I finished the
antibiotics, but the pneumonia was not gone.
I was still winded doing everyday things, and as a general rule, felt a
lot of malaise and fatigue. I was still going to work, or working from home on
good days, but on bad days, I would sleep 10 -15 hours and still feel like I
hadn’t slept more than a few hours.
During all this time, I
am still seeing my docs on a rotating basis and we are now into the end of
September, early October. I still have the joint pain throughout all this (what
you thought it might be gone?) and my quality of life, my social life, my
interactions with friends and family were going the way of the dodo bird…..My
social life is important to me. While I’m not a big partier, or purveyor of
bars, I enjoy and relish the time I spend with my friends and I was
unfortunately not able to do this. My
friends knew I was sick and gave me the comfort when they could, but it wasn’t
enough. My emotional state was really suffering. I was crying on a daily basis especially when
trying to do a simple task such as grabbing a plate out of the dishwasher, and
needing two hands, or a cane to balance just to get it.
So, early October rolls
around and my mom has made one more trip out to support me for a few days. And I started the fevers again at night. 100 or more.
ON the night I hit 103.7 I decided it was time to go to the emergency
room. I went, and they again, did a
chest x-ray and determined that the pneumonia was still pretty prevalent and
gave me another dose of antibiotics. It
was an antibiotic I was familiar with and I knew it was strong and was going to
kick my ass for a few days, but if it worked, I’d take anything. I started to
feel a little better, day by day.
My next doc appointment
was with the pulmonologist a couple weeks later. Another chest x-ray and he
said he wanted me to have a thoracentesis to remove the fluid from my lung. He
felt that the infection was actually being reinforced by the inflammation my
body was experiencing (all my blood test inflammation markers were high during
this whole experience) and I needed to get rid of the fluid. Now a
thoracentesis involves a large needle going into your back to remove the fluid.
Recommendation : DO NOT WATCH YOU TUBE VIDEOS OF THE PROCESS. I made the
mistake of doing so, and since I already am anxious, this made it more so. Out
came the Xanax and a few of those were popped to control the anxiety for the
procedure. I ended up not having the procedure. The radiologist determined that
between the chest x-ray I had had with the pulmonologist to that day, the fluid
seemed to have minimized, and as a result, he could not guarantee that he
wouldn’t puncture my lung to remove the fluid. He did not want to take the
chance.
Two days after the
aborted thoracentesis, I had a doc appointment with my PCP. This was my annual
physical. She and I had had numerous candid conversations about my pain and how
it was affecting me. She had set up an appointment with a therapist, who I had
just started to see and I felt would be a good thing for me to stick with. So,
during this appointment, we talked about the pain meds I was taking. I was
still taking Vicodin but was taking 1 every 4 hours and I felt that it was a
bit much. As it’s known, Vicodin is highly addictive and to be honest, I can
see how that could happen. So, she prescribed time release OxyContin and
recommended I take it every 12 hours and if needed take Tylenol or Vicodin to
supplement. While I knew that Oxy was just another opiate with addictive
properties, I knew that taking less of them would be better for me
emotionally. Of course, at this time, I’m
reading a book by Jennifer Werner about a mother who is addicted to Oxy and Vicodin,
so that timing was just perfect to increase my anxiety about the risk of
becoming addicted.
Bounce ahead 1 week. It’s
colonoscopy time. My mom had come out again, and was going to be there for a
couple days to get me through it. I have had 2 previously and was nervous but
cautiously so as I had previously experienced and knew the worst part was the
prep. I promise, that is the WORST part ! You may think the procedure is the
worst, but when you’re out, you don’t know what’s going on, nor do you feel
anything….I woke up from the procedure feeling pretty good. The results of the procedure were relayed to
me. I had significant inflammation as
well as lesions in some areas. They did and I felt that it was a bit much. As it’s
known, Vicodin is highly addictive and to be honest, I can see how that could
happen. So, she prescribed time release OxyContin and recommended I take it
every 12 hours and if needed take Tylenol or Vicodin to supplement. While I knew
that Oxy was just another opiate with addictive properties, I knew that taking
less of them would be better for me emotionally. Of course, at this time, I’m reading a book
by Jennifer Werner about a mother who is addicted to Oxy and Vicodin, so that
timing was just perfect to increase my anxiety about the risk of becoming
addicted.
Bounce ahead 1 week. It’s
colonoscopy time. My mom had come out again, and was going to be there for a
couple days to get me through it. I have had 2 previously and was nervous but
cautiously so as I had previously experienced and knew the worst part was the
prep. I promise, that is the WORST part ! You may think the procedure is the
worst, but when you’re out, you don’t know what’s going on, nor do you feel
anything….I woke up from the procedure feeling pretty good. The results of the procedure were relayed to
me. I had significant inflammation as
well as lesions in some areas. They did 40 biopsies of tissue and would have those
results in a few days. I went home……
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