asthma could be the pits in here...

On the lighter side of things, I have noticed that since I got to Buenos Aires I have not stopped coughing. My throat is always itching and feels like it is dry. I drink loads of water, and I take them in sips but to no relief. I have brought my asthma pump medicine with me and BOY OH BOY - what a lifesaver!

I have noticed that the sudden change in temperature, I start to hack. I mean really cough, hard and deep. Then when the rain stops and the seeds from trees fill the air - I hack like a smoker and I am not! When I smell mildew and stagnant humid rooms like rooms without ventilation and air circulation from outside - I feel like my lungs are going to collapse. I take this very deep breath - short and then cough so distinctively like an asthmatic. I know how that sounds - really! I know because I have been an asthmatic since I was a little girl and then it stopped when I went to the the lower southern coast of California. I still had my asthma when I lived in Santa Monica CA.

Now that I am in BA, I must take my pump medicine again - or else I think I am dying. I cannot sleep because of the non-stop coughing. And it is just tough on my back, all that all day coughing. I am looking forward to finding a doctor who can prescribe this pump for me when I am here. I know I will not have this coughing when I go back to SD, and that would be a relief.

Springtime is bad, but so is winter when it is cold and then there is the chilly fall weather that also begins the cycle all over again.

The pollution and humid damp streets with mildewy building can cause and attack and these are everywhere. The bus, taxi and cars polluting exhaust is what is making me cough worst than when I used to smoke. I am not sure when I inhale that smell of smoke in the condo hallways if it is second hand smoke. For a person that quit smoking years ago, I cannot stand the smell of smoke being blown next to me. I am an asthmatic and I have to learn to deal with it when I am in BsAs. I am thankful that part of the year I will have some relief when I am travelling outside of BsAs.

People who never had asthma cannot begin to understand the difficulty of breathing when your lungs and bronchial tubes are clogged. Sometimes at night I am in agony and it pesters me that I do not get to sleep until hours after I've laid my head on my pillow.

I do not like mildew. I hate molds. Dampness and humidity on walls is my enemy. Spores, seeds and pollen allergens are not my friends. Bus pollutions and secondhand smoke is killing me, gently. So here I am with my asthma and it could be the pits when you have it here in BsAs.
And what I am saying here is the truth. People might have some problem with that but hey, they are not the one coughing, hacking and heaving all day long. So I am entitled to say what I am going through as an asthmatic, and it just so happens that my asthma was triggered again when I got to Buenos Aires. It is not BsAs fault, it is my own. I am not healthy enough to fight these elements when they are bombarding me. There it is said. Now excuse me while I cough some more.