“I had to go out and find a primary care doctor at that point because I’d never had any health issues,” she recalls. “It took a while to reach the diagnosis because I was a brand new patient and my doctor had to run every test he could think of until he was able to diagnose it as asthma.”
Struggling to Control Asthma Symptoms
Although O’Neal was prescribed maintenance and rescue medications for her asthma, she didn’t fully understand the condition or take her medication as directed, and her symptoms repeatedly landed her in the hospital. At the time, O’Neal didn’t understand what type of asthma she had — though it was later identified as eosinophilic, a severe form of chronic asthma, and she had only one allergic trigger: dust mites. “I went through years of struggling to control my symptoms and trying to find out what type of asthma I had,” she says. O’Neal even went through a period of chronic pneumonia, and doctors performed a lung biopsy to pinpoint the reason behind it. During that recovery period, one of her lungs collapsed. “It has been a process!” she says. “Asthma was limiting my activities, causing a lot of missed days at work,” she says. “It’s important to adhere to asthma treatment for improved quality of life. Having asthma under good control means you can do a lot more things that you want to do,” says Juanita Mora, MD, an allergist/immunologist in Chicago who runs the Chicago Allergy Center and is a volunteer national spokesperson for the American Lung Association. “I got frustrated and said, ‘Listen, I can’t do this. I’ve got to figure out what’s going on with me,’” says O’Neal.
Seeking Answers, Coming Up with a Plan
As a radio personality, O’Neal’s listeners reached out to her through social media during a period in 2013 when she was hospitalized several times. “During that time, I had so many listeners relating to what I was going through, either through personal experience with asthma or through someone close to them.” Asthma is far more prevalent than most people realize — according to the National Institutes of Health, about 18 million adults in the United States have the condition, and of those, up to 10 percent have severe asthma. O’Neal realized that many people had asthma, but the condition wasn’t well understood. She resolved to get together with those who’d reached out to her once she got out of the hospital. “I figured if we were going to meet, we might as well make it meaningful — let’s throw a little purpose in the party, is what we like to call it. So we decided to meet as a support group.”
Building a Support Network
O’Neal organized a support group called Let’s Kick Asthma under the guidance of her pulmonologist at the time, who served as their medical advisor. They still meet monthly and bring on guest speakers to share information about asthma and answer questions on how people can effectively manage and treat the condition. In 2017, the group received their 503(c) certification as a nonprofit. “In addition to hosting a monthly support group, we also offer outreach for those who are going through an exacerbation,” she says. This includes help cleaning a person’s house or running errands — since exacerbations can sap a person’s energy — as well as financial help with medications. O’Neal’s nonprofit is also getting to the point where they can offer scholarships to students who are studying pulmonary medicine and respiratory therapy. “So we have big future plans for the Let’s Kick Asthma Foundation. I see this thing going national or global because asthma affects so many people,” she says.
Starting a New Treatment
Also in 2017, O’Neal also began taking a biologic medication, a monthly injection that greatly helps control her symptoms. “I do still carry a rescue inhaler as a ‘just in case’ measure, but most of the time it expires before I have to use it,” she says. Biologic treatment can be tailored based on a person’s type of asthma, whether it’s triggered by allergies or eosinophilic asthma. “It’s an exciting time because now we have better medications to control severe asthma,” says Dr. Mora. “Biologics are targeted therapies, and they have changed lives.”
Getting to a ‘Point of Healing’
“People who have severe asthma might think that living the way they do is okay, or have a false sense that their asthma is under control — just because they don’t know how to feel any better than they do,” says Mora. But that doesn’t have to be the case. It’s taken many years of struggling with symptoms — and learning about asthma and how to manage it — but O’Neal feels like she’s in a great place now. “There is no known cure for asthma, but I like to say you can get to your point of healing, where you can live a perfectly normal life even with an asthma diagnosis,” she says. “You can take initiative and do what you need to do. Find out what your triggers are, ask questions, join support groups.” Start by searching for local support groups through the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s website. “If you can’t find one that’s in your area, feel free to join ours — we host Facebook Live meetings as we ask questions of medical professionals,” adds O’Neal.
