The First Signs – Recognizing Something Was Wrong

Early Symptoms:

• In the early days of my disease, I was in a deep state of avoidance. I was under a lot of stress working 3 jobs, 6 days a week, I had just finished college and working on paying down my student loans. At that time I avoided doctors appointments. I often thought to myself "I don't have time to make appointments or go to them".

  My now husband, noticed that I had stridor, (which is noisy high pitched breathing) and kept pushing me to go to the doctors. I finally agreed to go the doctors, since we lived minutes away from a local ENT. I was getting increased restriction in my airway, when I became nervous or had any anxiety. Day to day activities such as going to the gym or going up and down the stairs became a struggle for breathing.

  Initial Confusion:

• I was not ready to deal with this disease and I was in full denial. I was 24 years old, and it was hard to come to the realization that this was something I could not fight alone.

  Seeking Help:

• It took me about 4 months to get an appointment with the local ENT. They did a scope with a camera by numbing one side of the nose and inserting the camera down one nostril. The end result concluded by the ENT, was idiopathic (meaning they had no idea what was going on), as the month continued the same symptoms started to get worse and worse. I finally felt like "hey this is serious". And I had to push the ENT to do more test's since I was not getting better.

In my next post, I will provide a timeline to include the appointments and procedures that led to my diagnosis. The emotional impact on me, my family and the required support. Lastly, I will go over the information gathered from multiple doctor's.