¶ … Chronic Disease on Patients Life Managing chronic disease

Among the common chronic diseases that we have is asthma. Asthma is a disease that tends to be of airways and characterized by variable as well as ever occurring symptoms bronchospam, and reversible airflow obstruction. Some of its major symptoms include chest tightness, coughing, shortness of breath and wheezing. Cause of asthma has been associated with combination of environmental and genetic factors. How it is diagnosed depends on the spirometry, response to therapy over time, and the pattern of symptoms. This paper is based on the interview done towards children who were suffering from asthma in trying to describe these patients experience while living with asthma and what impact it has on their life.

My interview was carried out among children who were suffering from Asthma. They had different stories on the way they realized or came to discover that they were asthmatic however majority realized that they were suffering from asthma through their doctors. One of the child says that he was taken to the doctor for check up after he gradually developed problem of breathing and that is when he was diagnosed with asthma. It was difficult for him to accept that but with the help of his family and his doctor he had to accept and go on with his life as he tries to cope and manage its symptoms such as dyspnea, wheezing, and coughing so that he remain as the rest of the normal children, (National Institutes of Health, 2012). "I could cough all through the night that made my daddy and mummy to be very disturbed waking up to check me asking me how I was feeling." This chronic disease made these affected children to have limitations and social implications to their normal activities, for example they could not run long enough to make them score a point in a soccer game as well as others which involves a run or maybe the annoyed reaction of the fellow classmates when they wheeze.

Asthmatic children are always limited in activities, apart from finding themselves limited in physical activity as running that influences their success in most of the games and activities, they become less good in sports such as cycling and swimming.

Impact on social life

According to these children, they are always ignored or bullied since they have limited physical capacities particularly as they take part in physical education in school. Like during team formation, these children had a feeling that they have less chance of them chosen. There a must visit to the hospital or health care professionals making them miss school activities and sometimes becoming sick when they are in school. They complain of unpleasant diagnostic procedures such as histamine provocation tests, and other treatment procedures that they have to undergo. They feels that they miss essential schooling that makes them find it hard to cope with the class.

Asthmatic children always have to face disbelief of their fellow classmates that do consider their absence from school to be a positive thing but not negative. Some of the asthmatic symptoms such as coughing is not easily kept hidden from the fellow classmates and sometimes results in bullying. Some of them find it uncomfortable to explain the many aspects of asthma not once or twice but many times.

One child explains that "Not once, I was forced to visit hospital first then later is when I go to school but my fellow classmates says it is a liar, I didn't visit hospital, yet it is true I visited hospital."

"My classmates thinks that I am supposed to go home even during school hours that I'm ill and they also think that me I don't have to do maths, some of them think it is fun to have asthma because you are always going to be treated...

They saw use of medication as a negative aspect of asthmatic disease. Nevertheless, the children that I interacted with were positive about their future. Their hope is that an improved medication will onetime be available, acts of bullying will reduce when they are in school, as well as hoping that just like the way they have heard from other individuals that have outgrow the disease. They also encounter lack of concentration in class especially due to the frequent cough.
"...most of the times I have to take my medication but sometimes like don't want to do so, but I have to. And sometime at the middle of the lesson the cough would come as the teacher explains an important point. "...now they are bullying us because sometimes you can't run so fast, but when we are older that will never happen anymore."

The children are ready and optimistic of the future, using example of people they watch from the television who are also victims of the circumstance as from their childhood till know that they are of age but have managed to continue to live their lives despite their challenges and are even involved in some of the games and activities without fear. Though at their age they are still affected by these too often to some extent they have learn to live with it through the help of their parents, doctors, and even their teachers who always encourage them and emphasize to them that they are just like the rest of other pupils and they can continue with their normal activities but with caution.

"...first I was so afraid when after I was checked and informed that I was diagnosed to be suffering from asthma, I asked when will I be well again, everyone hesitated to answer me then I was told that I was going to be well if I take my medication and follow what the doctor tells me. But as times go the same medication was to continue on and my parents told me that asthma do not have a specific cure but if a take care of myself I was to be more better and would disappear."...onwards I concentrated a lot on finding out if people have made it until old age with asthma, what made me have hope that I was one day going to be well is when I watched some people as they became elderly people they were no more suffering from asthma again, this made me to have hope and enjoyed my medication trying to behave normal though sometimes like I was tired f pretending, as the way this people continued with their activities and sports that they could manage I decided to as well try to do so."

Theory of motivation and learning for the management

Theories of motivation and learning for the management of asthmatic patients should be selected and applied with a lot of consideration. Self-regulation as one of them defined as a process of observing, coming up with judgments, as well as reacting realistically and appropriately to an individuals' effort of managing a task. It acts as a means that the patients use their own perception towards what they can do. For instance, somebody with asthma wanting to play basketball figures out that through the help of drug he will be able to make it, therefore he takes the drugs preventively, uses reliever drug after a strenuous exercise, depend on moral support from his coach and friends to achieve his personal goal. Such person learns which strategies tend to be effective through self-regulation.

Indeed theory of…