When we last left off on February 3, 2020, I was all excited to be back blogging this year, and was looking forward to my Birthday month.
Well, just days after I wrote that post, on Feb 9 I began to have some weird symptoms start in my body. Feb 9, I went to church and served since it was the second sunday of the month. That afternoon I was home and doing my normal Sunday cleaning and noticed after running the sweeper I was a little out of breath and wheezing. Which is not normal for me. I brushed it off and went about my day.
Monday, Feb 10 I woke up and felt like I was in the beginning stages of a cold. Lots of throat clearing and a little bit of dry coughing. I taught that day and then that evening I was super pumped to go to a Relationship Panel at church for all the single people. I went and met some new people and had a great time learning from everyone on the panel. I still felt like maybe I was getting a cold, but really didn't feel bad.
Tuesday was the same. I didn't have to teach, so I spent the day on the couch and doing a little work on the computer. I still didn't feel great but wasn't horrible. I made an apt to see my Dr the next morning. He was out of the office but the other Dr in the practice was seeing his patients, so I got an apt during their lunch break.
Tuesday night is where things took a turn. I was miserable. I couldn't get comfortable in bed, my body was achy, I was coughing a lot, had a fever and sweats, and just felt terrible. I barely slept that night and it was all I could do to take a shower the next morning. There was no makeup or hair doing, I pulled my hair back in a pony tail and threw a hat on. I had to lay down on my bed after taking a shower to rest before I could even get dressed.
I went to the Dr that Weds morning, Feb 13 feeling absolutely miserable. So much that my blood pressure wasn't up very high! I was too miserable to get nervous like I always do. Anyways, The Dr said I had the Respiratory Flu, which was a shock to me since I had gotten my Flu Shot in early October and haven't had the Resp. Flu for 10+ years. Since I had gotten the shot he chose not to test me for the flu, apparently it can give a false negative and he said there was no need. I clearly had the flu. He gave me Tamiflu and some prescription cough medicine that looked like Vitamin E pills. I chose not to have any cough meds with high powered pain meds in them, as 1. I don't do well with pain meds and 2. I'm terrified of having pain meds for something and then getting addicted to them. Yes, I know I'm nuts.
I had to take the Tamiflu for 5 days and he said I wouldn't be contagious after that and should feel better. So I was off work from that Weds until Sunday and started teaching again that Monday. In reality I should have taken that Monday off because it about did me in. Just cleaning my house that morning, running the sweeper and taking the trash out, exhausted me. I kept having to sit down and catch my breath.
Throughout all of this since Feb 12, I had been coughing and coughing and coughing. It was waking me up at night, I was having coughing fits so hard I almost threw up, even with the cough meds and the cold meds that had cough suppressant stuff in them.
I managed to teach the week of Feb 17 even though I was exhausted beyond belief, and had little to no voice. I was in bed within an hour of finishing teaching every night.
I finally decided this wasn't normal and made a same day sick apt for Feb 21. I was supposed to drive my Mom to her post eye surgery check up since she was getting dilated, but she told me getting better was more important. Because of course the time my Dr had was the same exact time as her apt. So we both went to our apts and I found out that I had Bronchitis! The fun just kept coming! I can't remember the last time I had bronchitis. It's been at least over 6 years, probably in the 10+ range as well. I get sinus and ear infections frequently but not so much in the respiratory area.
My Dr gave me two weeks worth of antibiotics and steroids and said that I would not be contagious after taking my medications for 48 hours, and I should be feeling a lot better by the start of the new week.
I filled my meds and went back home and got back into bed. Mom came by after she was finally done HOURS later and I was able to talk with her a little bit. The steroid helped a lot right away. My voice was coming back and the coughing was better. It hadn't went away but it was better.
Monday came, the start of my Birthday week! And I wasn't feeling a lot better but I was feeling a little bit better. Baby steps.
Tuesday I had my normal concert at the Nursing home which I did go to, since my Dr said I wasn't contagious. Otherwise I would have stayed home. I know how important it is to not spread germs to anyone, but especially my older, compromised friends there. I stuffed cough drops in both cheeks and managed to make it thru without having a terrible coughing fit. They were very gracious to me! After that I went to my Chiro for an adjustment. I was wheezing a lot during my sickness, and for some reason it was much less noisy when I laid on my left side, so sleeping, and all my time resting, I was on my left side and my poor left shoulder blade was IN.PAIN. Thankfully she was able to get it back in place and it felt so much better! That Tuesday I was gone from my house for 4 hours, the longest I had been out since I got sick. I was really tired by the time I got back home!
