After weeks of self-medication, I finally sought the medical opinion of my pediatrician - yes, my pediatrician - on my unrelenting asthma. The type of asthma that I have has been, for years, mild and episodic. This means that I do not have to be on maintenance drugs (unlike my pediatrician) and only has to worry about unusual exposure to dust mites (the main cause of my asthma attacks), sudden weather change, extreme stress and the self-inflicted cigarette treat (only rare, I promise).

Dra. Tababa has been my pediatrician since I was in high school. I had to transfer because my first doctor (and godfather) suffered a stroke and could not continue his general practice. It was also a good move since she was also an asthmatic and viewed asthma medication as a way of life. Any asthmatic would know the array of drugs out there. Popular are the aerosols with their respective color coding. Blue is for salbutamol (generic name), Ventolin being the most popular but Asmalin being the more affordable. Orange is for Flixotide, usually taken in combination wtih salbutamol. A longer-acting version of salbutamol is Serevent (green this time), having the ability to provide longer relief than the other. And I just saw yet another color from the good doctor - purple. I forgot to get the name of the drug, though.

My present episode did not involve severe wheezing (one that would sound like rattling when inhaling and exhaling) but it did leave my lungs with that familiar tight feeling like they're on suspended animation. I managed to pass the exhalation test she gives me to check my breathing pace. She finally decided to let me continue with what I've been doing for the past two weeks (two puffs of Asmalin every four hours) with Prednizone, an anti-inflammatory drug in tablet form, one to be taken after every meal for five days. If I start feeling a bit better by the third or fourth day, she told me to taper the dosage of Asmalin. Then, I was advised to observe after two weeks if the tightness comes back and, worse, some wheezing occurs. If not, then I'm scott-free. For now.

Unfortunately, my present episode has adversely contributed to my already-poor posture. I have to constantly remind myself to straighten my back and do shoulder rolls to ease the ache. The only upside I see in all this is the bedroom voice that I have right now. Oh, who am I kidding? My voice's pitch is so low even I scare myself.

So my present enemies are: AVRs 2 & 3 at Old Hum; the dirty whiteboard erasers in both rooms; my room after being cleaned. Oy.