IT’S HOT, HOT, HOT

By Mr. William

It may only be the end of June and the first couple of days of July, but the summer has already swung its ugly side at my path of life when it became hot, hot, hot this past weekend.

            Anyone who is fighting a disease such as COPD or severe Asthma knows that heat, humidity and a rise in the barometric pressure can cause problems as we try and go about out days.

            This past week the heat had settled in our area of the country and despite not even being home, I paid a price for it as the heat was beating down on the world even where I was at.

            I left my comfort of home in Kansas to spend a few days in my old stomping grounds of Lincoln, Nebraska with idea I could catch up with friends from my past.

            While the heat had already started to set in on Thursday, my trip up to Lincoln went well because I had made sure the air conditioner in my car was working and working well.

            After stopping to see some dear friends in a small town just south of my destination, I carried onward to meet up with a couple of lifelong friends at the Valentino’s Buffett – where pizza, pasta and more doesn’t get much better than there.

            After spending a long evening spewing out stories of days gone by and sharing updates on life as we all know it now, the evening came to an end and I headed to my brother’s retirement home in a tiny little community that was maybe 10 minutes outside of Lincoln.

            That was where the heat of the day first struck me as the room I was staying in had huge, huge windows facing west and soaking up all the heat from the sun as it slowly settled into the horizon, all of which made the room very warm and very, very stuffy. Even with the ceiling fan going (of course the room at like 10-foot ceilings), the room did not fully cool down for at least a couple of hours.

            On Friday, I spent much of my day roaming around the old neighborhoods where I grew up while having person, upon person, I was hoping to see not being available. The daughter of my childhood neighbor was home, so I stopped to see her and the widow of her older brother as well.

            One thing you can count on with folks in the mid-70’s and beyond – they will have their thermostat set somewhere in the low to mid-70’s!! Loved the catching up with the ladies, but my body did not take too well to the heat of the house.

            With it needing to be a full cross town drive to visit a couple of other friends, I instead knew my body and Lenny in particular were begging me to get in out of the heat so I stopped and spent some time at a Barnes & Noble Bookstore while waiting to hear from my sister-in-law as to where to meet them for supper.

            After supper we went back to the house, by which time I knew my body was in trouble.

            Then much to my frustration of having issues breathing due to the heat, I discovered that somewhere along the way I seemed to have lost my rescue inhaler while roaming the old stomping grounds. From that point on my anxiety also kicked in and I knew my full weekend adventure was soon to be over.

            The next morning, I called and asked the wife to order me another rescue inhaler, explaining to her what happened, and she did. But opps, my prescription was out of refills on a Saturday morning with a med that I knew I would possible need later in the day. After much help from the local ER doctor and our good friend at the Wal-Mart pharmacy, we managed to get the rescue inhaler refilled at our local Walgreen’s even though I never go there. Thank you, Brent Roberts!!

            I headed home early on Saturday morning, passing up a late lunch with my best from Minnesota who had been in Lincoln for a convention. My body was not feeling well, my oxygen levels were struggling to keep above 90 with the least bit of physical motion and as we who have breathing issues all know – when you struggle with a breathing issue it can feel like you have just run a marathon.

            Needless to say, when I got home and unloaded my clothes bag, my c-pap machine bag, my nebulizer machine and my briefcase – I was struggling hard and plopped in my recliner, where I stayed for several hours.

            It is now three days later since I got home and today, I can say I am finally feeling like I am almost recovered. But it is still hot, hot, hot outside and so I am staying inside with the blinds closed and the air conditioning running full speed ahead.

            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@2019, 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.