Day 14

Today marks day 14 of my pneumonia siege.

I believe I have successfully repelled the invading army.  A doctor's appointment for a follow-up yesterday morning revealed that the infections are gone.  My lungs still crackle and I still have a quite the epic cough but that's the last remnant of the occupying forces.  I was told to stay out of work until next Monday the 22nd - I was totally OK with that.

Today - I feel like myself for the first time in 2 weeks.  In fact, I actually got a few things done around the house and it didn't wipe me out.  I have spent the majority of the day resting - reading quietly, even spending a bit of time outside, listening to my beloved birds sing to me.  Even so, the kitchen is clean, several boxes that were delivered in the past 2 weeks have been unpacked and their contents put away and I even lightly cleaned one room.

Phew!  And here I am, sitting upright and feeling pretty good.

And I am relieved that among many things my employer does right, it's short term disability program is quite robust and I shouldn't lose any pay for the past 2 weeks. I do have to use up one week's worth of vacation time which is - disappointing.  But the 2nd week will be paid at 100% without the consumption of any more of this year's precious vacation time.

This was an unexpectedly serious illness that hit me quickly and took me out of action just as quickly.  I have learned that this has happened to many other people with asthma - hits fast, hard and leaves you quite ill for several days and takes even more time to recover from.  And at the start of allergy season, it doesn't leave me feeling confident about my health as the pollen counts rise.

Which is why there are no open windows in my house and we have resurrected our old, house-sized HEPA air filter system.  Purchased a new HEPA filter for the machine and it's been running at nearly full-blast since late last week. The air in the house smells - crisp and fresh.  I have also purchased a small room-sized air purifier for my desk at work.  I will become my own cleaning service in my space as well - dusting each week and even getting a small personal-sized vaccuum to ensure the dust is kept to a bare minimum.

I am determined to get thru allergy season with as little illness as possible.  Getting thru pneumonia is no small feat and my immune system will be weak and hyper-sensitive for some time to come. 

In the meantime it is amazing what a serious illness can do to your sense of priorities.  The personal calendar shall be kept as clear as possible for the next several weeks.  All potential commitments will be carefully reviewed and I have no problem with saying NO when it's necessary to preserve my own health and well-being.

I'm not typically good at NO.  I'm learning, fast.

My City

My beloved city - under attack.

My beautiful, quirky, irritating Boston.

3 dead so far, nearly 200 hundred injured. Many of them will be crippled for life. And for what?

Lest we forget that yesterday was Patriot's Day - the annual observance of the battles of Lexington and Concord which marked the first battles of the American Revolution.

Boston is the cradle of this entire country; our freedoms were fought for on the same streets we wander whenever we go there.

These are not coincidences to the bombings, not in the least.  Time will tell of course and the disinformation brigade aka the MSM are already at work spreading lies and half-truths.

While reporters are working to get the big story, the first responders were running towards the danger - as is always the case.

Customs House Clock Tower, BostonMy prayers are for my beloved city, the dead, the wounded and their loved ones.  My prayers are for the entire city...

In the days to come we'll learn the truth or at least as much truth as we can.  We know far less than we think at this moment but the one thing I do know unequivocally is this:

Boston and the people who love her will continue to stand tall and survive.  Our entire country's future was founded on those very streets and shores.  It will endure.

And the monsters responsible - will be hunted and brought to justice.  My preference of the kind of justice meted out may differ with those in charge...

The Weekly Muse

April 13 @ 10:10pm EST: as if to prove my point about being muffled...I wrote this at the time stamp you see in the post but am publishing it at the time indicated here.  Left it in preview mode all day. 

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The muse is - muffled.

Muffled by deep coughing, blocked ears and a stuffy nose.  In short we are now in the recovery mode.  And recovery from pneumonia is no easy thing.

The slightest physical activity - say, climbing 4 stairs - is enough to wear you out for the remainder of the day.  Which means I don't do much right now.

