I went to a respiratory testing facility the other day to be tested for asthma. After about half an hour of what I can only describe as extreme breathing exercises, blowing in and out of a giant tube while sitting in this little space-pod looking thing, the technician determined that I do NOT have asthma. Hooray!! But the bad news is, my severe year-round allergies are probably to blame for my middle-of-the-night coughing and occasional shortness of breath when exercising. Apparently they can cause some of the same symptoms as someone with mild asthma might have. So I’ll probably still have to use my inhaler from time to time, and I’ll probably have to go to an allergist to see what all I’m allergic to and what else can be done. I’ve heard it before that St. Louis is one of the worst cities for allergy and asthma sufferers, and I’m finally starting to believe it. I once worked with a guy who moved here from Texas. He was an avid runner but after a few months here, kept getting sick – allergies he never knew he had, trouble breathing when running, etc. About a year after relocating, his career path took him back to Texas and he’s been fine ever since. He swears it’s this city and the Mississippi River. But since I don’t forsee us moving to a new city any time soon, I guess I’m sort of stuck.
Speaking of running outside, I’ll definitely need my inhaler for the 5K the hubs and I are running in tomorrow in support of the Colon Cancer Alliance. You might remember that my grandpa has colon cancer, though a few months ago he went through surgery and is currently taking chemo treatments to keep it from returning. My team’s captain was interviewed on the local news the other day. You can watch that interview right here. She’s been campaigning for this pretty hard, in support of her mom, and I have a shirt just like the one she’s wearing. I haven’t really trained for this at all so I imagine I’ll have to walk a little here and there. I just hope I don’t embarass myself in front of all of my co-workers.
But... Will There Be Cake? 