Breathing

A note on a protracted illness.

I have since mid-December struggled mightily with tenacious bacterial lung infections and with resurgent exacerbated asthma that only our congregation, family, and close friends have known about.

I grew up with severe allergies and asthma. There were many emergency rooms visits and several hospitalizations starting at nine and continuing into my mid-twenties. When corticosteroid inhalers came on the scene, they changed my life. 100 percent.

For the next thirty years, my asthma was controlled unless I got a bad infection. If I did, we would throw some antibiotics and oral steroids at it and in a few weeks time I would be fine.

I did not realize until now that my lungs always maintained a bit of inflammation from allergic asthma and as one bacterial infection in late December became multiple bacterial infections by mid-January, I ended up basically homebound and for the first time in 20 years I missed back to back Sundays of worship at Holy Redeemer.

I got a bit better in February and then tanked again, badly.

My internist and pulmonologist were tackling the infection and the asthma with the therapies that worked in the past but I wasn’t getting well. It was decided that I needed a bronchoscopy.

Short story: the infections had “colonized” my lungs and I was 85 percent obstructed! They cleaned out my lungs as best they could (not completely), collected a lot of liquid for testing, and referred me to an infectious disease specialist (to tackle the infections) and an immunologist (to address the resurgent allergic asthma).

Instead of IV antibiotics, it was decided I would go on two very strong oral antibiotics at the same time for several weeks and that worked. I’ll remain on one of them for another week but the infectious disease specialists think the various bacteria are killed off.

The asthma part is also finally getting better. I was skin tested and found to be allergic to dust, dust mites, mold and mildew (indoor and outdoor), and grass and tree pollens. One thing that’s happened in Michigan with our milder winters (the last few years) is that we aren’t having prolonged, deep cold periods that kill off the outdoor mildew, and so that is now a year-round allergen. And that may be a contribuing factor in my case.

I started allergy shots a few weeks ago, and they changed one of my inhalers, and I am certain the prayers of our congregation, family, and close friends have aided me, and for the past three days something is **different** from the past five months.

I am not needing multiple nebulizer treatments and rescue inhaler puffs daily just to make it through the hours and days. I am breathing deeper and there is far less shortness of breath, and my energy for life is returning … slowly.

This has affected all aspects of my work, of course, and every engagement for family and work—weddings, retreats, speaking engagements—all travel—has been canceled … six major moments missed.

I want to ask you to pray for me for something important. A few weeks ago, my doctors felt I would be an ideal candidate for a new biologic called Dupixent. It works wonders for people with seven kinds of servere allergy disorders. I had to be blood tested to make sure I could take it, and after confirming that, we applied to begin this therapy. I qualified and now we are waiting to see if insurance has approved it, and there are encouraging signs but no answer just yet.

It’s been a very odd season and I’ve finally gotten a handle on what’s happening to my body. I now realize that what is often happening to me is an asthma attack like the ones I had as a child, and once inhalers or a nebulizer are engaged, the worst of it goes away. It’s been a big adjustment. Just this past fall, I was swimming and walking and working out hard with a trainer with no breathing troubles.

The hope and promise is that with the new inhaler, the allergy shots, and this new drug, we will get back to what has been my “normal” of controlled asthma. I am starting to trust that that’s where things are going. This kind of disorder definitely has its emotional component.

I believe in prayer and ask you to pray for me and my family, and our congregation, who have all been really great about all of this.

Much love and grace to you all.