Medical Mystery: What is EILO? WKYC VIDEO COPYRIGHT

For Maya Austerman, there were other sports to try growing up, but she gravitated toward basketball, spending hours working on her game. "That was basketball for me. I love basketball," said Maya. Recreation leagues, travel teams, and middle school- Maya played as much as she could. Her mother Suzanne Smith thinks it was about two years ago when something changed. She and other parents noticed it, watching from the stands. "I would be watching and looking at her face, just blanche white. She was having trouble breathing. You could watch her hunch over and have a hard time getting up and down the court at her usual speed," Suzanne said. The breathing issues only happened when Maya was on the court, in games or in practice. And the symptoms seemed to appear out to the blue. Maya's symptoms included shortness of breath, chest and throat tightness, wheezing, the feeling as if she was breathing through a straw, and difficulty inhaling. The last symptom is important, as the family would discover eventually. But the first thought was exercise-induced asthma and Maya was referred to a breathing specialist. Tests weren't conclusive. Maya didn't have the classic, tell-tale signs of exercise-induced bronchospasm, yet recommended the teen try a rescue inhaler to see if it offered any relief. It didn't and actually made Maya feel worse.