Rest.  It's all about rest.  I'm out of work until further notice; I'm hoping for a return next Wednesday but that is pie-in-the-sky dreaming for now.

And so - I rest.

Watching old movies I haven't seen in a long time; my mind can't take in new material too easily right now so we retreat to what we know or at least, what we knew.

Last night we watched On Golden Pond.  Released in 1981 and winner of multiple Academy Awards it had just about everything you could want.  Incomparable actors giving incomparable performances - Henry Fonda's final film, Katharine Hepburn's final Academy Award.  Lush cinematography.  Stunning messages of hope, love, acceptance. (I gloss over the other Fonda in the film because, well, she's not in it much and she is a traitorous bitch so let's not waste any more on that.)

And the theme music  I remarked to The Oracle last night that when you hear it you think - who wrote that...Mozart? Brahms?

It is so ingrained into our musical world that you think it's older than time.  And yet it was written by the amazing Dave Grusin just 30 years ago.  Sweet melody, a deft touch of whimsy and melancholy.  The movie, and the music, remain a fave.

On today's menu will be more of the same - favorite old movies, resting, comsuming copious amounts of fluids. Hoping that each day brings more strength back than the day before it.  So that maybe by the end of next week I'll be up for dancing.

Day 5

Of what turns out to not be the flu.  Feeling sicker by the day with the fevers running unrelieved, I caved and went to the doctor this afternoon.

On the menu was the flu, bronchitis or pneumonia.  My immune system opted for pneumonia with a side of sinus infection.

Yay me.

So I'm out of work for the remainder of this week and possibly into next week - depends on how I respond to the mega-antibiotics I'll be taking.  My wonderful doctor said I should feel better in abour 48 hours but that I can't return to work until I have been fever-free for at least 48 hours.

Thankfully my boss is out Thursday & Friday this week on a personal trip.  So my office awareness responsibilities will be nearly non-existent.  The Oracle will bring my laptop home tomorrow so I can at least monitor things and get a little caught up from home.

All I want right now is - sleep.  I haven't slept thru the night in a week now and it's taking its toll along with the relentless fevers.

And the cough. Have I mentioned that?  It's way beyond sounding like I'm coughing up a lung...it sounds like a death rattle.

This is not my first time to the pneumonia rodeo but it is the first with asthma.  Which complicates everything.  My lungs are already scarred from previous bouts of pneumonia and asthma isn't a beauty treatment for them either.

The Oracle and I may have to consider moving to the southwest sooner than we think.  My immune and respiratory systems can't take much more of this.

And allergy season in New England is about to get blooming.  I feel like I need to turn myself into the girl in the plastic bubble.

1 Step Forward, 3 Leaps Back

Day four of fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and skin that hurts to the touch.  Even the roots of my hair ... hurt.

It would seem that, even though I got a flu shot back in January, I have come in contact with a strain of flu not covered by that shot.

Because I am just that lucky.

And so I am home today and given that I currently have a low-grade fever at this time, I'm probably going to be home tomorrow as well.

That freight train keeps rolling over me.

And there is a different kind of freight train rolling over me at the same time. Yet another member of my family is sitting in judgment about my life.  I'm not doing what they think I should with regard to my choice of faith and now that they know - they have made it abundantly clear how they feel and why.  Amazing isn't it - it's my life and these are my choices yet certain members of my family seem to believe they have a say in where and how I worship God (among many other things). Well let's face it - this isn't restricted to the latest family member now is it...

That particular train hit me on Saturday afternoon...and I feel pretty flattened. This was the last member of my family I was still in contact with.  And now....well now I'm just not sure what I'm going to do.  Words were said by them that were very cruel, totally unnecessary and despite what they think about themselves - terribly un-Christian.

I feel so much worse about that than the stupid fevers.  In fact I'm fairly certain I feel the way I do because of yet another phone call of betrayal.  The flu will pass; the other is going to take a long time.

Again.