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Shana used to love training for triathlons. As a nurse working in the ICU of the University of Chicago Medical Center, she’d often finish a night shift at 7 a.m. and then squeeze in a run on the lake before heading to bed.

She even completed the infamous Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon—a 1.5-mile swim from Alcatraz Island to the shoreline, an 18-mile hilly bike ride, and an 8-mile run. She’d had asthma since she was a child, but it rarely interfered with her training, usually only flaring up once a year when she had a cold.

Then her asthma suddenly worsened. One night on the ward, she had a bad attack. She recovered, but had another the next day. And the next. Soo

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