Hey Chuck,
Liam was born with it.
Wil and I were both diagnosed with it about 4 years ago.
We have way too much experience with it.
I know exactly what you mean about feeling like someone is sitting on your chest. The other feeling I sometimes get when I'm coughing a lot is what I call the "bottle brush." It feels as if someone's taken a bottle brush and tried to clean out my trachea. It's horrible. I am actually on my fifth day of Prednisone at the moment. Billy and I both caught some respiratory cootie -- his stayed in his sinuses, and mine went directly to my chest. I finally went to the doctor last week when Billy could put his hand on my chest and actually FEEL me breathing badly, and the nebulizer wasn't cutting it.
The steroids suck big time. They also lower your immune system, which is how I contracted pneumonia last November. Unfortunately, I've had it many times (especially while teaching), so I know immediately when it's become pneumonia.
One thing I noticed last year (or maybe it was the previous year's bout with steroids and pneumonia)... when I'm on them for more than five days, it actually physically HURTS to come down off them, so just be aware that it could happen. I had no idea what was going on -- thank goodness for the internet!
My advice is to keep an inhaler with you at all times. I think I have one in each of the vehicles, one in my purse, one in my desk drawer, and one in my nightstand drawer. In my case, I never know when it's going to hit, but I've learned to be prepared. Ironically, since Liam had his tonsils and adenoids removed almost four years ago, he hasn't had one asthma attach -- and this is a kid who practically LIVED in the doctor's office for the first five years of his life. Now that we have health insurance, I may try that route, too.
Hang in there, and know that you have tons of support. I'll be happy to share any knowledge and experience that I have with it.
