My Death Sentence

My first year in the University as a medical laboratory science student started on a refreshing note. The intelligence in me was ready to conquer the department. It started with the flu and a little shiver. I treated that. Then, it came as headache and fever, then flu, and symptoms of malaria. It was one sickness to the other, I was beginning to doubt my genotype. Perhaps, I was SS and the medical report was wrong.It was beginning to get to me, but I had only begun to find out one of many things to regret. I went home after my first year to treat myself. I've always looked forward to going back home probably because my beautiful crush stays there.Deborah is a lovely girl, I've loved her from the beginning of time. She had this small face, sparkling smile, dark pupils, and best of all she was intelligent. Yes, I have a thing for intelligent ladies. It's the umpteenth time in my lifetime that I'm getting to meet with Deborah but it still feels like the very first day. Maybe, she was the reason I felt less sick at home.My second year soon started, and I almost concluded hell was overrated because what could be worse than what I felt? I was so sick, my chest felt tight and heavy, I could barely breathe and I had frequent coughs. I decided to stop playing ball, I was an excellent footballer—I played with so much passion you'd suggest I should certainly go for a football career. Each time I tried to play, I ran short of breath so easily that I felt like I'd die the next minute. I quit morning jogs because I just couldn't, I started to pant heavily after the first 10 steps.It came like Asthma even the physicians thought it was.I was diligent with my inhaler and prescription but it wasn't any better. How was I going to cope with medical laboratory science? It is not for the faint-hearted but my heart and lungs were faint.After a while, I started to feel pains in my chest. I suspected an ulcer. It came as many things except death. Physicians would ask me questions like "do you smoke?". Of course not, I neither drink nor smoke, and I'm the best person to stay away from such, I've not only heard but also seen what it does to people. I've watched my friends transition into sick lunatics. "Do I have inflamed lungs? 

 Why would my lungs be inflamed if I've never been exposed to smoking? Am I just unlucky or is my family cursed?"I come from a family where everyone looked up to me. I was the intelligent one, studying a good course, and I could even pass for the most obedient child. Fear started to set in, with the frequent visits to the hospital, sleepless nights because I couldn’t breathe, and thousands of money for different scans. It was frustrating, I thought about deferring the semester because I barely had time for lectures.Ever heard the word "Google phobia"? There should be a word like that to refer to the fear Google instills in someone. A candid advice from the best of my experience is, "never Google your symptoms, you may die of fear or high blood pressure before the sickness itself". Did I tell you I Googled my symptoms? Oh hell! I did. It made me feel like I was living my last days.Living my last days was a lot of fun, now I understand why those movies with cancer patients have happy mid-stories and sad ends. I remember drinking yogurt till I grew a pot belly. The tiger nuts, coconut, and dates—are my favorite combo. The many things that made me look like a swollen rat. Chocolate cakes and coconut bread, movie nights and dinner dates, sea diving and swimming treats, my guys and I invading the suya spot always. At least, money bought me enough excitement. I still miss those days when enjoyment was at the tip of my finger, whatever happened to all the money I had, it vanished like a ghost because now I’m close to being a church mouse.Well, I was later diagnosed with Emphysema—Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It’s a condition resulting from tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke, air pollution, chemical fumes, and dust, it rarely results from an inherited deficiency of protein. I guess mine came from air pollution because the physicians could barely tell the cause of mine.Emphysema causes breathing difficulties because the air sacs have grown weak and they rupture creating larger holes than the usual many small holes on the alveoli. The surface area of the lungs decreases and the amount of oxygen reaching the bloodstream decreases. For each exhalation, old air becomes trapped with no room for fresh oxygen-rich air because the alveoli are damaged.Emphysema makes up Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. My first heartbreaking news was that they weren't curable. Was I going to live my entire life breathless? Or was I going to live at all?Well, I didn't die and life didn't continue that way. I faithfully avoided air pollution from dust, smoke, and frying stuff, and even stopped taking carbonated drinks. I've got my inhaled steroids and bronchodilators here for the rescue mission. I'm most likely not in good health but I'm not dying. I feel healthier and happier by the day. I didn't go back to playing football, I wouldn't even dare not just for my health but because medical laboratory science is not for the weak, it's for the focused. I've seen better days, I've seen worse days but my worst days are my best experience in life. I watched myself swell in a pool of strength and persistence. I had the best grades in school in my second year. It was my best days; It was my worst day.

  Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is not a death sentence, you can overcome it

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