I'm determined to portray what it's like to have this illness, even though I've generally kept it to myself except for a few people close to me. Hopefully I'll make sense with a temp over a hundred and four advil, two sudafed, 20-40 mg. prednisone every two-three hours, antibiotics, and diet (caffeine-laden) soda all running through my system at the same time.
I think my will to live is coming back. You never know with me--tomorrow morning I may wake up with pneumonia. Seriously. I often get really sick just as I'm getting over a cold. And it is a cold--both my parents and one of my daughters have it now.
I started the antibiotics early enough that I might have beat it this time, and I've taken a lot of prednisone today. I've also taken it easy and stayed out of the cold air--one of my triggers. This works much better than years ago when doctors used to forbid me to take pills until I got worse, and when I used to just keep going no matter what until I ended up in the hospital.
It's wonderful that the girls can help with the chores. Any one of my girls could run the household by herself if she put her mind to it. I have a list of chores posted on the piano. They can even cook well enough to get by.
I did have one bad episode right before dinner. I was sitting on the couch (my temporary home within my home) when the asthma attack hit. I managed to croak out 'asthma attack' (which none of the kids heard--I'm thinking they would have at least heard the crash when I hit the floor if it was serious) while I was reaching for my prednisone on the end table and the diet soda nearby. I recovered pretty quickly after that.
We're watching old Star Trek re-runs, and it's the same joke I've heard a hundred times, and I start laughing. Apparently my weird sense of humor encompasses repeated jokes. I'm like a baby--take the blanket off your head for the fortieth time, and I'll just laugh again. Oh well, humor is supposed to be good medicine, too, if I don't laugh myself into another asthma attack. It's a good life when I start to feel better and there's Star Trek and my laptop, and earlier one child made chocolate chip pancakes for dinner.
Good night! (hopefully)
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