Okay...so I know that I "hate doctors"...and I know that I "don't take medicine", but I just may have abandoned my former ways due to a recent series of events.
It all started this summer when I decided that I had had just about enough of this not being able to breathe problem and actually went to an allergist. [I realize this might not sound like a big deal, but I can count on one hand (and not use all of my fingers) the amount of times I've been in an ER of doctor's office in the last 10 years. And they were all out of necessity. I DON'T like doctors!] I didn't want to go, but I was tired of not being able to run or enjoy the outdoors, so I finally bit the bullet and actually used the insurance I pay for!
The doctor, who it turns out is tons of fun and a runner by the way, sent me home with Nasonex and an inhaler. (Yeh, apparently I have asthma...who knew you couldn't cure yourself of such things.) Then a month later, when things were anything but better he sent me home with a trial pack of Singulair. That was three weeks ago...
After about a week on the medicine I realized that I could breathe! Like not just that my nose isn't stuffy and I'm not coughing as much...like I can actually breathe easier. Sometimes you don't realize that your normal isn't normal-does that make any sense?
I didn't realize that I had been working so hard just to actually breathe. It's like when I finally got really good contacts in college and could see the actual thread pattern in my jeans. I had no idea that breathing was supposed to come so easy. And I had no idea that I wasn't seeing what other people were seeing--like my ENTIRE LIFE! I had no idea I was lacking anything, until I had what I'd been missing.
You know, sometimes I think life can be like that. We get caught up in trying to do things on our own and we are just treading water. But then someone comes along (a friend, a family member, a colleague, God, etc.) and lends a helping hand. Suddenly, we realize how hard we were working and how much easier it could have been had we just humbled ourselves and accepted assistance earlier. And sometimes we think the way we see our current situation, our life, or the truth is the whole picture, until someone comes in with a bit of wisdom and all of a sudden it's like someone brought the picture into focus. And we never knew we weren't seeing what was there all along. Sometimes we don't know what we are lacking, until we have what we've been missing.
