The story of Rebecca
I was always told I had Asthma so I continue to take my inhalers and at times they did not work. In July of 2016 my Mother called me and informed me my Aunt was diagnosed with Alpha-1 and everyone in the family had to get tested, so I called my doctor and they had me come right in for blood work and in a couple days they called and told me my levels were very low and I had to see a Pulmonologist asap. Of course this scared me so I called my Mother and told her my level was 57 and she informed me her level was also 57. I called and made an appointment with Dr. Ataya and he ordered lung tests and they ruled out Asthma and changed my inhalers and now I am just waiting on things to get worse. My doctor does not want to do any kind of treatment yet and I don’ t understand why. I am constantly getting Bronchitis and taking antibiotics for this and I believe if he would treat me with the right medication I would have a better turn out in life. My Mother’s doctor wants her to start the IV treatments, but she can’t afford them and neither can I. I am about to loose my insurance due to my Husband having to retire because of health issues he has. This has been a very scary and depressing journey so far and I know it is about to get worse. I have been doing a lot of research and watching the videos on the Alpha-1 website and I understand what is going to happen in my future and it freaks me out! I am only 42 years old and have a 16 year old daughter who I have to be here for. I hope and pray for a cure very soon. I want to be an advocate for Alpha-1 in my area because the closest one to me is 2 hours away. Thank you for reading my story.