| Welcome
to the world of an Asthma sufferer! |
|
Imagine: |
 | having to use a nebuliser for 20 minutes as soon as you wake in the
morning, and then constantly throughout the day, |
| depending on a massive 1,000 milligrams of antibiotics everyday to
keep chest infections at bay, |
| taking steroids to keep your airways free of inflammation, and then
having to take another drug to prevent the steroids damaging your
bones, |
| spending between 5 and 10 days a month in hospital, |
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|
Mary Lee Ervine is a young
mother from North Belfast who has to go through all of the above.
There are effects on the family too. Mary Lee's daughter Caroline
(8), is too young to understand her mothers illness, but she understands
only too well, the disruption caused to school, social and other occasions. |
|
|
The family have not been on
holiday since 1995. It was that year that Mary Lee developed her asthma,
without warning and without any family history. |
|
| Most people would simply give
up, but to boost the morale of those who suffer from lung and chest
illnesses, Mary Lee has helped to establish the Chest Help Group at
Belfast City Hospital. Chest Help Groups are affiliated to Chest,
Heart and Stoke and are a lifeline for the thousands of people who are in
the same position as Mary Lee and her family throughout Northern Ireland. |
| The NICHSA also funds
locally-based research into Asthma and other chest conditions, but it
costs too much money. Please help us by sending whatever you can afford,
your donation could bring hope to someone who has just been diagnosed with
a chest illness and who finds it hard to face the future. |
| If you're in the peak of
health, it's worth remembering that six years ago, Mary Lee Ervine |
| was someone
just like you. |
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