Saturday, September 24

I am vindicated (singing vindicated by dashboard confessional in my head)

So I went to see my doc today and got checked over and had a horrible reading on this peak flow meter thingy they use to measure your lung capacity or rather how much volume of air you are taking into your lungs with each breath.

So I had a nebulizer treatment, the last time I had one was about 8 or 9 years ago. The machine is much smaller now and instead of an oxygen mask thingy, it looked kind of like my inhaler with a cup at the bottom. It was quicker too, only took about 10 min. My peak flow was better afterwards, not great but acceptable. Plus I have to take Advair for 2 weeks instead of the flovent I was taking before, it has a larger dosage and lasts longer than the flovent I was taking. So that should help a bit. My doc said I should call if I felt worse, nice to know she's on call if I need advice or treatment.

Also nice to know I wasn't imagining things. My regular meds just didn't seem to be cutting it to me. Still coughing and my sneezing has increased to about once or twice every 15 min. Still very hoarse and can't talk for long without getting breathless. Can't even hum out loud to myself, my throat/voice is that bad. This definitely rules out choir tomorrow. I'm just going to stay in and rest up.

Oh, realized that I am truly leading a sad life because lately the only messages on my landline have been from the library telling me that the book/CD I reserved is ready for pick-up. I see the blinking red light and I think - ooh a message for me - but its only the library again. Can't talk much now anyway.

Don't know how I'm gonna do our weekly 3-way call tomorrow. Usu my sis calls from the UK, then I call my Mum in the Caribbean and we chat for a couple hrs. I'll have to just listen mostly but its hard to do that. In my family when we get together, 2 things usu happen, whether it's on the phone or in person - 1) we get louder and 2) we talk at the same time - usually so we can get our point across and have everyone else agree that we are right.

That's just part of how our family dynamics work. Usu my Mum and I talk over my sis and she tries to get her word in egdewise but she's not forceful enough to just but- in like my Mum and I do. I think it's b/c she's lived with the brits too long and has that whole polite-can't-interupt-thing down too well. I usu end up telling Mum to wait so my sis can finish her thought. It's quite funny sometimes probably more for me than her. Another funny thing is that we all have the same laugh and we end our laughter with the same sort of sigh at the end - even though we haven't lived in the same geographical region for the last 8 yrs or more. This usu causes us to collapse into giggles every time we realize its happening...again.

Got to rest now and take more meds. That's all I've done for the past 4 days. What I have to look forward to? tremors in my hands from my albuterol inhaler. Whenever I have to take it for extended periods I get hand tremors for about a week.

No comments: