By William

  One way to cope on a daily basis for those who battle with a chronic illness and/or disability is to have a routine and many times to have someone around to help in that routine.

  I have been blessed for the nearly 10 years in which I have fought lung and heart issues to have had a wonderful wife by my side in helping keep routines moving and the business of my health taken care of.

  Then came five weeks ago, when that very same lady, my wife, who I depend on more than I should, gave me a frantic phone call on her way home from visiting her daughter nearly four hours away.

  She was upset, sick, scared, and was not sure what was happening, but not sure she could keep driving.

  Eventually I found a dear family friend to go with me and we met my wife about an hour and twenty minutes down the road, where we were planning to give her car to our friend to drive home and then my wife would come with me.

  As I pulled into the rest area she was at, I noticed an ambulance, a fire rescue vehicle and a state highway patrol officer slowly going through the parking area like they were looking for someone. They were.

  When I went to meet my wife at her car she noted, “I believe they are looking for me.”

  Her son was so concerned about her that he called the highway patrol for a welfare check.

  As the EMT’s whisked away into the ambulance, they determined she may be having a stroke and told me to meet them at an area medical center some 30 miles away.

  Getting our friend settled in my wife’s car with our puppy, who was so confused as to what was going on, they headed back to our hometown, and I headed to the medical center.

  Needless to say, they found nothing after a little over 24 hours of running tests, though they did conclude she may have had a mini stroke.

  So, the past five weeks have been filled with doctor visits and tests, including my opportunity to be the one waiting for over two hours in the waiting room while my wife had an echocardiogram and nuclear stress test. Interesting that was since I have always been the one being tested while she waited on me.

  At this point, everything is coming out fine. This means if she did have a stroke, it may have been just a small one, so we are all grateful for that.

  We followed all that up with four days of work at the house as people came in and removed a dingy, old, green carpet from two and a half rooms plus a short hallway and replaced it with Lanier Hickory luxury vinyl flooring. Boy is the house lighter and brighter now although our puppy is still learning to adjusting how to stop on the vinyl flooring without sliding into furniture or the wall.

  As for me, I am grateful that through the past five weeks my constant companion of severe Asthma and COPD plus a heart issue have all been calm, even when the blood pressure was up over the prospect that my wife could have been really sick.

  But here I am, nearly midway through the summer and doing well despite the unnormal heat of June and July.

  Did I mention that I have been busy with my writing and in doing so finished a book called ‘Living Today – 40 Writings of Comfort for those with a Chronic Illness and/or Disability’.

  It can be found on Amazon if you look under my writing name of Will Dursens.

  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 (because I have COPD and severe Asthma) – 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@2022, 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.