So it was determined that I indeed did have pneumonia. I'm not gonna lie - Wednesday and Thursday were pretty craptastic. Wednesday my lungs decided that they no longer wanted to be inside my body and were trying to exit via my throat through severe spastic episodes. But by then, I had been diagnosed and had the good ol' drugs - antibiotics and steroids. Yes! I slept like absolute shit that night and on Thursday morning, I woke up literally feeling like someone had used my mid-section and chest as their personal punching bag for apparently the last 800 days. It hurt to breathe, talk, move, walk, you name it. Coughing had me ready to die because of all the muscles it involuntarily moved. And apparently you can't cough without using your mid-section muscles. I tried. I spent the entire morning on the couch with a heating pad on various parts of my body which helped somewhat. I had also started all the drugs, which by 3:00 left me also feeling nauseous, without appetite, and thinking that my skull was going to split into two. The headache was far worse than even the muscle pain. I read all the drugs pamphlets (which said headaches were a possible side effect) and it also told me I couldn't take lots of my normal painkillers, such as Ibuprofen. So I lay in the fetal position, clutching my head so that it didn't in fact split into two pieces. I called the Dr by 4:30 - closed. Of course. So then I called the pharmacist. Besides taking my lovely drugs, I could also return to my lovely diet of liquid NyQuil. The problem with NyQuil is...you can't take it until bedtime (or shouldn't at least). So I called Padawan before he got home and asked him to pick me up some ice packs (shockingly, we didn't own any before Thursday). He brought those home and I used them repeatedly until 9:00, when I couldn't take it anymore and guzzled my NyQuil. Because God must have felt some sympathy for me, I slept through the whole night and woke up feeling remarkably better (not completely - I was back to my pre-Wednesday stage but that was much better!) I was feeling so much better that I decided to go to work (no kiddos that day, just meetings all day so I figured sitting in a chair all day wouldn't exert me too much). I was still feeling decently enough that I released Padawan to a play date for a few hours. I didn't even bother taking NyQuil last night because I had been coughing so intermittently last night that I figured I would probably get a decent night's rest without over-dosing myself and I did! Until this morning.....when Padawan's alarm went off at 7:15 and the SECOND my eyelids opened, the skull-cracking headache was back. As was the disgustingly phlegmy cough. Awesome. So by 7:30, I had broken out the ice pack again. I laid there for a good 15 minutes but was then bored and figured it was gonna be a mighty long day if I was gonna have to hold an ice pack on my head all day. So I took the sash from my robe and tied that sucker right to my head. I now have a hands-free ice pack!
I'm slightly pissed that I'm feeling worse again because it's Saturday and I LOVE Saturdays because it's a "me" day. Padawan was going to have breakfast with his parents, then was gonna take a look at taxes, then he said he had to help his brother Billie. He apparently got his finger or hand caught yesterday on a conveyor belt, had to go to the ER, and it turns out he might need surgery to fix a tendon in his finger. He needs to pick up his truck from work because someone else drove him to the hospital. Their dad offered to help him but Billie flat-out refused because he doesn't want their parents knowing he smokes (apparently there's cigarettes in the car). Anyone who is within 5 feet of Billie or has ever been to his house KNOWS he smokes. Everything he has reeks of smoke. His parents already know he smokes but they don't say anything unless they see the physical proof, and then they lay into him. Whatever. It's all messed up. I wonder how long Billie will have to be out of work for this injury (and how he even got his hand caught in the first place).
Today is my wonderful Mom's birthday. I was kinda planning before to maybe go over the house, bring her a lovely cake or cupcakes I made and give her gift. Well all this week I've felt way too crappy to cook ANY food, let alone bake something creative and pretty. And I haven't even gotten her gift yet (bad daughter), although I do know what I want to get her. Even if I had all that ready though, I guess it's better if I wait until I'm better so 1) I don't infect everyone there and 2) I don't make myself worse by over-exerting myself.
I think because of what I heard about Billie yesterday, he made another dream appearance...
My mom was planning on throwing me a birthday party (ironic since today is HER birthday, not mine). She called Billie, who offered to host it at his house. In my dream, I had never been to Billie's house before so we went to go inspect it. When we entered, there was a petite Asian woman sitting on the couch. I introduced myself and said "Oh, you must be Julie" (apparently that was Billie's girlfriend's name in my dream, even though that's not in her name in real life). She shook my hand and explained that she was not this "Julie" person but was in fact Billie's ex-wife (who he was also currently dating) and she had no idea who this "Julie" person was. Non-Julie gave us a tour of Billie's house - which looked much like his real life house (last time I saw it) - very messy, dirty, bachelor-like. Then, we went down to the basement where there was a finished room. It was in warm red tones, was nicely decorated, and even had a Christmas tree up. I remember I called Billie to tell him that I was so proud of him for having one decent room in his house. Then, non-Julie took us outside where we ran into Billie's dog, Woo. Except in the dream, he wasn't his normal black color - he was a mix of light brown/grey. At first we were both afraid of him in the dream because he looked mean but once we got up close, he was just as lovable as in real life. I remember my Mom concluding that this would be a fine place for the birthday party and that was it!