Thursday, the 27'th was my Birthday and I still did not feel well. I was still being woken up coughing and was starting to get a little worried that something else was going on. When I had been at the Dr the week before he said if I wasn't well in a week I would need to have a chest X Ray to check for Pneumonia. Well.. I still wasn't well. So I decided to go to Urgent Care after I got done teaching that night and get my chest looked at.
That place was PACKED. And apparently Going to UC is like a Date night thing because there were sooo many younger couples there. Flirting and giggling. Listen folks, I am sick, I don't need to hear you giggling and flirting. This isn't a social event!
After waiting for over an hour I finally got back in a room and then got taken for X Rays. The Nurse did 2 different views of my lungs and It was really interesting to get to see them up on the screen! Then back to the room I went to wait on the Dr. The Dr came in said it was mostly Bronchial BUT there was a spot on the bottom of my left (I think it was my left, I should have written this back when it happened!) lung that was trying to turn into Pneumonia. Fabulous. Thats why I was still not over it. Wonderful. Just peachy. I still had another week left of my steroid and antibiotics so she told me to stay on those and then also added an Inhaler for my wheezy little self. I have to say the Inhaler really helped as well. I wish I had gotten it when I got my other meds. It did really help open up my airways and get my bronchial tubes or whatever they are to quit spasming and making me cough.
My Parents came on March 1 to celebrate my Birthday with me, and that weekend it became clear I either had energy to go to church or have lunch. Not both. So we stayed home from church and just had a nice lunch at my place. I was still not eating very much and our celebration wore me out. I was bummed not to get to go to church and introduce my parents to my friends, but it was the right call. I would have coughed all the way thru it anyway.
Monday night, March 2, is when things FINALLY, FINALLY took a turn in the right direction. That evening after getting done teaching I got a surge of energy. My mind felt clearer, I had the oomph to do stuff and actually wanted to do stuff! After several long weeks of misery I began to feel more like myself. That was a good week, I got computer work done, I felt more with it teaching, I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
I made another Dr apt for that Friday as I was finishing both of my meds but I was still coughing some and could tell I wasn't fully over it. So back to my Dr I went. I updated him on the Xrays and the Bronchial/Pneumonia spot, he listened to my lungs and for the first time since it all started I was able to do all the deep breaths in for him to listen to WITHOUT COUGHING! Now, lest you think I didn't cough at all while I was there, I did, but I managed to breathe deep without having a coughing fit and I could have done a little happy dance. It's the little things! He said my lungs sounded MUCH better, but there was still a little bit more in there, so more antibiotics and steroids it was.
I was still pretty tired, and having to sit down after showering and running the sweeper. it took me a long while to build my energy back up. That Sunday was my Sunday to serve and I wasn't quite there yet, so thankfully my sweet co leader stepped in for me. I was so grateful for her! My strength was slowly coming back but man, this really flattened me. At my Dr apt on March 6'th my Dr kept saying how surprised he was that this had been so bad for me. That makes two of us!!
And then the kicker, when I was finally healthy enough and had the strength to go back to church, man I was SO excited!!! After not being at church for over a month I was so ready to worship and see everyone. Well friends, thats when COVID-19 aka the Coronavirus aka life is cancelled hit.
I was and am grateful that our church made the decision to put everyone's health first and cancelled in person church. We now have online church at northviewchurch.us, or you can catch us on Facebook Live. It's a crazy world we live in now folks, and I am going to do my best to capture it for posterity and memories at least.
Oh, and if it wasn't already wonderful that I was in the "High Risk" category for being affected by COVID-19 with my chronic health issues, apparently recently having Bronchitis and Pneumonia puts you at an even higher risk. So there's that. I keep thinking about how miserable sick I was for literally about a month and think well if I survived that I can make it thru the Coronavirus. God has gotten me this far. But man, I really don't want to go back to miserable. or even worse.
If you made it this far congrats! Hopefully the next edition of #QuarantineDiaries will be more exciting/interesting. This was mostly for me to remember the dates and all my Dr stuff.
