When Eric Garner was choked to death by a policeman and the video of him crying out: “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe” went viral, I felt vindicated. It took this man’s violent death for America to understand the pain of running out of oxygen and that feeling helplessness when nobody understands and nobody bothers to do anything. Personally, I’ve had exercise induced asthma for many years. Most healthy high schoolers can play basketball for more than 3 minutes without gasping for breath and struggling to even hold their breath long enough to take an inhaler. Although I’ve been going to an allergist and taking quick relief inhalers as needed and twice daily asthma medication, it’s not enough. I can’t run up a few flights of stairs without getting winded. I can’t run on the treadmill (even jogging) for nearly as long as I would like to – and which I know my body could handle if I could breathe properly.

I’m not blaming my healthcare provider – this competent doctor provided me with all available treatment possibilities. On the contrary: what I would love to see is improvements in asthma treatment to help those of us silently screaming (because when you can’t breathe – it hurts too much to talk) “I can’t breathe.”