Went to the doc (again) yesterday. My regular doc wasn't in so I saw her partner, Dr. Hernandez. I don't have infection any more, but he's concerned about my loss of lung capacity and general difficulty breathing (believe me, he isn't as concerned as I am, though!)
Both times I've been to the doctor, they've made me do an airflow test. The first visit, two weeks ago, came back with the result of 450 (but I don't know what the unit is. 450 psi? 450 mm? 450 cm? Who knows!). The one yesterday came back at only 400. The normal for someone my age and height is close to 500! So, he says that's not good. I will be going on Saturday to get a chest x-ray to see if there's some sort of scarring on my lungs or anything he can see that would be causing me to have so much trouble. After he looks at the films, he'll call me to come back in.
He prescribed me a stronger, better cough medicine to help me sleep at night and make me stop coughing. He said, "Not only will you not cough all night, you'll go to sleep with a smile on your face!" He wasn't joking! That was some powerful stuff! About 20 minutes after I took it, I started giggling. Then I kept saying "WHEEEEEEEE!" because I felt like I was flying. Then I conked out and said "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" all night with NO COUGHING. Then I got up this morning and was still flying pretty high. Shortly thereafter though, I quit flying high, the medicine wore off, and my fun times of "Whee!" and "Zzzzzzzzzzzz" merged and I've been wheezing ever since. And coughing, too. And I'm really sleepy. Methinks I'll go to bed early tonight.
But I did discover something else to put on my grateful/thankful list: really strong cough medicine!
Stinkbumps the Wonder Boy: The rants, ravings and ramblings of a lunatic, overachieving single mom.
11 comments:
So if I had answered the phone last night, would you have fallen asleep on me?
Nope! I was still flying high at that time. Then I conked out, but woke up at 4 a.m. and cleaned until about 5:15 a.m., then I went back to bed. Codeine does weird things to me.
One time when I went to the dentist they gave me laughing gas and I felt like I was flying. I like laughing gas.
the one time i had laughing gas it didn't really work before the regular anesthesia hit me. that was for wisdom teeth.
jenn, i'm worried about you! please keep us updated. i'll be thinking about you.
You could possibly have something David has had, cough-induced asthma. YOu might mention that to the doctor. Also, you could take up the flute again as therapy. Love you.
I would love to take up the flute again; when I get well, I will. Right now, it would be pretty hard to be able to play as I have no breath control right now. I'm just grateful I can find my breath sometimes!
DOn't worry about me, Suze! I'll be okay. I just got ahold of a bug that won't let go. Between God's grace and love, and the skill He gave my doctor, we'll figure it out and get it taken care of - at least, if it's His will, we will!
Love you all. Thanks for all your well-wishes and love!
It's only 9:30, but I think I'll walk the dog and go to bed now.
(I'm worried about you, too. That was the prevailing thought as I read this entry and later, too, when I prayed for you, but for some reason, I only commented on the laughing gas. Not sure why. But I hope you know I care, too.)
All ya'll concern and prayers are much appreciated. But don't worry about me, please. I'll be okay once I can shake this bug out of my system. I'll let you guys know something once the doctor figures it all out. And Ann, I know you care, silly girl! So how's preschool going now?
Love ya!
Yes, that asthma thing. I'm no doctor, so I won't even attempt to diagnose you. I WILL say that I DO have asthma, though, and have to use a peak flow meter daily to see whether its under control or if I'm at risk for an attack. THe numbers you mentioned--400 and whatever the other one was--well, that sounds like my PFM. I'm supposed to stay above 400. Good days for me are 550. My average is about 500. I use an inhaler and also take Advair twice daily to help keep things normal. So, if you find out that the problem is asthma, I'll be your listening buddy and do whatever I can to help. If its not that, I'll still pray and support you however I can.
p.s. I HAD A HORRIBLE cough in January that would NOT go away with cough meds or even a ZPAK. Turns out it was allergy related and my doctor prescribed Zyrtec. It has worked wonders for me!
I've been taking allergy meds for quite a while now... The allergy symptoms have all cleared up, but not the cough. In fact, today I started coughing even WITH the cough syrup! I was planning on going on Saturday and getting the chest X-ray the doc ordered, but it looks like I may have to just take an extended lunch break tomorrow and go ahead and do it. The faster I get it done, hopefully the faster we can figure out what's going on. Thanks for everyone's love, encouragement and support!
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