asthma or chronic bronchitis or ???

Just wanted to let you know that Brad was most-likely misdiagnosed with sports-induced asthma. He went in to the clinic this morning for an unrelated symptom but was also having difficulty breathing. He saw a different doctor than the last time and initially they thought maybe Brad was having an anxiety attack.
Keep in mind that over half of the patients these docs see are probably "faking" to get out of something, so they are a bit hesitant to investigate some symptoms. The doc ordered some blood work and a chest X-ray. He also looked at Brad's X-ray from July and found that he had bronchitis in both X-rays. The doctor thought this could mean that Brad may have "chronic bronchitis." That cannot be determined until Brad goes back in November.
Meanwhile, he was given a different type of inhaler and also Advair. He is restricted on PT (physical training), and is hoping that he will be able to work out on his own in the gym during regular PT times. He is restricted to working out away from dust, and in a warm place. (Believe it or not, it has been chilly here in the mornings.) Regular PT begins at 5:30 am and he will be required to go in at that time regardless of what he is doing physically. He may have to sit and watch everyone else, so you can see why he is hoping to be able to go to the gym.
At this point in time, he is still OK to deploy, but that could be changed at his next check-up in November. Before you get too excited about this possibility, let me tell you that chronic bronchitis is not a good diagnosis. You can check it out by going to webmd.com or by googling it. It was a bit more sobering than I expected. But, on the upside, the number one cause is smoking, so there is a good chance that this is another misdiagnosis.
Time will tell, we probably won't know more about this until November, so we will let you know then what we find out. Until then, we are continuing to assume that Brad will be deploying sometime before the end of the year.