WALKING ROUTE 66

When You Have An Asthma Attack With No Meds

You’re never given a problem without a solution.

I was allergic to cats. Geoff and Sarah have three cats and two dogs.

I am not much of a dog person, but I love cats. You can’t say God doesn’t have a sense of humor.

After a good night’s sleep, when I came downstairs, one of the cats that I had not seen the evening before, walked up and put her head under my hand as I stood in the kitchen and demanded attention.

If you are a cat person, you know they own you. When I sat down at the breakfast table, she disappeared. I made the critical mistake of not washing my hands before touching my face.

Red, puffy eyes with Niagara Falls! Before long, a tightening of the chest and breathing problems emerged. I had used up last of the meds the night before, and getting the medicine was on the agenda for the day. Geoff was kind enough to drive me to the Walgreens on his way to work.

It was 8:20, and the Pharmacy didn’t open until 9 AM. While the eyes were okay after thorough flushing with cold water earlier, the breathing was still shallow and challenging.

You are never given a problem without a solution; I reminded myself. It was time to reach in for the bevy of mental tools I had gathered over the years.

With a combination of affirmations, meditation, and EFT, I was breathing easily by the time the Pharmacy opened. Mind you, this is over the counter medicine I needed, but they wouldn’t sell it to me because I didn’t have a “valid ID.” (long story)

I walked the 1.5 miles back to the house. The exercise and the fresh air helped restore normal breathing. I needed to take the stroller down to a bike shop to see if I can get brakes installed because David Freeze had warned me about the downhill strolling I will be facing in the Ozark Hills which were coming up soon. There was also a slow leak that needed examination.

After a long nap, I was ready for the five-mile round trip. The folks at the bike shop couldn’t install the breaks; the design of the stroller wheels prevented it. They did find a puncture in the tube and put a new inner tube. They lost an opportunity to educate me and sell me spare inner tubes, knowing that I have a long trip ahead of me, and I will most likely need them. The fresh air did a lot of good for my lungs.

Geoff and Sarah had planned for us to have dinner at St Louis’s Route 66 Landmark restaurant Hodac’s Fried Chicken. On the way there, we stopped at the Walgreen’s, and Geoff used his “valid ID” to get the meds for me.

The food lived up to the sign inside the restaurant that said, “Voted the best chicken 25 years in a row.” And there were plenty of leftovers to take home.

I needed to get up early the next morning so Geoff can take me back to where he picked me up for my continued journey.

As I think back and reflect.

Human beings have more control over their health than they imagine or believe that they do. It used to be that science was inspired and motivated by anomalies, meaning, if there was an exception to the rule, it was studied to see what we can learn from it. That is what science is; a study of observed phenomena.

These days, observed facts are rejected rather than studied by labeling them as anecdotal information with insufficient data. Instead of researching and gathering more data to support — or reject it, because there is no money to be made if it turns out to be useful and valid.

The placebo effect is living proof that it is the human mind, not the pill, that cures the ill. I am currently living, for the past five months, with two cats in the house with no need for medication. All we need to do is listen to our bodies and pay heed.

Stay blessed and be happy, my friends.

Day 27: Lesson Learned, Again (Original blog post)

Just for Fun.

Life’s Been Good to Me.

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Rasheed Hooda is a published author, and a regular contributor and editor for ILLUMINATION, a writers’ community on Medium, where writers support each other.

He is a self-proclaimed weirdo who lives a Freedom Lifestyle and writes about related topics — Travel (a top writer), Personal Growth, Freedom, and entrepreneurship. (Get the Newsletter)

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An interview by Dr Mehmet Yildiz