Suffering in Silence?
Sorry about the long silence. I got more ill after my last post, but am loaded down with medications and finally on the mend. You really didn't miss much, I spent most of the time in bed.
We did go on one excursion. Last Friday afternoon (can it really be a week ago?!) after a visit to the doctor, the freeways were beginning to become snarled with rush hour traffic. Richard offered a backroads ride in the foothills and it seemed a good idea to me. I leaned back in the seat, enjoying the ride in spite of my coughing and wheezing. I thought I was hungry but really was too sick to eat much when we went to dinner.
Monday, my dedicated doctor seemed more concerned about my blood sugar and cholesterol levels than the fact I couldn't breath and the nurse thought I had pneumonia. As he pressed me for a promise to be retested as soon as I was well again, I began to wonder if I'd live long enough to finish listening to his lecture about diet and exercise.
Finally, I interrupted him to wheezily ask what all that had to do with the problem at hand. "Oh, no problem," says he, "I've got that under control."
Coughing uncontrollably, I was unable to respond. He smiled indulgently until I finished then told me I had infected sinuses which had, in turn, infected my lungs... but with the armload of medications he was prescribing, I should be all better in about ten days.
Great, but what do I do about breathing today? After a big dose of his codeine laden cough syrup, I slipped into a welcome sleep for the ride home. I've done a lot of sleeping throughout this sickness, but I am still super tired.
To make things worse, my memory and concentration problems have increased. When I tried to call Kaiser for an appointment, I couldn't follow the directions the automated answering system was giving... "If you want this, press number one, or two, or whatever..." It took me 15 minutes and some note taking to finally get through. I thought it was just me, but my neuropsychologist told me that brain injury patients almost always have more cognitive difficulties when they are sick or injured or facing some other new stressor. Lovely.
Other than medicos, and of course, Richard, I've seen almost no one for about two weeks. I love people and I usually don't prefer isolation, but even though I miss my friends, I really don't feel like seeing anyone. I'm too tired to visit... even with the Lord. My prayers are short. It's cool, though, because He knows my heart and I don't need words to communicate with Him right now.
Speaking of right now, I think I'm going back to bed. More tomorrow.
We did go on one excursion. Last Friday afternoon (can it really be a week ago?!) after a visit to the doctor, the freeways were beginning to become snarled with rush hour traffic. Richard offered a backroads ride in the foothills and it seemed a good idea to me. I leaned back in the seat, enjoying the ride in spite of my coughing and wheezing. I thought I was hungry but really was too sick to eat much when we went to dinner.
Monday, my dedicated doctor seemed more concerned about my blood sugar and cholesterol levels than the fact I couldn't breath and the nurse thought I had pneumonia. As he pressed me for a promise to be retested as soon as I was well again, I began to wonder if I'd live long enough to finish listening to his lecture about diet and exercise.
Finally, I interrupted him to wheezily ask what all that had to do with the problem at hand. "Oh, no problem," says he, "I've got that under control."
Coughing uncontrollably, I was unable to respond. He smiled indulgently until I finished then told me I had infected sinuses which had, in turn, infected my lungs... but with the armload of medications he was prescribing, I should be all better in about ten days.
Great, but what do I do about breathing today? After a big dose of his codeine laden cough syrup, I slipped into a welcome sleep for the ride home. I've done a lot of sleeping throughout this sickness, but I am still super tired.
To make things worse, my memory and concentration problems have increased. When I tried to call Kaiser for an appointment, I couldn't follow the directions the automated answering system was giving... "If you want this, press number one, or two, or whatever..." It took me 15 minutes and some note taking to finally get through. I thought it was just me, but my neuropsychologist told me that brain injury patients almost always have more cognitive difficulties when they are sick or injured or facing some other new stressor. Lovely.
Other than medicos, and of course, Richard, I've seen almost no one for about two weeks. I love people and I usually don't prefer isolation, but even though I miss my friends, I really don't feel like seeing anyone. I'm too tired to visit... even with the Lord. My prayers are short. It's cool, though, because He knows my heart and I don't need words to communicate with Him right now.
Speaking of right now, I think I'm going back to bed. More tomorrow.
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