GETTING SICK IS FRUSTRATING!

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)

Hoping everyone got through the holidays in good shape and without any major or even minor setbacks in your battles with chronic illnesses.

As much as I was hoping for a great start to 2020, I should’ve known better than to get them hopes up too high.

My first five days were awesome as we celebrated a visit from my sister-in-law who lives in Chicago. She gave us a few days where my wife and her ran south four hours to visit my wife’s oldest daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. They then came back to our house and we had a couple of days storytelling and playing games like rummy, banana’s, word-a-round, and farkle.

In and around making all the laughter and memories being made, I kept a promise to myself that I would work hard at getting my step numbers up on a daily basis while watching what I ate to work on getting the weight down and the cardio up.

For the first five or six days it all went great, my step numbers were almost double what my lazy ass was recording most of 2019 and I was starting to get some energy back into my system during the morning hours.

Then that immune system glitch hit me. You know, the one that many with a chronic illness will have – an immune system that can detect and pick up some kind of a bug in very quick fashion.

That was me, within 12 hours I went from feeling awesome to feeling as if someone was poking a finger in my neck every time, I would try to swallow anything from water to solid foods.

The scary part for me was when I not only found myself fighting to get a breath (it felt like someone or something was constricting my airway), I also lost my voice.

After calling and leaving a message for my physician, the nurse called me back and said my doctor suggested I go to the pharmacy and get a ‘nedi pot’ to irrigate my sinuses.

What the hell were they talking about, I was breathing through my nasal system just fine, the problem was in my throat and beginning to work it’s way toward my upper lungs which for anyone battling COPE and/or severe Asthma, is not what you want to happen.

So, my wife goes to the pharmacy and asks our pharmacist about a ‘nedi pot’ and he disagrees with the doctor on the diagnosis. See my pharmacist used to be a physician’s assistant and I used to be one of his patients for years before he decided to concentrate on the pharmacy work.

Guess what? I got worse, so I was able to get in to visit my current physician’s assistant and she said I tested negative for strep throat (lucky me has never had that crap), and that I must have picked up a bug somewhere along the way.

She immediately reminded me that because of my COPD, severe Asthma and chronic heart condition, that my immune system is very sensitive, and it may be easier for me to catch something in passing than other folks.

Yippee, just what I wanted to hear or be reminded of. No wonder I don’t go anywhere any more often than necessary.

I am now on a five-day run of prednisone and not the reducing style of run, my PA gave me 20 MG once a day for five days to see how quickly it can possible clear up my throat and upper lungs.

I still don’t understand why my PA, or their nurses even bother to ask me about whether or not I have ever taken prednisone before. What the heck, have they not ever looked at my file. I mean it’s like seven or eight inches thick and they all have been told the story of when I worked in a fiberglass insulation plant (yep, I know pretty stupid with my severe asthma) for seven years that at times I was on prednisone every two or three months to keep my lungs cleared out. Now when they ask me, I just give them my look of ‘how stupid are you’.

Since I have only taken two of the five tablets, and I know that prednisone takes about three days before you really see and feel the difference – I am still catching myself thinking, why am I not clearing up faster because I hate the pain when I swallow and the coughing is giving me a headache.

Of course, I blame some of it on the weird winter weather we are having as today was the 22nd day in a row that our temperature was at least 15 degrees above normal for this time of the year.

Now we are supposed to get a good solid few days of cold weather (and when I say cold weather, I am talking high for the day in the twenties) and everyone will piss and moan about it.

I recently saw some statistic about the flu, and it is running crazy right now while last year at this time it was almost unnoticeable. Why was that? It was because by this time last year we had at least two cold stretches of five to seven days of cold (below 30 degrees) weather, giving the air to cleanse itself.

Bring on the cold weather, I for one will like it and as I know my human system, it will appreciate it as well.

But for now, time to go drink a glass of orange juice and take a short nap.

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

A REMINDER – Do you have any comments or questions about my postings, then feel free to leave a comment on either at this blog, at the email address of wheezingaway@gmail.com or on Facebook at 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.