Stay Safe Friends.
Well, just days after I wrote that post, on Feb 9 I began to have some weird symptoms start in my body. Feb 9, I went to church and served since it was the second sunday of the month. That afternoon I was home and doing my normal Sunday cleaning and noticed after running the sweeper I was a little out of breath and wheezing. Which is not normal for me. I brushed it off and went about my day.
Monday, Feb 10 I woke up and felt like I was in the beginning stages of a cold. Lots of throat clearing and a little bit of dry coughing. I taught that day and then that evening I was super pumped to go to a Relationship Panel at church for all the single people. I went and met some new people and had a great time learning from everyone on the panel. I still felt like maybe I was getting a cold, but really didn't feel bad.
Tuesday was the same. I didn't have to teach, so I spent the day on the couch and doing a little work on the computer. I still didn't feel great but wasn't horrible. I made an apt to see my Dr the next morning. He was out of the office but the other Dr in the practice was seeing his patients, so I got an apt during their lunch break.
Tuesday night is where things took a turn. I was miserable. I couldn't get comfortable in bed, my body was achy, I was coughing a lot, had a fever and sweats, and just felt terrible. I barely slept that night and it was all I could do to take a shower the next morning. There was no makeup or hair doing, I pulled my hair back in a pony tail and threw a hat on. I had to lay down on my bed after taking a shower to rest before I could even get dressed.
I went to the Dr that Weds morning, Feb 13 feeling absolutely miserable. So much that my blood pressure wasn't up very high! I was too miserable to get nervous like I always do. Anyways, The Dr said I had the Respiratory Flu, which was a shock to me since I had gotten my Flu Shot in early October and haven't had the Resp. Flu for 10+ years. Since I had gotten the shot he chose not to test me for the flu, apparently it can give a false negative and he said there was no need. I clearly had the flu. He gave me Tamiflu and some prescription cough medicine that looked like Vitamin E pills. I chose not to have any cough meds with high powered pain meds in them, as 1. I don't do well with pain meds and 2. I'm terrified of having pain meds for something and then getting addicted to them. Yes, I know I'm nuts.
I had to take the Tamiflu for 5 days and he said I wouldn't be contagious after that and should feel better. So I was off work from that Weds until Sunday and started teaching again that Monday. In reality I should have taken that Monday off because it about did me in. Just cleaning my house that morning, running the sweeper and taking the trash out, exhausted me. I kept having to sit down and catch my breath.
Throughout all of this since Feb 12, I had been coughing and coughing and coughing. It was waking me up at night, I was having coughing fits so hard I almost threw up, even with the cough meds and the cold meds that had cough suppressant stuff in them.
I managed to teach the week of Feb 17 even though I was exhausted beyond belief, and had little to no voice. I was in bed within an hour of finishing teaching every night.
I finally decided this wasn't normal and made a same day sick apt for Feb 21. I was supposed to drive my Mom to her post eye surgery check up since she was getting dilated, but she told me getting better was more important. Because of course the time my Dr had was the same exact time as her apt. So we both went to our apts and I found out that I had Bronchitis! The fun just kept coming! I can't remember the last time I had bronchitis. It's been at least over 6 years, probably in the 10+ range as well. I get sinus and ear infections frequently but not so much in the respiratory area.
My Dr gave me two weeks worth of antibiotics and steroids and said that I would not be contagious after taking my medications for 48 hours, and I should be feeling a lot better by the start of the new week.
I filled my meds and went back home and got back into bed. Mom came by after she was finally done HOURS later and I was able to talk with her a little bit. The steroid helped a lot right away. My voice was coming back and the coughing was better. It hadn't went away but it was better.
Monday came, the start of my Birthday week! And I wasn't feeling a lot better but I was feeling a little bit better. Baby steps.
Tuesday I had my normal concert at the Nursing home which I did go to, since my Dr said I wasn't contagious. Otherwise I would have stayed home. I know how important it is to not spread germs to anyone, but especially my older, compromised friends there. I stuffed cough drops in both cheeks and managed to make it thru without having a terrible coughing fit. They were very gracious to me! After that I went to my Chiro for an adjustment. I was wheezing a lot during my sickness, and for some reason it was much less noisy when I laid on my left side, so sleeping, and all my time resting, I was on my left side and my poor left shoulder blade was IN.PAIN. Thankfully she was able to get it back in place and it felt so much better! That Tuesday I was gone from my house for 4 hours, the longest I had been out since I got sick. I was really tired by the time I got back home!
