COUGHING, CONGESTION, COUGHING, CONGESTION!!

By Mr. William

“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.” (Will Dursens)

            Well howdy dowdy, I caught the crude early this year and it was a dozy for which cost me time, sleep, and peacefulness.

            When one is already battling a lung issue such as COPD or severe Asthma, one does not much care to get the nasty enemy called bronchitis though unfortunately no matter how hard we try it seems to find us, and when it does it can get downright nasty.

            Of course, when you add into the situation a touch of stubbornness and dislike or just exhausting from running to doctors, that is when you run the risk of a dozy dose of that nasty enemy, they call bronchitis.

            About three weeks back, just a few days after I wrote my last excerpt of the travels of ‘Lenny and Me’, I woke up in the middle of the night coughing with a head that felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls which was causing me major issues in breathing with my c-pap machine. I literally went without using my c-pap machine for several days which my doctors would not be happy about, but hey, it wasn’t working with my sinuses stuffed up to every corner and crevice it could be.

            This also meant that I was not getting comfortable in bed, so several nights I spent at least 50% of the night finding sleep more available when partially leaning back in my favorite recliner.

            For several days I tried everything my momma had showed me growing up – you know, the rubbing down thick on the chest and upper back with Vicks, putting a tip of Vicks on the openings of my nose and even rubbing Vicks on the bottom of my feet before putting socks on.

            Guess what? None of it was helping, and no I did not take any over the counter medicines because most of those specifically comment about using if you have asthma or they were too expensive for my wallet.

            Finally, much to my wife’s appreciation and to ‘Lenny’ deciding short of breath was going to be a non-stop episode, I called the doctor much to my wife’s appreciation, and made an appointment to see the PA (physician’s assistant).

            Yep, I was congested but not coughing up anything that looked truly nasty, at least not yet. With that diagnoses the PA asked about any meds I may be allergic to and I told her none that I was aware of but I would not take that z-Pac stuff due to hearing warnings about how it can affect heart issues and those I already had.

            So, after a brief discussion we were put on a reducing run of prednisone, something which years ago I was on nearly every six weeks while working in a fiberglass insulation factory even though I had severe asthma.

            After the four days of twice a day, I was noticing a change, a clearing up of the congestion in both my sinuses and the upper chest. I also noticed as I finished the final four days of one prednisone a day, that I was clear in the chest for the most part but spent at least three or four days having major coughing spells as my lungs seemed to working hard at getting each and every little bity piece of junk or crap out of its system.

            The problem with the coughing was that it made my throat sore and that in turn affected my partially paralyzed larynx which in turn meant I hardly had any voice beyond a very, very soft whisper for nearly three days – good news for those around me I guess, but bad news when you have phone calls to make for a writing project you are working on.

            One thing for sure, that prednisone does the job and my lungs as of today feel as clear as they may ever be, which in turns keeps ‘Lenny’ from acting up and for that I am a happy camper.

            The question is – what should I do about the current stage of having very clear lungs?

            That is an easy one to answer, keep trying to do what I was doing and that is exercise when I can, watch what I eat and drink lots of water. It also means that just because my lungs are so clear and breathable, I shouldn’t just run out into the public and do whatever I want – nope, it means I need to keep my mind, eyes and nose on a swivel to try and protect me from those triggers out there because any of us who battle COPD or severe Asthma on a daily basis no, you never truly know when the trigger will pop up and send my ‘Lenny’ on a rampage of irritation and breathlessness.

            Remember folks, for most of us we are entering the time of the year where the temperature will fluctuate out of control from hot to bitterly cold to unseasonable warm to cold again within a few days or even a few hours. So, keep the mind, eyes, nose and hears on a swivel so that any of those triggers or illnesses don’t catch one off guard and susceptible to having issues.

And that my friends, is where ‘Lenny’ and Me are 4 today.

Like always a few notes and reminders:

If you have any comments or questions about my postings, feel free to leave a comment on either at this blog, at the email address of wheezingaway@gmail.com or on https://www.facebook.com/copdtravels/.

            ALWAYS REMEMBER – 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.

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

(Copyright@2019, CrossDove Writers 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.