11.11.2006
Huh, I guess I really AM sick
So... what serious illness besides the flu also presents with symptoms of:
Extreme fatigue
Body aches
Deep chest pain
Inability to breathe
Persistent cough that takes your breath away and leaves one shaky and weak
If you guessed pneumonia, you guessed correct!
Yesterday while not exactly napping, but not exactly awake, more like in a sick-induced haze, I was entertained by a sound like pop rocks, or rice crispies snapping. "What a curious sound." I thought drousily. "I wonder where it's coming from." It took me quite a while to realize that it was coming from my lungs.
"Go to the doctor." Kristin said.
"No." I replied. "They'll just tell me it's a virus and thus I'm not really sick."
"No they won't. They'll tell you that you're sick and help you get better."
"Will not."
"Will too."
"It doesn't matter, because I'm much better now. The snapping sound is almost completely gone. I can't even hear it anymore as long as the music's playing."
So, I thought I was feeling better, and we went to some friends' house to kill some bunnies. And then this morning I could barely move. All my muscles were frozen in pain. And the snapping sound was back in force. So... I broke down and called the doctor.
I've mentioned before how much I love our clinic. It's not their fault that I was raised without health insurance and so can't bring myself to go see a doctor when I'm sick because I never feel sick enough to justify a doctor's bill. It's not their fault that I am so disconnected from my body that I can't really tell how sick I am until I'm REALLY sick. It's not their fault that I' m convinced that I'm a hypochondraic and thus am sure that my symptoms are all in my head.
Even the doctor could hear the pop rocks in my lungs (WHAT a relief! I was so worried that I had made that up). I blew in the little breath thingie and only measured 200. They took exrays. They poked me three times (tried to draw blood out of one good vein and that one good vein threw up the white flag and retreated into the great unknown. So then they tried with another vein and that vein, too, went hither and yon, finally they poked me in the thumb like a baby to get the blood they needed). Apparently I am very, very sick. They sent me home with their own nebulizer machine. They gave me strict instructions that I am to go to the ER if after a breathing treatment I still feel wheezy. They gave me a painful shot of antibiotics in the ass (OUCH! Even the gama globulin shot I had when I was exposed to hepatitis didn't hurt as much). I have prescriptions for prednisone and some major abx.
My mom came and got Julia for the night. Kristin's wheezing too, but she's already on the same abx that I'm now on.
Now if only we could get hold of a friend to bring us sickies dinner...
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You TOTALLY get an award for BLOGGING WITH PNEUMONIA!
oh my. Get well, and I'm sending virtual chicken soup your way pronto.
Holy cow- THIS SUCKS!
Like Shelli- I kinda want to give you a gold star for blogging with crackles, but um, I'm also a bit bothered by it. For goodness sakes- take it EASY!
xoxo
ok, this is my lesson to SPEAK The Hell UP!!!
when you made your sick post the other day, all i kept thinking was: pain=pneumonia.!!!
ay yi yi!
i felt weird posting, being a stranger and all... and now the tales of your pop-rocks and more pain.
i'll be a better lurking future-RN next time!!! :)
holy shit, i feel like a real a-hole for posing a ticker question when you were on your deathbed and now have have pneumonia. crikey!
i hope somebody brings you some dinner.
Two words:
Asphalt compression.
Or one word:
Jaunting. (please forgive obscure sci-fi fantasy reference; I'm not even sure which book it comes from)
In other words:
I would so be there in a heartbeat, buckets of organic, noodle-free, chicken soup and fistfulls of vitamin C's in tow, if it weren't for this fucking nuisance called G E O G R A P H A P H Y.
I did the pneumonia thing in 1989. "I can't even hear it (the snap-crackle-pop) anymore as long as the music's playing." Are we twins seperated at birth and by a good dozen years?!? A friend of mine who happened to drop in was a respiratory therapist. She said, "Honey, get your silly stubborn ass to the doctor's office." Even then, I was like, "Nah, it'll pass. I'll be fine. Should we take that tree down? What about reroofing the garage?"
Finally, I went in for what I thought was an ear infection. It wasn't an ear infection. I had been bitten on the neck by a black fly and I was allergic; lymph nodes swelled causing pain in the ear. The doc said, "Your ear is the least of your concerns. You should have been in three weeks ago for the cough. What are you trying to prove? To whom are you trying to prove it?"
(Um, that I can do everything; and Daddy should have acknowledged this before he augered in, damn it.)
No bedside manner, but the little weasel with the medical degree was right.
I do not want to do that again.
Repeat after me:
I will take care of myself because I am worth it.
You are. And you're too strong and too stubborn for your own good, I'll bet.
You'll be well before you know it. Speed up the process with some Julia and Kristin hugs, and be sure to laugh at least once a day.
Oh my goodness.
I am suddenly feeling very ashamed for slinking around the house today in a bathrobe sniffling and sniveling over a stupid head cold.
Sending you big steamy virtual pots of my vegetarian matzah ball soup.
Wow. That's crappy. If you want some entertainment, check out what I did for fun today. On my blog.
I hope you get better soon!
Alphabet soup,
Blue
Trista, I seriously hope you don't get these get-well wishes until you're already back in the pink. Feel better!!!
Eleven years later... I don't know you, but thank you SO much this blog post! I was worried I would get a visit from the men in black for Googling "flu b pop rocks breathe"... Ok, so I'm still going to hide in the basement (just in case) but at least now I know I'm not the only one to experience the pop rocks phenomenon... It's real... And we're not alone