2019 Published Articles by Terri Rimmer

Every day since 1992 has been a fight for air, something so many people take for granted, including some of my former friends who I have lost due to not understanding my chronic condition. They don't understand that me being hospitalized nine times for asthma since 1992 means I can't be around smokers, not because I'm a snob, but because it's life or death. This fight to breathe is an every day thing for me and I always have to worry if I'll have enough money to get my inhalers, which has been going on since my 20s. I was officially diagnosed with asthma at 26 close to my first hospitalization but I was suffering from it at age 12 and actually I found out recently that my disease goes back as far as age three when my mom used to put Vapor Rub on me to help me breathe. The only people who know the terror of the possibility of running out of  your inhaler or the panic of getting your nebulizer hooked up in time are those who suffer from asthma and other lung

By Terri Rimmer I managed to stay sober almost seven years, my original sobriety date being Oct. 20, 1988, thanks in part I think because I moved in with my sober sister who made sure I went to meetings.  I got a job, a sponsor, and connected with women in the program, a lot of whom included my sister's friends. It was a long time before the physical and mental craving for drinking went away. But the first five years of my sobriety were miserable because although I worked some steps, I was still acting out in one of my addictions that I had struggled with while in treatment and I wasn't willing to give it up. This other addiction cost me just as much if not more as my drinking did. I still wouldn't let go of my rage or forgive my parents and I actually loved my anger and being in control. I still struggled with God and I was all about image. I did a lot of sponsor hopping and I thought that since I was popular at my home group that was all that mattered. I put