Thursday, the 27'th was my Birthday and I still did not feel well. I was still being woken up coughing and was starting to get a little worried that something else was going on. When I had been at the Dr the week before he said if I wasn't well in a week I would need to have a chest X Ray to check for Pneumonia. Well.. I still wasn't well. So I decided to go to Urgent Care after I got done teaching that night and get my chest looked at.
That place was PACKED. And apparently Going to UC is like a Date night thing because there were sooo many younger couples there. Flirting and giggling. Listen folks, I am sick, I don't need to hear you giggling and flirting. This isn't a social event!
After waiting for over an hour I finally got back in a room and then got taken for X Rays. The Nurse did 2 different views of my lungs and It was really interesting to get to see them up on the screen! Then back to the room I went to wait on the Dr. The Dr came in said it was mostly Bronchial BUT there was a spot on the bottom of my left (I think it was my left, I should have written this back when it happened!) lung that was trying to turn into Pneumonia. Fabulous. Thats why I was still not over it. Wonderful. Just peachy. I still had another week left of my steroid and antibiotics so she told me to stay on those and then also added an Inhaler for my wheezy little self. I have to say the Inhaler really helped as well. I wish I had gotten it when I got my other meds. It did really help open up my airways and get my bronchial tubes or whatever they are to quit spasming and making me cough.
My Parents came on March 1 to celebrate my Birthday with me, and that weekend it became clear I either had energy to go to church or have lunch. Not both. So we stayed home from church and just had a nice lunch at my place. I was still not eating very much and our celebration wore me out. I was bummed not to get to go to church and introduce my parents to my friends, but it was the right call. I would have coughed all the way thru it anyway.
Monday night, March 2, is when things FINALLY, FINALLY took a turn in the right direction. That evening after getting done teaching I got a surge of energy. My mind felt clearer, I had the oomph to do stuff and actually wanted to do stuff! After several long weeks of misery I began to feel more like myself. That was a good week, I got computer work done, I felt more with it teaching, I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
I made another Dr apt for that Friday as I was finishing both of my meds but I was still coughing some and could tell I wasn't fully over it. So back to my Dr I went. I updated him on the Xrays and the Bronchial/Pneumonia spot, he listened to my lungs and for the first time since it all started I was able to do all the deep breaths in for him to listen to WITHOUT COUGHING! Now, lest you think I didn't cough at all while I was there, I did, but I managed to breathe deep without having a coughing fit and I could have done a little happy dance. It's the little things! He said my lungs sounded MUCH better, but there was still a little bit more in there, so more antibiotics and steroids it was.
I was still pretty tired, and having to sit down after showering and running the sweeper. it took me a long while to build my energy back up. That Sunday was my Sunday to serve and I wasn't quite there yet, so thankfully my sweet co leader stepped in for me. I was so grateful for her! My strength was slowly coming back but man, this really flattened me. At my Dr apt on March 6'th my Dr kept saying how surprised he was that this had been so bad for me. That makes two of us!!
And then the kicker, when I was finally healthy enough and had the strength to go back to church, man I was SO excited!!! After not being at church for over a month I was so ready to worship and see everyone. Well friends, thats when COVID-19 aka the Coronavirus aka life is cancelled hit.
I was and am grateful that our church made the decision to put everyone's health first and cancelled in person church. We now have online church at northviewchurch.us, or you can catch us on Facebook Live. It's a crazy world we live in now folks, and I am going to do my best to capture it for posterity and memories at least.
Oh, and if it wasn't already wonderful that I was in the "High Risk" category for being affected by COVID-19 with my chronic health issues, apparently recently having Bronchitis and Pneumonia puts you at an even higher risk. So there's that. I keep thinking about how miserable sick I was for literally about a month and think well if I survived that I can make it thru the Coronavirus. God has gotten me this far. But man, I really don't want to go back to miserable. or even worse.
If you made it this far congrats! Hopefully the next edition of #QuarantineDiaries will be more exciting/interesting. This was mostly for me to remember the dates and all my Dr stuff.
Stay Safe Friends.
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