Fight for Air

I was diagnosed with asthma when I was 16 and volunteering at an animal rescue center. I have allergic asthma. The medications I took back then barely controlled it, though I only had problems breathing when I was around animals. I had to quit the rescue center and after several other attempts to work around animals, including during undergrad, I gave up my dreams of becoming a veterinarian.

Since I love animals, Kevin and I owned a cat and a dog while I was in podiatry school. I was still having difficulty breathing and was placed on a new medication, a steroid inhaler. My previous medications targeted my allergies and were bronchodilators, or emergency inhalers. The advent of steroid inhalers allowed constant suppression of the inflammation in the lungs that leads to constriction. Now I own animals and exercise and rarely have problems breathing.

I want to support clean air and research for asthma and other lung conditions so I am participating in the Fight for Air Run/Walk. I will be running a 10K! I made a goal to raise $200 so I would appreciate everyone's support. The race is March 6. Visit the site at http://www.lungusa.org/pledge-events/az/tucson-walk/ to sponsor me!

Thank you,
Erika