A former ballerina has defied death after her doctors ruled out her asthma as “just anxiety” at least “100 times”.
Katie’s asthma was so severe that it completely dominated her life.
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The young woman, now 23, was forced to give up dancing, her dream of being a nurse and her social life after the illness nearly killed her 50 times.
She has since developed suspected post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for fear of suffering a life-threatening attack at any time.
“You can often look death in the face without it messing with your head,” said administrative assistant Katie.
“Hearing repeatedly from doctors that you are anxious when you are fighting for your life is quite devastating,” she added.
Katie reckons doctors have dismissed her asthma as anxiety “at least a hundred times” in the past five years.
“Doctors continued to dismiss my symptoms, even when I was extremely unwell. I felt so invisible and unsupported,” she explained.
Katie’s battle with asthma began suddenly in her early teens, after an active, carefree childhood.
“My diagnosis was a real shock, as I had never had any health problems and dedicated myself to ballet, contemporary tap and gymnastics classes.
“But suddenly, I found it so difficult to breathe. I carried my reliever inhaler everywhere and could never relax.”
For Katie, who has two younger brothers, her entire life seemed to change in the blink of an eye.
“There was definitely life before asthma and life after,” she said.
As her teenage years progressed, Katie was forced to give up “everything she loved” because of asthma.
Too unwell to continue with her beloved dance classes, just getting an education suddenly became a struggle.
“I started my A levels three times and had to give up because I was in and out of hospital so often,” she recalled.
On the third attempt, Katie made the bold decision to move to the Norfolk coast, 100 miles away, where she thought the sea breeze would allow her to start again.
“Traffic fumes are a real trigger for my asthma and I thought less air pollution would help,” she said.
Unfortunately, within three months, she had to abandon her studies and returned to live with her parents, as she almost died three times from asthma while away from home.
My world was getting smaller and smaller
Katya
It was at this time, aged 19, after repeated and often terrifying emergency hospital admissions, that Katie was told she suffered from severe asthma.
An estimated 5.4 million people in the UK have asthma – around one in 12.
The condition affects people of all ages, but it usually starts in childhood and can make breathing difficult.
It is caused by swelling of the breathing tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs as a reaction to triggers, including allergens and pollution.
Up to five percent suffer from severe illness, which can result in shortness of breath, chest tightness and coughing, as well as repeated asthma attacks, which require frequent hospitalization.
People with this form of the disease are more vulnerable to potentially fatal asthma attacks.
Katie can’t say for sure why she developed asthma so suddenly, although she believed hormones were to blame, as her symptoms appeared at certain times of the month.
“We need more research to understand why women are at twice the risk of dying from asthma than men,” she insisted.
“Scientists know that hormones play a role, but they’re not sure why.”
GIVE UP ON DREAMS
Katie was studying for a nursing course at home when she was diagnosed with “severe” asthma.
At the time, she continued to have repeated asthma attacks.
Eventually, it became clear to her that she could not go to university and become a doctor.
“My whole life I dreamed of being a pediatric nurse,” she explained.
“But how could I care for someone else when I was so sick myself? There was no way I could have held on.
“Every cold and virus that came into the ward would completely shock me.”
Devastated, Katie was forced to give up one dream after another.
“I was too scared to leave the house alone in case I got seriously ill,” she said.
“My world was getting smaller and smaller.”
Nights out, weekends away and even brunch with friends were completely out of reach for the young man.
It wasn’t just his own life that asthma was affected.
Katie’s mother made the difficult decision to give up the work she loved in preschool for fear of passing on germs to her daughter.
What’s more, the life-saving steroid tablets the young woman needed to help her keep her asthma under control caused her to pack on 30kg.
“These medications are vital, but I hated the way I looked,” says Katie, who has since lost the excess weight and now only needs to take steroids during a flare-up.
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“I just didn’t look like myself anymore,” she added.
HOPEFUL FUTURE
After years of monthly hospital admissions and panic, Katie’s life has calmed down a bit over the past 12 months.
Desperate for some degree of normality, she adopted a mini poodle.
The pup, named Oscar, is a medical alert dog who barks when he notices her symptoms getting worse.
“He changed the game,” she said.
“I no longer need to depend on other people to go everywhere with me.”
What are the symptoms of asthma?
Most children and adults with asthma experience times when breathing becomes more difficult.
Some people with severe asthma may have breathing problems most of the time.
The most common symptoms of asthma are:
- wheezing (a whistling sound when breathing)
- shortness of breathe
- a tight chest – it may feel like a band is tightening around it
- cough
Many things can cause these symptoms, but they are more likely to be asthma if:
- happens often and I keep coming back
- are worse at night and early in the morning
- appear to happen in response to an asthma trigger, such as exercise or allergies (such as pollen or animals)
See a GP if you think you or your child may have asthma, or if you have asthma and are finding it difficult to control.
For more information about asthma and triggers and to download an asthma action plan, visit www.asthmaandlung.org.uk or call the charity’s helpline on 0300 2225800.
Source: The National Health Service
Regaining some independence was a big boost for Katie, who started working as an administrative assistant at a local school.
Another big breakthrough was getting the right asthma medication.
In October, after a long wait, Katie began receiving monthly injections known as monoclonal antibodies.
These anti-inflammatory injections can be revolutionary for people with severe asthma because they dampen airway responses to triggers.
In the past six months, Katie has only been hospitalized twice, once after catching a cold last winter.
“These medications have changed my life, but they need to be more readily available,” she said.
“Having to fight to breathe is tiring enough without having to fight for better treatments and care as well.”
Biological treatments for asthma are only available to people who have been diagnosed with severe asthma.
You need to be referred to a severe asthma service before you can be considered for one.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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