly gets better and you're left thinking "how the heck did I function before?). Then the results popped up - this test showed the lungs of a 17-year-old!! Whoa! Who knew?
So, it is official. I have asthma (and the lovely new nickname of 'wheezy' from my darling husband).
The doctor gave me a trial size sample of an inhaler that I'm to use a few minutes before running. So I tried it out last night. Wow! What a difference!
I'm going to leave you all in my dust on Saturday!
OK, probably not, but I'm feeling much more confident now and can't wait for the race, no matter what my final time is!
The appointment started off like any other - weight, BP, pulse etc. Then things got interesting.
My wonderful doctor (seriously, she's the best, if anyone in the Unionville area is looking for a new doctor, I'm always happy to recommend her practice) pulled this little gizmo out of her pocket and hooked it up to the computer while handing me the other end. It's called a spirometer and was used to measure the volume of air inhaled and exhaled. Of course it would be harder to detect exercise induced asthma without having me run, but she told me that if I have that it is likely that I have some in everyday life that will be detected that I just don't notice.
The results are instantly up on the laptop screen and after three huge breaths in and out it shows that I have the lungs of a 24-year-old (I'm 31, by the way). Score! The doctor then says "Wow, that's great! I'm betting you don't have asthma, but let's continue just in case."
So, the next step was to do a nebulizer breathing treatment. The nebulizer converts liquid medicine into a mist that you breathe in for 5-10 minutes. It was boring just sitting there all alone with the horribly loud buzzing from the machine, but luckily I had my cell phone and 4 unplayed games of online Scrabble with my husband that needed my attention. ;)
I'm not going to lie, after the nebulizer I felt a little queasy and super-jittery. My doctor informed me that it is totally normal and I'd be OK in about an hour, and I was.
We then repeated the spirometer test. I could already tell that my breaths were more forceful and my breathing was easier (isn't it amazing how you can think nothing is wrong until it suddenly gets better and you're left thinking "how the heck did I function before?). Then the results popped up - this test showed the lungs of a 17-year-old!! Whoa! Who knew?
So, it is official. I have asthma (and the lovely new nickname of 'wheezy' from my darling husband).
The doctor gave me a trial size sample of an inhaler that I'm to use a few minutes before running. So I tried it out last night. Wow! What a difference!
I'm going to leave you all in my dust on Saturday!
OK, probably not, but I'm feeling much more confident now and can't wait for the race, no matter what my final time is!