My story is fairly simple when it comes to my asthma. Bad air = active asthma. Nothing more, nothing less. So when I have to go outside, whether that be walking to my next class or simply just walking in general, I am forced to take my inhaler with me.
I remember this one time when I was maybe 6 or 7, and I went outside to play. I was out there for around 15 minutes before I started noticing how "dirty" the air was. Imagine a black cloud of smoke filled with the scent of dirt and cigarette smoke. That is what I smelled, but it did nothing to me, so I brushed it off. That was my worst mistake. I continued to play before I noticed an immediate change in my breathing pattern. It felt like my throat was closing up, and my breath started coming out in short pants and wheezes. My eyes started to water and then the coughs began-- the beginnings of an asthma attack. Fortunately, I had my inhaler with me as I was taught to always keep it on hand, and I was able to use it.
Yet, the point of this story is to give a general idea of how hard it is to simply go outside with this poor air quality. It could easily trigger asthma symptoms, and it needs to be fixed.
