Asthma Stories: Jackie Joyner Kersee

You know, asthma is a health condition that can affect anybody, a child, an adult, someone whose life is pretty average. And even someone who stretches their breathing to the limit, like one of the world’s top athletes: World and Olympic record holder Jackie Joyner Kersee competes in both the long jump and heptathlon; has earned three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals; four World titles and three Goodwill Games titles. She’s also an All America basketball player. All that, despite the fact that since childhood, she’s had to cope with asthma.

Andrew:

Jackie, I have several questions for you that I know are of interest to especially the kids and whether they’re athletic or not who are dealing with asthma. Before you got asthma under control, as a kid growing up, first tell us how did it affect you?

Jackie:

When I was growing up, I really didn’t know I had asthma. And I wasn’t diagnosed until I was between the ages of 18 and 19. I think because of not being able to recognize the symptoms, my family not being able to recognize the symptoms and not having places where they can go like the Asthma and Allergy Fair, that wasn’t available to me as I was growing up. So my parents as well as myself can get the proper education so we could recognize the symptoms and know that maybe I need to go in and get checked out and see exactly why I was breathing hard and why I was having some problems. Because of not having that when I was breathing hard, I thought it was just because maybe I was playing too hard outside or in athletics, I just thought maybe I wasn’t in shape yet.

Andrew:

Would you just find yourself short of breath, or would you sometimes wake up in the night and you were wheezing, or what sort of things would happen?

Jackie:

Yes. Once I was diagnosed, I hardly ever slept through the night. I would wake up between 2 and 4 o’clock in the morning with shortness of breath and wondering what is going on. When I was diagnosed in ‘82, I lived in denial for a long time and I just didn’t want to believe that I had asthma. And I just thought that it would get better you know as time passes. But not realizing I was getting worse, and that’s why I wasn’t able to sleep through the night, because I wasn’t taking my medicine regularly or really acting upon or doing the things the doctor was asking me to do.

Andrew:

And as you did athletic activities, would you sometimes just have to stop, or how would it affect that?

Jackie:

Yes. There were times when I would be able to run a mile without stopping. I could kind of practice, say Monday and Tuesday, workout would go well. Then I’d come back out there on Thursday and all of a sudden I couldn’t do what the coach was asking me to do. And I just still thought that okay I’m just not in the best shape yet. It would get better and I would try to hide behind other girls, thinking that once my breathing subsided and I could get my breathing under control, then I could go to the front and run. But not realizing that I was having problems with breathing and these were just symptoms to let me know that I wasn’t doing the things that I was supposed to do to keep my asthma under control.

Andrew:

So that’s kind of the downside of asthma while you were in denial. Now what about the upside? I believe to have the achievements that you’ve had, you certainly have learned to control asthma, right?

Jackie:

Yes, I had to. Because it came to a point where I had to start respecting asthma like one of my opponents. I don’t take anyone I go up against for granted. I try to get myself in the best shape possible. And that’s the same attitude I had to take when it came to asthma, because it was a tough opponent for me, and it was getting the best of me. And the only reason it was getting the best of me was because I wasn’t doing the little things. It was just taking my medicine on a regular basis, acknowledging that I am an asthmatic. This is something that I’m going to have to deal with probably for the rest of my life, and I have to take it seriously. I can’t afford to play around and laugh at it and find myself in an emergency room and being hospitalized. That’s not a laughing matter. And I’m playing with my life, you know, to be put in a life-threatening situation. But I was putting myself in harm’s way by not taking asthma seriously and not taking my medicine regularly and really causing myself more harm than good.

Andrew:

Jackie, with that vigilance in seeing asthma as an opponent, do you feel that you are running way ahead of that asthma opponent now that you really continue to beat it day after day?

Jackie:

Yes, and that’s the key. And the key is to not to become complacent and not to think just because I’m feeling great that I don’t have it anymore. I still have to stay on top. I still have to communicate with my doctor. I still have to have a working relationship with my doctor. I still have to do the little things. And the hardest thing, I think, for anyone is that once you start feeling good there’s times when you slip up and you don’t want to take your meds. You think that, oh, if I miss a day it’s going to be okay, and that’s not true. You shouldn’t have that attitude. You should just continue to deal and deal and deal, and make yourself much better. Because asthma is a condition that can be controlled. But the control in part is in your hands. You have the control. I mean, all of a sudden, you decide you’re not going to do something, then that’s when asthma gets the best of you.

Andrew:

For kids, whether they’re top competitors or on the sidelines now, should they feel discouraged that they have asthma and that they necessarily will be held back? Or can proper use of medications and working with their doctor really give them a chance of excelling like you have? Or in whatever field they’ve chosen?

Jackie:

I think through proper medication, having a working relationship with their doctor as well as their parents being involved, coaches, the trainers, everybody being involved, that that kid should not be discouraged. They should know that there’s days when they’re going to be able to do things great, and then there are some days where they’re going to have a downside. But that downside doesn’t necessarily mean that you are a failure, that you can’t do something. It’s just that that day, you had a difficult time, but it’s going to be okay. And that’s how it’s been for me. There’s days when I could train really well, and there’s days when I couldn’t train well, but never once did I ever think about giving up athletics or giving up on life. And that’s what I deal with everyday, is that athletics is something that I want to do, but asthma can stop it from doing it. And life, I love living, asthma can stop me from doing it, if I don’t do the little things.