Alright, I'm gonna go lay down - for the 14th day in a row...and try to feel better!
Holy smokes it's February already! And time has become mumblejumbled because I thought I hadn't posted here in 3 weeks when really it was just since Jan 23rd. Which is still way too long. But I can explain my absence! Back on Jan 5th, I posted about how I felt like a cold was coming on but it hadn't really hit yet. Well...it hit alright. Jan 21st I started feeling way more "off." By the next day and for a few days after, my throat became sore (but not to the point of where I thought I had strep - which I have often enough) so I didn't go to the doctor. Then the sore throat went away and I could tell it settled down into my lungs because I started coughing more for a few days. Then that took an upswing for about a day or two before this past weekend when it took a turn for the worse again and the coughing got worse. I know you wanted to know this but I have coughed up some crap that is just soooooooooooo disgusting (and how sexy do you feel when you're hacking up loogies in front of your spouse?!). Since this past Monday, I have continually felt like my lungs are being seized by coughing fits (which also makes my tatas hurt). What's weird though is that apart from the absolutely horrendous, disgusting-sounding coughing fits, I feel pretty fine. Maybe a little more tired than usual but I don't feel "sick." And even though I have been on a constant diet of Mucinex, my asthma inhaler, and NyQuil...it has not helped enough and today I buckled. Today I called in sick and made a doctor's appointment. I know I'm being judged right now. One of my coworkers told me she thinks I have walking pneumonia (which I've had before and this does not feel like that although for all I know it could be). What I hate most about the doctor is having to shell out money for them to tell me to do what I've already been doing - rest and take Mucinex (I think my doctor's salary is sponsored by Mucinex). I'm not leaving there today without SOME type of different medication. The worst feeling is not even the disgusting loogies, or the horrible coughing fits, but just the feeling that I can't take deep breaths and that my lungs are being "squeezed" - that does need to be fixed pronto. But if I know them (and I do because I go to the doctor at least 2-3 times a year with illnesses), they'll put me on a nebulizer for 5 minutes (which will help for the time being and then when that wears off, I'm right back to where I was) and then they'll send me home. Darn it, I'm going to get some help today!
So, on to more important matters. My dreams have been mightily scarce lately but I think that's because I've been in a self-induced NyQuil coma more nights than not in the past 10 days (but hey - it's better than being woken up by those coughing fits!) There have been some doozies, such as the night that I played "matchmaker" and hooked up George Clooney with a male Orange Julius worker. George was shy and didn't know how to introduce himself to the worker but I encouraged him to "go for it" and they lived happily ever after (you heard it here first!) There was also the one where Mom was wrapping tin foil around Bollweevil's head (and I'm not sure why). But the best one, was this past Monday night.
I was telling Padawan in my dream that I needed to invest in some new hobbies. (This isn't surprising. I would like some new hobbies as I have a lot of time on my hands). I informed him that I would be joining a softball league and also taking dance classes. Then, I was in a locker room looking at my new softball uniform. There were a lot of other girls in there with me and we were all discussing our softball try-outs (I thought mine had gone very well). I kept looking at the time and thinking how I wasn't going to make it to my dance lesson in time so I hurried out of my locker room and to the lesson. Once there, the male dance teacher put me in a chintzy black dress and sat me down to do my makeup (Why would I need makeup for dance lessons? I remember thinking in my dream that it was going to be weird to go home after my dance lesson with this makeup on and wondering what Padawan would think). He put dark, dark shadow on my eyelids, glued false lashes on, and smeared on a dark red lipstick. Then.....and trust me, I know how weird this sounds but I'm just tellin' it like it is.....he kinda did a "chest bump" of encouragement to me. Only it wasn't a chest bump. It was his pelvic area bumping into my butt but was done in the same fashion as a "chest bump." He said it was to get me in the right frame of mind for my dance lesson. And then I was released to go to my dance lesson with my dance partner (a different guy), where there was no butt bumping of any kind. And I remember coming back home, feeling tired from all my hobbies that day.
Alright, I am off to lay on my couch in a prone position while not moving (holding still seems to ward off the coughing fits). I get to be lazy all day today until this afternoon, when I have my appointment. We'll see what it brings!
