The air never seemed so thick. My lungs never seemed so cloudy. Slowly, my breathing was deteriorating, constantly coughing, engulfed in heart pains. Believing that this was just temporary, neither my parents nor I ever took it seriously. I was the only one in my family who barely got sick. This discomfort, however, never seemed to alleviate with time. A visit to the hospital revealed me to bronchitis. My family doctor did his usual: write me a prescription for antibiotics.
After bottles and bottles of antibiotics, I formed a ritual for every third period. Everyday, after 15 minutes of reading enforced by the school in third period, my teacher gave me a bathroom pass. Stay in the bathroom for 10 minutes, 5 minutes stuck to the toilet, and 5 minutes to clean my mouth and calm myself. Throwing up everyday, unable to breathe, with reasons I still don’t know today, made my voice husky permanently due to the strain in my throat. I used to have a normal-pitched, smooth voice, but now it’s huskier than ever. The heart pains? After millions of visits to various hospitals, through tests, my heart was found to be very weak. My blood doesn’t circulate fast enough, which explained my breathing conundrum. My doctor said, “Aside from pills, there’s nothing you can do except exercise”. Entering high school, with one of the main reasons being my health, I entered my basketball team with no knowledge of basketball. Practicing and conditioning every day for 4 years, I experienced a great deal of hard-core exercise. Throughout these years, I had no problems concerning my health. My heart was calmer than ever: no pains, fresh and clear. I graduated, and it was then when I forgot all about my health, convinced that it wouldn’t come back.
Summer breezed by and I had done no physical activity. College began and of course, I never pulled myself to the gym. First year was coming to an end, and my problems furtively appeared again. I went into summer and as my breathing became worse and my heart pains extremely excruciating, my visits to the doctor became frequent with different treatments experimented on me. Sick and disgusted of worrying and visiting the doctors, I heard again that my heart was weak. Pills again. Encouraged to exercise again, I had no idea how I would start without my high school coach. I knew I’d have to do something I would complain about everyday. I began hiking. In the beginning, I enjoyed hiking. As I was forced to go on the days I felt tired, I despised hiking and was angry everyday for having to do what I did not want to do.
But why do I do what I do? To prevent myself from taking pills again. To stop feeling so weak and listless. To never visit doctors ever again. All of these combined discourages me more than a short visit to the mountains. And those times when I don’t have to encounter these moments, my heart is comforted and at peace.
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