I Know You Like Me

Chapter 26

I Know You Like Me:

Answers:

"Leenah Jung, you have been diagnosed with AATD." Doctor Lee informed her.

Leenah became even more confused. "What's that?"

His answer only made her feel like her whole world was crashing down upon her.

"It's Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. Which is," He hesitated, "Premature emphysema."

Leenah felt herself go into a shock. This couldn't be true. This had to be wrong, it had to be! "I-I don't understand. H-How could I have, AATD? I-I'm young, I'm twenty-seven years old how could I have emphysema?"

"I know this is hard for you but you are in the age group for symptoms to start showing more and progressing." Doctor Lee explained to her in a calming tone, but it didn't seem to help. "Alpha-1 Antitrypsin protects your lungs so they can work normally so without it, your lungs are damaged."

Leenah had no idea what to say. So her lungs were permanently damaged? With her occupation this couldn't happen, it just couldn't. But wait, don't people with conditions like this, die? Isn't it supposed to be a slow and painful death? What had she done to deserve this? She never smoked, she could never be around anyone who did smoke because just a hint of it would make her cough up a storm. She was healthy so why was she getting the short end of the stick?

"Am I gonna die?" Leenah tried to hold in her tears. It was painful to keep it in but she didn't want to cry until she was alone.

"No, you're not going to die." Doctor Lee put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "I was very concerned at first because people with AATD usually contract liver disease but you didn't. If you had, your life expectancy would've been about five years or so. You have a normal life expectancy but unfortunately your everyday life will be limited."

"But, I can't do that. I'm Leenah Jung, I have a group, I have a contract, I've been working all my life to get to this point." Leenah felt her eyes beginning to water as her voice got shaky. "I can't quit, not now."

"I understand that. I always recommend patients to stay physically active, but only with minor activities."

"What should I do then?"

"Like I said, stick to minor exercise and don't exceed over an hour. You can receive some physical therapies to help you if you want, they can also help with your breathing. You'll be on medications to help ease your symptoms to keep them from progressing at this fast rate, but I must unfortunately say that in a short time, you will need to rely on an oxygen tank."

Leenah averted her eyes to her lap. Pretty soon she won't be able to breathe well without an oxygen tank that she'll have to carry around everywhere. Where was the good in this situation? The only good she saw was that she will live, but not in the way she wanted to. "When exactly will that time be?"

"A few months if you take the medication everyday. I hate to say it, but I highly suggest that you not continue idol work. It will only make things worse."

"I understand that, but I can't believe it." Leenah tried as hard as she could to not cry but a tear fell anyway. "I can't right now."

Noah had called her earlier to talk about his diagnosis. He was here in Korea, and this wasn't a topic that should just be discussed on the phone. She had to see him. They had to work through this together and figure everything out.

"I need to call my brother." Leenah stood.

___

"So, you too?" Noah said as he and Leenah walked down the street together.