Emily                                                             Amanda

Thanks for visiting so that you can learn our stories. My name is Emily. Amanda and I are room-mates in the hospital, and guess what. We both have asthma, and we'll both tell you a little bit about ourselves. First me. I do NOT like people teasing me and calling me names. Sometimes when I have gym I can't play because of my asthma and kids make fun of me about it. Some of them say that I have cooties. I don't have them, whatever they are! And I'll tell you something. I wouldn't tease anyone else if that person didn't feel good. I know for a fact that teasing makes a person feel bad and that's not what I want to do.
I feel much better right now because of the medicines and treatments that I got today and yesterday. If you have an asthma attack, here's what you should do. Try to relax. It really helps you to breathe. Also make sure you take your medicine the right way because that makes a big difference. 
Hi, my name is Amanda and, like Emily told you, I have asthma too. Sometimes that really bugs me, and other times I don't really think about it. I have a lot of friends and none of them ever tease me. See, I am not shy at all...well, sometimes, like at camp I only had seven friends. Most of the other kids were from another school. Here's what I would change if I were in charge of a school. If anyone made fun of anyone else, they'd get extra homework...not too much because regular kids have hardly any. My friend Luis has acute asthma like me. When I have an asthma attack, he knows just how I feel. Acute means all of a sudden. It's an adjective and when it goes in front of asthma, it means that you got an attack of it, all of a sudden. Sometimes you can get better at home and sometimes you need to come to the hospital. Lucky for me that I love the hospital because the people are very nice here.

Don't tease kids who have medical problems!

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Joan Fleitas, Ed.D., R.N.
Associate Professor of Nursing, Lehman College, CUNY
Bronx, New York 10468

Last updated: November 14, 2004