Breath Less

Hello all. Yes, I'm alive and somewhat kicking. My long absence has been due in part to a mystery illness that robbed me of energy, appetite and yes, breath for most of July and August.

It's amazing how much we take breathing for granted until we can't. I hear a few "duhs" coming my way. Seriously, assuming you are not on your deathbed, not allergic to something and not ill, breathing is automatic. You just do it. Just like Nike. But then, something creeps in, and when you go to take a breath - you can't. Your chest and lungs seemingly refuse to expand and they hurt. Everything else is fine - your sinuses, no cold, getting enough sleep, no sore throat and no icky stuff coming out of your nose. So I toddled off to see my doctor.

Let me pause here for a moment and say that I really didn't mind missing the hottest summer on record in my region. I was kind of grateful I had an excuse to stay away from the 90 and 100 degree temperatures. July, in our neck of the woods, had 28 days that were over 90 degrees. For a temperate creature like myself - biologically speaking - it was brutal! I would also like to bow down and salute the inventor of air conditioning and Edison or Tesla for electricity. Without my noble air conditioning units going almost 24/7, I sincerely believe my goose would have been cooked. I could easily have been one of those passing statistics of heat-related death. No. Thanks to modern technology I survived July and early August. The only injury was to my wallet, and it was a price I was all too happy to pay.

So, my doctor, at the end of June, having no external confirmation that anything was wrong, basically blew me off and told me to use my nasal spray. He happily ignored that fact that nothing he'd done was helping me breathe better. He refused to even consider a course of antibiotics. I was so appalled at his cavalier behavior that I didn't go back when it got so much worse. Suffice it to say, for about a week and a half in mid-summer, I was almost completely undone. My days consisted of sitting, trying to breathe sipping the air, and trying not to move much at all, because it would take too much energy. My nights were sweat-filled ones where sleep was a challenge. On the bright side, (the body is wonderful how it manages my attention) my old back injury didn't hurt at all. Hallelujah! If that had been in the mix, I probably wouldn't have lasted.

As it was, I made it through. Thankfully, I'm pretty robust. Now.... All I can say is I learned this summer that I really need to rely on myself for my health - not my doctor. AND, if my doctor blows me off, then I need to go out and find someone who'll take the time to listen to me. (Turns out the antibiotics he refused to give me - were what put my problem to bed. My dentist did a procedure on me at the end of August, and prescribed the usual 5-day amoxicillin as a preventative. I felt like a million bucks afterwards!) Course, in the beginning of the summer, I had absolutely no energy to pursue that course. I learned, too, that it's critical to have someone around who cares about your health too. I am now looking for possible candidates. :)

All in all, my breath-less summer was an interesting experience. One, which I hope I will never repeat. Talk about career change interruptus! "What did you do this past summer?" "Oh, I worked on breathing..."

That said, and assuming that I am now fully recovered, I plan on posting something here with a higher frequency than once a month! Hope you - all of you - are all well and thriving.