I am Barely Breathing...

So, the kids are starting back at public school on Wednesday.  Now, before you start cashing in the bets you made about how long I would last, take a look at the title of this post.  That isn't some metaphor, that has been the reality of my life lately.
I was diagnosed with asthma about a year ago.  At the time I was training for a relay and I found that after my runs I would spend a lot of time coughing.  My doctor suggested that I start using an albuterol inhaler before I exercised to open up my lungs and prevent the coughing.  It was great!  I could run and not have the coughing after.  I could also run a little faster.  Things were going well, until after I got back from the trip that I ran the relay on (it included visits to see family as well).  After we got home, I started having honest to goodness asthma attacks when I would run.  The kind where you feel like you are breathing through one of those really tiny straws.  These were new to me.  There was one time that I remember driving home from the gym hoping that I would make it back in time to get my inhaler.  I cut back on my running, which helped, and then I starting having coughing episodes.  I would cough for hours at a time, usually in the evenings.  My lungs would tighten and as soon as I would use the inhaler, I quit coughing and my lungs cleared.  While we were on our anniversary trip, I didn't take the inhaler and had a really bad coughing episode, the next one wasn't so bad, so I decided to quit using the inhaler, and after a few weeks, they went away.
I wanted to start running again, which I tried to do with out the inhaler, but it wasn't working well.  I decided to use it again, but only if I really needed it.  I would simply take my inhaler with me and run, if my lungs started to tighten I would use it.  Starting towards the end of November, things started getting really bad, my lungs felt tight a lot, and I was using my inhaler for more than just exercising.  I went to an allergist.  I have one allergy, and they gave me some steroids.  Then, after Christmas, things got really bad.  The coughing started again.  I was using my inhaler two times a day, and one day three times just to keep my lungs open enough for me to breathe.  I wasn't getting enough sleep and I was coughing all the time, which made it really hard for me to teach the kids.  Finally after a particularly exhausting day, we decided that our game plan needed to change a little.
The doctor's have consistently mentioned my weight as something that I need to deal with.  Weight has a tendency to make health problems worse.  I have worked on it, but I need to step it up.  What I have been doing hasn't worked, I'm still the weight I was over a year ago when I started training for that relay.  It needs to quit being something that I do if I have time.  It needs to be a priority for me.  My weight is really the only factor affecting my asthma that I have any control over and I don't want to live like this forever.  Being in fear of what could happen if I leave my inhaler at home is something that I would rather not deal with if I don't have to.
I really like homeschooling.  We are planning to do as much as we can at home, but sending them back should give me a chance to really concentrate on my health, and make our homeschool something that we do, but that isn't the primary source of their educations.
Bailey and Abigail are both doing well.  Abigail is excited to get back to school.  She's matured quite a bit and I think that she will be able to handle things better than she did last year.  Bailey isn't as sure about this change.  He's doing really well with homeschooling, growing and learning in ways that he is enjoying.  But I'm pretty sure that he will find things about school that he will like as well.
It's a tough decision, but we all think that it is the right one for where we are at the moment.  The past 6 months have been awesome and I'm going to miss those two crazy kids.