We now have the second of the three follow-ups for a short series of ‘Pushing the Envelope’ in the travels of life for myself and my lung buddy ‘Lenny’.

We’ve already talked about the flare-up caused by trying to help put out some weed and feed in the yard, followed by another flare-up, though not as defined or aggravated as the first, that came from spending two hours at an outdoor auto show when varies pollens were flying around in the air.

This ‘Pushing the Envelope #3’ will be a sharing of the trip up and back over Friday, Saturday and Sunday to my daughter’s family in north-central Missouri to attend my oldest granddaughter’s graduation.

Graqduation-1

First of all, the trip up took a little over six hours because I was leading the drive for my son-in-law’s mother plus an aunt and uncle visiting from Norway. Did I mention the son-in-law’s mother does not like driving through the big city of Kansas City, so I took a route north of the big town and yet due to traffic difficulties she lost us, or we lost her depending on how you look at it. Eventually, she caught up with us and on we went.

The motel we stayed out was pretty nice, though it lacked a place to hang anything like towels in the bathroom and the beds were so high anyone under five-foot-eight nearly needed a step stool to get up on them.

Unfortunately, I had troubles both Saturday and Sunday mornings when I got up and while I ‘Lenny’ was enough irritated that I took two trips on the nebulizer each day, I was blaming much of it on the weather as Saturday morning we woke to dense fog the likes of maybe 20-yard visibility. Then on Sunday morning, a big storm front was riding in and the humidity was right at 100% for the second morning in a row while the barometric pressure was way above 30.

Both days caused me to feel tired more than normal throughout the day, but as for the weather – I’ve since stopped blaming it all on it and thinking maybe I was being irritated by something the cleaning crew at the hotel was using to wipe things down or clean the linens and towels in. Not sure, just know that by the time I spent time at my daughter’s place I seemed to feel better.

I am sure ‘Lenny’ was agitated a little by the fact that we seemed to be eating none stop during the weekend, with lots of macaroni salad in particular – something which my physician and pulmonologist have both frowned on me eating a lot of.

As for the other worry, the two dogs – a 7-year old Jack Russell and a 3-month old chocolate lab – and how my supposed allergy to them would be affected. As long as neither dog jumped in my lap and only plopped their chins on my knee, so I could scratch the heck out of both of them between the ears and under the chin, we all go along just fine. No sudden runny nose, no itchy eyes and best of all no ‘Lenny’ beginning to wheeze away.

While the trip home was long, especially since I was by myself, thankfully I missed the bad thunderstorms and had an uneventful drive. But as with any long trips and overnights, Monday morning was a drag and my neck, back, and shoulders all felt stiff for much of the morning hours. But the big plus is, my breathing and ‘Lenny’ were all behaving and very much ready to get back into our normal routines – at least until the end of the week when the wife joins me on an all-day adventure nearly five hours away and five hours on a return home all in less than twelve hours. That which will be ‘Pushing the Envelope #4’!!

And that my friends, is where ‘Lenny’ and Me are 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.

ALWAYS REMEMBER > A person without good breathing, is a person with a life of constant caution’, so let’s do what we can, to learn what we can, to improve what we can.

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

(Copyright@2018, CrossDove Writer through wheezingaway.com – no part of this write may be used or copied without written permission.)

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 medical founded information.