Getting to Know Us...Getting to Know
Lots About Us

Joyce

Hi! I'm Joyce
Thanks for visiting!
I love school!
I have to take so many medicines with me
I really enjoy challenging work that puzzles your brain, like math. I think homework is fun, too. When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.When I'm absent, kids imagine that I'm much worse than I am. They stay away from me because they think that they'll catch my asthma. I guess they figure it's like catching a cold, .At Town Wide Orchestra, I had to step down to take my inhaler, because it was so hot in the room. Everybody stared at me. It was so embarrassing!I like to play soccer, and I used to like to swim, but I can't get enough oxygen in my lungs anymore, so I had to stop. I have to take a whole case full of medicines with me whenever I go anywhere.

Peter

Hi! I'm Peter
I love Japanese comics
I've got asthma
I'm a little older than my classmates.
I feel alone because I'm different, but I kind of enjoy being different. I'm a little older than the others. Most everyone thinks that I'm really funny, too. I remember when I had a really bad attack of asthma, I had to go to the hospital. Most of the time, I'm OK, though. I really don't make a big deal out of the asthma. I was very tiny when I was born, and I was told that I stayed in one of those bubble things. Seems like I had tubes everywhere, and something happened to one of my eyes. I've been blind in my right eye since I was a little baby. It's as if one of my eyes is just a decoration, because it can't see at all. Not even pitch black. It's just not there! That doesn't stop me from loving Japanese comics, though! They are remarkable.

Amanda

Hi there! I'm Amanda
Who are you?
Do you have diabetes, too?
Don't you think this is neat?
I've got some condition called diabetes. One of my friends told everyone that you can catch it, and they all ran away from me! The teacher holds my hand going down to the nurse's office when I'm low (my sugar level, that is). It makes me feel stupid.I love soccer and gymnastics, but people are always worrying that I'm doing too much. Really, they shouldn't make such a big deal about it.I have to have a snack at 10:30 in the morning, and kids will say, "you're not supposed to be eating now", and then they'll say, "oh yeah, I forgot". It feels odd.

Terry

Hi! I'm Terry
What's your name?
I am so imaginative!
What do you like to do?
I really like to build things. I made this city in my back yard, sort of like Star Wars. I dug holes, collected worms for it, and have a lot of action figures. It's very complicated. I had a gym teacher once who wouldn't let me get my inhaler. It drove me nuts. When you don't look sick, people forget that you need to do certain things to stay healthy.The thing about asthma is that I know that I'll outgrow it...at least most people do, don't they?I sort of like asthma in a way because you get to do special things...like being chosen to come here, for instance, and getting to belong to the Asthma Explorer's Club....

Brian

Hi! I'm Brian
Can you tell I'm eating lunch?
I am really creative!
Thanks for coming to visit
I'm really allergic to dogs and other things, but dogs are the worst. I can't play in my friends' houses if they have dogs...just in their yards, and I can't stay very long. I really like video games, so my friends always have to bring their games over to my houseKids who don't have asthma will understand about it if they just breathe through a straw with their noses pinched. Another thing they could do is to hold their breath when their friends are having attacks.When I grow up I plan on being a professional hockey player. Asthma won't get it my way, because I always take my asthma medicine before I play, and sometimes after the games as well. It's embarrassing when kids watch me take it. They just look, and they don't say anything. I'm really good at Legos, and I don't even need the directions. I made a great adventure scene around our sandbox. It was very elaborate, with dinosaurs trying to get the good guys. I think that after I'm finished being a professional hockey player, I'll become an architect.

I am NOT made of cheese!
Tap the moon on his chin, and you'll be whisked back to visit some of the other kids!

Joan Fleitas, R.N., Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Nursing, Lehman College, CUNY
Bronx, New York 10468 Last updated: November 14, 2004