by Deborah Messner

Created on: July 02, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I was diagnosed with asthma when I was about nine years old, back in the 1980's, long before the disease was a common household phrase. Having spent so much of my childhood sick, in an emergency room, or in a hospital, the new diagnosis really didn't seem to bother me much. In addition to everything else, I now had an inhaler, and a whole new set of instructions to follow. When you're a kid, you have way too many other things to focus on than a sickness like that.

I remember as a kid having a really rough time in gym class, and my classmates not really understanding that it wasn't my fault that I couldn't keep up with them very easily. Back in those days, having an asthmatic classmate wasn't necessarily as 'normal' as it is today. Asthma was a very misunderstood disease, and everyone seemed to think that you used the wheezing and coughing as an excuse to get out of doing certain activities.

As I grew older, I also grew out of a lot of the constant ear infections, allergies to everything, and lingering bouts of strep throat. Because of the steroids and other medications that I had to take for my lung health, I had gained quite a bit of weight, which exacerbated the breathing issues. When I was about 13 years old, I decided that I wanted to show horses, and that I wasn't going to let a little thing like asthma get in my way.

Everyone deals with the disease' of asthma differently. While my parents worried constantly about my health, I embarked on a path to become an athlete instead of a sick kid with asthma. I started exercising as much as my lungs would allow. I worked through my asthma attacks, and carefully learned where my limits were. Sure, I had my inhaler with me at all times, and I probably provoked a lot more attacks than I prevented. But I didn't want to let asthma stop me from doing what I truly loved to do. I vowed to find a way.

I am now 32 years old, and I never did grow out' of asthma, as I hoped I would. Over the years, I have probably seen more asthma doctors, taken more medications, and lung capacity tests, and gone through more prescription inhalers than I ever dreamed I would allow myself to endure. As an adult, I have made several decisions concerning my condition that I have adhered to as much as possible since my childhood diagnosis.

I became the athlete that I wanted to be, despite the asthma. I'm a National and World-ranked equestrian who has definitely lived my dream training and competing with horses all over the country. I am very fortunate

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