‘Lenny’ is my constant companion the doctors call COPD/Asthma.  Naming my constant health companion seems to make life easier for me in relating to my disease as it gives it a bit of a personality.  Besides treating ‘Lenny’ as a companion, come good days or bad, is much better than always dealing with it as an enemy.

Let’s see where ‘Lenny’ and Me have been most recently – Darn those scary bumps!!

Within many of my writings I refer to life being like a non-stop road trip, a road trip where the path many times contains some bumps or obstacles that can disengage the trip we are taking for maybe a few moments, a few days or longer.

While I refer to my constant companion of COPD/Asthma as ‘Lenny’, I must never forget that I also have a few glitches in the ticker or heart that can occasionally give me a quick reminder that ‘Lenny’ isn’t the only member of my human machine that can mess up a day in a hurry.

And so, a couple of days ago it did just that, right in the middle of a day I was catching up with my overdue relationship with my Canon (camera).

As I was doing some silly time with pictures around the house, I just seemed to break into a sweat.  Thinking maybe it was because of the humidity due to all the recent rains, I checked the dehumidifier and A/C – nope all fine on both accounts.  So, I continued for a little while longer, that is until I found myself getting just a bit light headed – not dizzy, just light headed.

Here I need to explain, that in the couple of years leading up to my massive heart attack in November of 2012, I had several episodes or spells where I would get very light headed and after sitting down for a few minutes and taking some very controlled breathing measures, it usually went away.

This episode the other day, did not go away and when I checked my blood pressure on the left arm it was in the neighborhood of 181/88!!  Holy mackerel, that’s not good.  So, I proceeded to check the BP using my right arm and now it says it was 133/87, better but not where I was hoping to see it.

After doing some very concentrated breathing and waiting very impatiently for another five minutes, I took another check of the blood pressure and now it was back up to 151/82 which was now making me think back to those moments leading up to my heart attack.

Lucky for me my wife called to check on me at her lunch break, like she does every day, and I asked her if they could do without her as I thought maybe I should go get checked.  So, she came home and we take an exciting trip to the ER – yippee!

For the next 2 ½ hours I spent having an EKG done, an x-ray taken, a reading done of my pacemaker and call to both my doctor and cardiologist only to come up with a pretty solid answer – no idea on what caused the lightheadedness, while being somewhat sure it was not my heart directly.  Oh, and during that 2 ½ hours my blood pressure ran the gambit from a high of 172/85 to a low of 111/59, what a rollercoaster ride that was taking.

So, the bump in the road for the day seemed to prove out to be nothing but, well not sure – nothing but, well go see the doctor on Tuesday and discuss it with him some more.

One thing I did make sure to do was say thanks to ‘Lenny’ for not adding to the commotion and making the bump in the day even more of an inconvenience.

And that my friends, is where ‘Lenny’ (my COPD/Asthma) and me are at 4 today.

As always – if you or anyone you know have any symptoms involving lung and breathing functionality, and they linger over and over while disrupting a lifestyle – then please ask questions and get it checked out.

Remember – ‘a person without good breathing, is a person without a good life’, so let’s do what we can, to learn what we can, to improve what we can.

I bid to all – smiles, prayers, blessings and steady breathing – Mr. William.

(Copyright@2017, CrossDove Writer through wheezingaway.com – no part of this write may be used or copied without written permission.)

Follow all the adventures of “‘Lenny’ and Me 4 Today” at wheezingaway.com or on Facebook at “COPD Travels”.

NOTES: Sometimes we share what may seem like medical information, but we are only giving descriptions and highlights of various aspects of having COPD and/or Asthma and no way do we ever want our information to be considered medical treatment type of information, always consult your physician for more, clearer and more medical founded information.