O My Aching Head

I am sick. Again.

Headache, runny nose, sore throat... I am not a happy camper.

I just hope that I can beat this thing quickly - lots of Vitamin C, rest, Airborne, water, sleep - one of these things ought to work.

I really, really, really, don't want to be sick this holiday season. I was just starting to make headway on the trail of destruction I left from my last illness.

I am using every last ounce of restraint I have to keep from screaming "It's just NOT fair!" and running to my room to whine and cry.

But really. It's just not fair!

Keep On Keeping On

It's been a month people (give or take one or two days). I have been sick for an entire freakin' month.

It's not asthma anymore. While I don't know exactly what it is, I'm inclined to say that it's EVERYTHING. Seriously.

These are all of my symptoms that have taken place at least once during the past month:

Headache
Fever
Tummy Ache
Diarrhea
Stuffy Nose
Runny Nose
Cough
Wheezing
Body Aches
Chills
Hot Flashes
Excessive Sweating
Sore Throat
Ear Aches

And... I've had to deal with Aunt Flo TWICE. Which is an ordeal in and of itself.

The King has walking pneumonia. I'm pretty sure that I have it too, but now that I've been diagnosed with asthma, I think I have another problem. No one thinks I have anything BUT asthma. I'm sorry, but you don't get a fever because you have asthma!

So, I suppose that if I don't experience miraculous healing over the weekend, I will make yet another trip to the doctor. Could someone come and fumigate my house with Lysol in the meantime?

Good News

The good news is that I survived the weekend without coughing my lungs out entirely.

The good news is that I have asthma.

The good news is that I don't have to deal with asthma on a daily basis.

The bad news is, because I don't have to deal with asthma on a daily basis, my treatment plan will be unique, rather than simply taking a pill every day to stave off the symptoms.

I don't really care about the bad news though because the good news is that I have an OFFICIAL DIAGNOSIS!

The vampire got me while I was at the doctor's office... once to get some blood and once to administer a TB test. The vampire also required me to take a breathing test which required me to exhale into a tube for 6 seconds. SIX SECONDS! Do you any freakin' idea how long 6 seconds is? A long time. Especially when you can't breathe. I'm sure that if I were healthy, it wouldn't be such a challenge, but I'm not so it just about killed me. The breath test indicated that my lungs are not doing very well right now. I can't remember exactly what they were testing, but I was only at 62%. That's not good.

I now have a prescription for the following medications:
Antibiotics
Albuterol Inhaler
Steroid Inahler (I can't remember it's name)
Prednisone
Robitussin with Codeine

I even have permission to experiment with the dosage for my Robitussin. The goal is to find the amount of Robitussin that I can take to stop the coughing, but not make me pass out.

I'm really excited because I really like this doctor, I'm thrilled that I have a diagnosis, and I really believe he is going to help me get control of my never-ending bronchitis in a way that doesn't necessarily require me to go to the doctor every time I start coughing.

Just to clarify, I am not all about avoiding the doctor. I like the doctor and I want the doctor that I see to be on top of my treatment. However, when I go through the same thing several times of years, sometimes it would be nice just to know how to (and be able to) start treatment at the first signs of illness instead of waiting until I am two weeks into dying.

It's a good day!

Spare Lung?

Earlier this week, I started coughing. Just a small cough. No big deal, right?

By Tuesday, I was much worse.

Wednesday, which was The Dragon's birthday, I was not doing well at all.

Bronchitis strikes again.

This time when I called the doctor, they said "Why are you calling us? You should go see a pulmonary specialist."

Yeah? Really? Then why didn't you tell me that a year ago? Or two years ago? Or five years ago?

So I have an appointment with a pulmonary specialist on Monday. I have to go get chest x-rays done. I'm fairly certain they won't show anything because they never have any other time... but maybe I'll be wrong.

I would love to find a solution to what seems to be a never-ending round of bronchitis.

Sickness Quadrupled

The girls woke up with a cough yesterday. No fever, no other symptoms, no big deal. We are all sick today. A small cough for me and the girls, and complete achy-ness for me. My head hurts, my arms hurt, my legs hurt, my fingers hurt, my feet hurt, my BUTT hurts.

The King has expressed some similar feelings, but since I'm not him, I can't really say. The girls complain off and on about their heads hurting or their throat hurting, but not much else.

Regardless, it's just not much fun around here today.