This summer has not been kind to us. Life was humming along; I was going to the gym 3 times a week and using the treadmill for 30 minutes and 1.5 miles. My hip pain was still present and the DEA said I couldn't take more than 4 a day. My prescription was for 6 a day but I could see where this was going and I had already dropped my usage to 2 a day. This made my 30 minutes particularly painful. But I persevered, hoping that yet another pain specialist would be able to stop the pain. He could not.
Then, about a month ago, I woke up, totally confused as to where and who I was. I just wanted to lay down again but this person (my wife) kept shouting at me. She finally persuaded me to get in the car, At the hospital I was taken in and they found that I was oxygen starved. Testing gave me a diagnosis of pneumonia. I have no idea as to where that came from! I was admitted and given huge amounts of antibiotics along with steroids. In 3 days I was told that I could leave. Which was fine with me; I could write a dozen blog posts about hospitals!
After a few days of home living I began to have a cough and it was increasingly hard to get a full breath. Then, 6 days ago, I was really struggling to get a breath and we decided that it was time for another trip to the hospital. A pulmonologist became my primary doctor and he took a sample of sputum and cultured it, to find that antibiotics were next to useless and the drug to take was a sulfa type. Very old school....but it worked and I improved daily. After 5 days I was released from the tender mercies of the local hospital. I came home yesterday and now, you can find me by following the green oxygen tubing that decorates the floor.
I have oxygen for all of my sleeping times; running at 2 liters (per minute or hour?) and I monitor my blood oxygen level hourly. I also use a nebulizer to get the drugs deeper into my bronchial tubes. Luckily, my costs are covered by Medicare and AARP. I do know that we would be looking at selling our house to avoid bankruptcy. Just to complicate things, I have become a neurological puzzle and found that typing helps me to communicate. I have neurologist and will see him soon. And I need to see my urologist. And the DEA has determined that I should not have more than 3 Norco a day.
Yes, I have been there and done that in the hospital. And I don't want to do it again!
