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As a teenager my immune system was top notch. Sure, I had a touch of childhood asthma, but nothing could bring me down. I was the kid that could go around licking doorknobs without a care in world because I knew nothing was ever going to happen. Then one day when I was 25 I got sick. I had a sinus infection. I laughed it off. I went about my week as if nothing was wrong because I knew that soon I would get better.
But I wasn’t getting better. I was getting worse. Now I had a persistent cough and I was pretty sure I was running a fever. No matter. I bundled up tight and trudged to work. I had a home remedy I knew would make me feel good, and besides, I knew that soon I would get better.
But I wasn’t getting better. I was still getting worse. Two weeks after my initial sinus infection I had taken the day off from school and called in sick to work. When I finally went to the doctor he was appalled I had waited so long. I was deep in the throes of bronchitis, and on the verge of developing pneumonia. He put me on antibiotics, an inhaled steroid to clear my lungs, and a rescue inhaler. He told me I had succeeded in damaging my lungs. I may have had mild asthma as a child, but now it was severe.
That night I laid in bed, propped up on pillows, and tried to sleep while I felt the fluid flow into my lungs. I had become seriously ill because I ignored a simple sinus infection.
I’ve learned my lesson; I take precautions. When I start to get sick take the necessary medication, and if I start to get worse I see my doctor immediately. I listen to my body. And I don’t like the doorknobs anymore.
