sucks to your assmar*

I've been having some trouble breathing since last Wednesday. Nothing too serious, really, just annoying. It started with the inability to complete a yawn, then progressed to not being able to take a deep breath, which interfered with sleeping and caused me to try to yawn more. Yesterday afternoon, I made a doctor appointment for this morning, because it had gotten to the point where I could breathe normally for 2-3 minutes, then I'd have to fight for one big breath. Then I could breathe normally for 2-3 minutes...lather, rinse, repeat.

Let me just say that I hate going to the doctor. Part of it is that I always think that they're going to think I'm making it up. Invariably, whatever condition I made the appointment for will mysteriously disappear on the day of the appointment, and I'll be left saying, "well, YESTERDAY, it was doing this." And they'll say, "and today, you're completely healthy. It's a miracle. Don't bother me with such trifles."

Luckily or otherwise, I still couldn't breathe properly this morning, though it was just better enough for me to feel neurotic about going to the doctor for it. Then I was late, which was fine because they couldn't find my appointment anyway, and then they did and all was well. I spent most of this morning in the doctor's office, where she was very nice and totally believed me, and I was tentatively diagnosed with something from the family of reactive airway diseases. She didn't think it was asthma, but something less severe, possibly brought on by allergies. I'm supposed to go in for pulmonary function tests and a chest x-ray sometime this week, and I've got a prescription for Advair and a rescue inhaler. She didn't think I'd need the inhaler, but it wouldn't hurt to have it. (She did recommend using it right before exercising, though, to open up the lungs to get enough air.)

On the order for the PFTs and chest x-ray, she wrote a note about my family history of Cystic Fibrosis. This worries me a little, though I'm 99.9% sure that won't factor into the final diagnosis at all. My parents were hyper-aware of that possibility with all of us, and I'm sure we were tested thoroughly for signs of it. Still, maybe my mom having CF would cause us to have a tendency toward lung problems. Who knows? Not me.

I haven't picked up my prescriptions yet, but she was explaining the Advair diskus to me at the office, and it sounds terribly complicated. I'm not much with the hand-eye-body coordination, so hopefully I can use this thing correctly at least once a day (I'm supposed to take it twice daily). Anyone have experience with it?

* Lord of the Flies