The problem with having both CF and seasonal allergies, is that it can be difficult to determine which one is causing your breathing issues. Well, I’m sure I could come up with more problems than just that if I put my mind to it, but that’s the one I’m dealing with currently. I’ve been getting increasingly short of breath over the last few weeks, but I chalked it up to allergies and a possible reaction to the dosage of my allergy shots being increased. Until last week, when I started feeling REALLY gross, and my allergist was so alarmed by my symptoms that she put further allergy shots on hold – but also said that she didn’t hear any wheezing. Finally it occurred to me, a bit belatedly, “Hey, maybe I should call my pulmonologist!”
You’d think, after 37 years, I’d have this figured out. You’d be wrong.
Boy do I know how to waste a holiday weekend. I wasn’t on IVs, but I was completely exhausted, and the slightest exertion left me breathless. Of course the whole exhausted-and-short-of-breath thing meant I also wasn’t thinking terribly clearly, so I had the same stupid thought spiral countless times: “Hey, I should check out [fun holiday weekend activity]! …No, wait, I’m sick. I’m not going anywhere.” Sigh. I’ll just have to make up for it with a SUPER FABULOUS time next year. Who’s in?
After trying REALLY HARD to hydrate during the last week, and seeing limited improvement, today we finally threw in the towel and threw me onto IV fluids. I haven’t been feverish or unusually congested, so my doctor thinks that I have “plugs” blocking up my small airways, trapping air, and reducing my lung capacity. The hope is that getting me SUPER HYDRATED via IV fluids will help break up some of the garbage in my lungs and make it easier to clear out. Right now I’m scheduled to be on fluids until Friday, but I will very likely be chained to an IV pole through the weekend, if not longer. I also managed to lose a not-insignificant amount of weight, which is never good. Sometimes I feel like the only woman on the planet who’s dismayed to see the numbers on the scale go down. After a lecture about the importance of maintaining adequate caloric intake, my doctor said that between improving my nutrition and getting hydrated, he wants to see me “fat and floating” by the time I come in for a follow up next week. How’s that for a mental picture?
In a bizarre way, it’s actually kind of nice to have my decision to stop working validated. There have been times when I felt like maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough and should be doing more. The fact that I’ve been struggling to keep my health under control even without the stress of working, however, tells me that it was the right decision. Being sick sucks, but it’s definitely a relief to have taking care of my health be the only job on my plate.
So, anyone wanna keep a cranky exhausted person company for Shabbos? Doesn’t that sound so super fun??
You’d think, after 37 years, I’d have this figured out. You’d be wrong.
Boy do I know how to waste a holiday weekend. I wasn’t on IVs, but I was completely exhausted, and the slightest exertion left me breathless. Of course the whole exhausted-and-short-of-breath thing meant I also wasn’t thinking terribly clearly, so I had the same stupid thought spiral countless times: “Hey, I should check out [fun holiday weekend activity]! …No, wait, I’m sick. I’m not going anywhere.” Sigh. I’ll just have to make up for it with a SUPER FABULOUS time next year. Who’s in?
After trying REALLY HARD to hydrate during the last week, and seeing limited improvement, today we finally threw in the towel and threw me onto IV fluids. I haven’t been feverish or unusually congested, so my doctor thinks that I have “plugs” blocking up my small airways, trapping air, and reducing my lung capacity. The hope is that getting me SUPER HYDRATED via IV fluids will help break up some of the garbage in my lungs and make it easier to clear out. Right now I’m scheduled to be on fluids until Friday, but I will very likely be chained to an IV pole through the weekend, if not longer. I also managed to lose a not-insignificant amount of weight, which is never good. Sometimes I feel like the only woman on the planet who’s dismayed to see the numbers on the scale go down. After a lecture about the importance of maintaining adequate caloric intake, my doctor said that between improving my nutrition and getting hydrated, he wants to see me “fat and floating” by the time I come in for a follow up next week. How’s that for a mental picture?
In a bizarre way, it’s actually kind of nice to have my decision to stop working validated. There have been times when I felt like maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough and should be doing more. The fact that I’ve been struggling to keep my health under control even without the stress of working, however, tells me that it was the right decision. Being sick sucks, but it’s definitely a relief to have taking care of my health be the only job on my plate.
So, anyone wanna keep a cranky exhausted person company for Shabbos? Doesn’t that sound so super fun??
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