Guides and asthma

[watervole]

I've now been along to three meetings wearing my new hat as a unit helper for the local guides.

I've enjoyed it. They're a nice bunch of girls and I like the guiders.  In addition, they really need my help.  One of the guiders is at retirement age and really wants a break.  I'm bringing in new ideas and new energy.

The only draw-back is turning out to be a big one.  The hut smells very musty. I've had to use my inhaler every time I've been there, but last night I woke at 5am with a really severe asthma attack, my worst since the last time I was exposed to fireworks.  I had to go downstairs and take far more medication than is really a good idea and read a book until I was finally able to go back to bed half an hour later.  The asthma is finally starting to stabilise again, but it's been dodgy all day.

If this happens again (I may be able to prevent it by taking a double dose of salmeterol on Thursdays) then I'll have to give up helping with Guides.

Comments

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, could you help out with outdoor activities later in the year? That would be something, at least.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

It might be a possibility, but they really need someone who can be there all the time. It's something to consider if I do have to give it up.

[lara-collins.livejournal.com]

Make the guides clean the place.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

It's more damp than dirt. I have the same problem at my mother-in-law's. She lives in a very old house in an area with a high water-table. If I visit for more than one day in the winter, I get asthma. I always double my medication when going there. (It isn't psychological - she's a wonderful person)

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, that sounds nasty, and something you really can't just press on and ignore. But it would be such a shame to have to give it up.

But, if the hut is affecting you so badly, I wonder whether it will be affecting others as well - guiders and/or the girls. Could you talk to any of the guiders about it? It's certainly worth talking before deciding that you can't do it.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

It's a possibility that others might be affected too.

Heaters

[sweetheartwhale.livejournal.com]

would heating the hut with a portable electric radiator or similar help?. I used to rent a house without a damp course and small electric radiators helped.I had them on all weekend before I moved in to make it habitable.They aren;t too expensive if you keep them on a low background heat.

As Glitterboy said this may be affecting others and is surely a legal Helath and Safety issue?

Re: Heaters

[watervole.livejournal.com]

It is heated to a reasonable level during meetings (and we're after the Brownies, so it's a comfortable temperature when we arrive), but I imagine it would simply cost too much to keep heaters on all the time (it's a fair sized hall). I imagine they have continual low level heat to avoid burst pipes and the like.

I'll ask if others are affected, but I don't feel it reasonable to ask them to heat the building when it's not in use - the environmentalist in me is horrified by the idea.

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

If the building is that bad for your asthma, it's bound to be bad for some others as well. It's a fair bet that some girls who wanted to join couldn't because of this. The same quite possibly goes for other volunteers who for that reason unvolunteered. So it might be good for the organization as well if you bring it up.