The only thing I remember is seeing something that looked like a “red box” as the EMTS carried me out of my house. While I was sleeping I had an asthma attack. I was about five years old and it was about the last severe asthma attack I've ever had. My asthma is definitely not as bad as it was when I was five, but I still need to be careful so it doesn’t happen again.

When I was little I never really knew I had asthma, or that anything was ever really wrong. I never understood why I could never run as fast as the other kids in gym class, because I couldn't breathe. It wasn't until I was around five years old and in the hospital, that my parents told me I had asthma. Now I wasn't one of those kids who never participated in gym or sports; I did all of those things, I just got tired easier and always had to have an inhaler close by. I remember always waking up in the middle of the night and and my mom helping me use my nebulizer. My asthma was not under control, but it got better because my parents made sure they were always watching me, to make sure I never had an asthma attack under their watch. I also started asking lots of questions so I could understand why and what was happening to me.

I decided to ask my mom (who also has asthma) what exactly asthma is. She told me its a disorder that makes it harder for me to breathe, that it that causes the airways to narrow and swell. She also told me that kids with asthma can grow out of it too. That maybe as I keep growing older I can grow out of it! But here I am almost fifteen, and I still have asthma.

As of today I still have asthma and still take tons of medication for it. I have one inhaler I take two times a day, an inhaler I only take when I am having trouble breathing and one pill I take before I go to bed. But after having taking all of those meds, my asthma is under control; and I haven’t been in the hospital for asthma since that small incident when I was five. I can still be in sports, run, or exercise and actually breathe well!

The only thing I remember is that red box on that scary night when I was five. Now I don’t ever have to see that box because my asthma is under control! I realized I will be fine as long as I do what I am told and take my medication. Even though my asthma was bad at first if I stay healthy, make good choices, and follow my doctors rules everything ends up okay.