Coping with asthma is a lifestyle adjustment, an ongoing journey of trying to make it better.Over the past few days I’ve been sleeping little and worrying lots. Lola suffers with asthma, the associated cough is exhausting for me but of course nowhere near as hard as it is for her. I felt compelled to write about how brave she is despite having had 4 hours sleep for 5 nights so please excuse any bad grammar in today’s post!
I’ve allowed myself to get run down this week, several sleepless nights and not functioning properly has a knock on effect, I don’t eat as well as I should and of course my own health then suffers. Yesterday afternoon Lola coughed so much she was sick, that’s normal for her and she just gets up and carries on, she is amazing. I have now developed a cough myself and the pain it causes when I cough is not very nice at all, it’s made me realise how hard it is for her and how much pain she must be in when she is coughing non stop.
You can’t explain this to anyone, if you don’t live with asthma you couldn’t imagine how hard it is mentally and physically for both you and of course your child. I haven’t mentioned before that this is one of the reasons I am on this journey we call Living La Vida Lola; having lived overseas I know what a difference the climate can make. I know that if the temperature is around 10 degrees and damp, Lola will start coughing and as a mother if I didn’t strive to improve her health I wouldn’t be doing my job as a mum.
I often talk of my desire to create a life of our dreams but in reality there is more to it, this is about quality of life and health too and it is why I also want to help others make the choices that improve their lives on all levels. Where we end up will come down to what climate suits us best as well as all the other factors that are important to us, that is why it is a long process. It has to be right. 33% of people who move overseas return home because they haven’t thought the decision through or prepared and researched as much as they could have.
I am so passionate about this that I am writing a book about it. I have lived in several countries and am back in the UK but am still looking for the right place, if sharing my experience helps others it is worth the blood sweat and tears that publishing a book brings! There is always something good to come out of every situation and having the right mindset to make the changes is half the battle, I hope that my book will help some people to achieve the life they’re searching for.
I hope this short pause for thought gives you a little more insight into why I am on this journey, yes I love to travel and explore but it is so much more than that. It is about giving my daughter the best that I possibly can, sometimes I get carried away and my love of research and travel takes over but at the end of the day, it always come back to the reminder that Lola’s asthma is the biggest factor in my quest to find our perfect place.
Thank you for reading, I am now going to do some research about the best climate for asthma in the Mediterranean!