Andrew:

Now, what sort of things do you do, Jackie, as far as medications or the kinds of things you do to keep your asthma under control?

Jackie:

Right now, the medications that I take, I take 2 puffs of Serevent followed by 2 puffs of Flovent in the mornings and then right before I go to bed. And then I use my Ventolin as needed and basically that’s it for me. At one point I used to have to take a lot of pills and now I’m just on two inhalers right now, but the third inhaler, Ventolin, is just something that is as needed.

Andrew:

But you have this routine of the morning and the evening, no matter how you’re feeling, right? That’s your sort of defense against asthma?

Jackie:

No, actually, this is something that I have to do. That’s a part of disciplining myself, to make sure that I take my Serevent in the morning followed with the Flovent, and then before I go to bed. But then I carry my Ventolin on me all during the day. The Serevent and the Flovent, these are preventative and these are medications that will help. The Serevent is long acting, the Flovent I follow that, but I should not be taking those during the middle of the day.

Andrew:

Some people I understand do it when they brush their teeth in the morning and at night.

Jackie:

Basically that’s the same thing I’m doing. Not only put it where you can see it, but you’ve got to be willing to pick it up. It’s the easiest thing to do, but it’s the difficult thing to do because sometimes you don’t want to believe that you need it. And sometimes people look at it and go, okay I just missed a day. And that’s the wrong attitude to have. Put it in a routine, if you have to put notes on the refrigerator. Notes where you’re going too often be. Put that note there to remind you that you take your medicine today.

Andrew:

And you didn’t feel as you got control of your asthma that you were handicapped or that people who were on your teams or your coaches were somehow looking at you in different way once you admitted that you had asthma, did you?

Jackie:

Oh no. I never looked at asthma, my condition, as being a handicap. My attitude was to beat asthma. I wasn’t going to allow asthma to get the best of me. And to me, when asthma was getting the best of me, I was in the hospital, I was being rushed to the emergency room. And my attitude was not to be hospitalized, not to be rushed to the emergency room. To do what I have to do to keep my asthma under control. So I can continue to be a champion off the athletic field. Because as I hang up my cleats, I still would continue to deal with being an asthmatic.

Andrew:

What would you say to kids then who are thinking they can’t do something because of asthma? What encouragement would you give them?

Jackie:

My encouragement to kids that think they can’t, just change that can’t to I can, and find a way to slowly start getting involved in school activities or different activities and not to let anyone encourage them or imbed in their minds that they can’t do something. And that it’s okay sometimes if you want to be a runner to walk and to slowly get into what you’re trying to do. But all those things, it’s okay, you can play and you can do different things.

Andrew:

So even at your world class level, there are days when you may be take it a little easier because you’re acknowledging that you need your control over your asthma is most important?

Jackie:

Yes. There are days when I would have to walk, and the key with that is also making sure that trainers, as well as coaches, understand what asthma is all about too. Because sometimes as an athlete you want to push, push, push. Sometimes you might be pushing yourself to the limit. But if a coach can see that you’re getting tight, that your eyes are welling up and that something’s going up, they will say, no, we’re not going to push this through today. Why don’t you come back, because it’s clearly not your conditioning, it’s more dealing with your asthma. And those were a lot of things that I was faced with because a lot of times I was thinking it was my condition. And then my husband, or my coach would come, no, it can’t be, because the day before you just ran your lifetime best, so how can your body be out of shape?

Andrew:

So, really, enrolling your coaches and your friends as partners and admitting publicly that you have asthma, really allows them to help you?

Jackie:

Right. And that’s key with kids. That’s where the education comes in. And I think that’s where it will be very beneficial if asthma education is taught in schools. Because kids joke with one another and laugh at one another when one is breathing too hard or puffing, thinking, oh, ha ha, look at how hard you’re breathing, and that young person could actually be going into an acute asthma attack. And because they’re laughing and joking, that person might be over there choking, when they should be running to get help for that young person.

Andrew:

Okay. So it sounds like if kids admit the condition they’re dealing with, get a good doctor, and get it under control and enlist the help of their friends, teachers, coaches, that they really can go on and maybe hope to have a successful career whether it’s in sports like you have or in anything?

Jackie:

Right. There’s 15 million of us and kids deal with being embarrassed and I can understand that, but we have to be role models for one another. And as long as we can encourage and help one another in hopes of bringing awareness and continuing education, then we all will benefit from it. The person that’s sitting next to you might be an asthmatic too but you don’t know because you don’t want to talk about it, you’re afraid people are going to laugh at you or look at you like there’s something wrong with you.

Andrew:

Well, Jackie Joyner Kersee, while you’re in Seattle helping so many kids here in our local area here, we appreciate you visiting with us on the Asthma Education Network, and good luck in all your pursuits on the track and off.

Jackie:

All right. I appreciate it. Thank you.