Friday, April 5, 2013

I am Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

No, I haven't stopped blogging. I've just been sick. It started more than a month ago with a fever and some kind of viral infection. They didn't know what kind. They just knew it wasn't a urinary infection because they had checked for that because of my age. Some of the time with older adults that kind of infection can present with no symptoms except for a fever.

A week later I was feeling somewhat better, just weak, and not quite steady on my feet, so I pulled the cane away from the side of the bed where it lives and started using that. The feeling sick and the weakness lasted at least 3 weeks. Another week and I saw the doctor for a regular visit bringing the cane with me. I was feeling almost human except that every time I tried to sit in the car, sitting down hurt. I figured a way around that. I sat and pivoted into the car instead of putting a leg in and sitting down like a normal person. But it did allow me to move around some. Just not very much.

Needing a cane just tired me out. I'd barely manage food shopping using a scooter in the store. Bringing the bags in and putting things away took all the energy I had. I needed to rest in between bouts of activity until all the fresh and frozen stuff was in the refrigerator and freezer. Pantry items could wait for a long rest.

And then, last Saturday afternoon, I began to feel just a bit under the weather. Allergies? A cold? I did go to Church for Easter Sunday and out to dinner, and that was it. I got home Sunday around 3 and I haven't been out of the house except to put out the trash and get the mail since then. And I haven't gotten the mail for several days at this point.

Early Thursday morning, around 2 am, I almost dialed 911. Either I was having a bad asthma attack or I had a secondary infection. I recognized that the first thing they would ask me was if I was "using my machine?" I had gotten the nebulizer after one of those attacks when that was the first thing they had asked. So I got up, pulled the nebulizer out of its bag in the closet, and used it. I was actually able to go back to bed and even get some sleep that night.

I'm careful with the nebulizer. Every year I check to make sure the medication that belongs to it is not out of date. I actually have two boxes right now because during a general updating of annual prescriptions they gave me a new box of Albuterol. It wasn't expensive so I took it. I'm using the older box that is OK until late this summer first.

Anyway, today is the second day of nebulizer treatments and I slept almost normally last night. What I have is almost certainly a cold. No fever at this point. Just a runny nose and the cough. And the asthma is improving. The cough is better as well.  But I have been very TIRED all morning. And I still feel lousy.

5 comments:

  1. So sorry to hear that you're not feeling well. Know that you've been missed in blogland. I hope you get rested and healed up soon. Your knitting adventures have encouraged me to dive into that craft again after many years. My total output after 1 1/2 weeks is a dish cloth. That represents much "un-knitting" alternating with knitting. Get well prayers and wishes to you.

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  2. I used to suffer from asthma and still tend towards bronchitis when I get a bad cold. I love having my nebulizer handy... feeling out of breath makes you exhausted. I so hope you are able to get back to good health ASAP.

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  3. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

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  4. Stella, I'm so sorry to hear that this "thing" is just hanging on. I hope that the nebulizer will make things improve. I've missed your posts. Get well, my friend.

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