In approximately one hour from now, a man who is not my husband will be looking at my chest.
Okay, so it will be the inside of my chest, and the guy will be a radiographer, but...
I have to have a chest x-ray. The doc thinks possible pneumonia and put me on antibiotics last night as a precaution. Best case scenario? It's not pneumonia but some other weird bacterial infection and thus the antibiotics will do the trick and I'll start to feel relief within the first day or two. Next option - it IS pneumonia but the antibiotics will help and so will stronger, targeted medication, ie, once they know what it is, they can treat it effectively and I'll get relief. Last option (and heading into 'worst case' territory) - It's viral (thus antibiotics ineffective) or some other weird unknown infection that they can't treat and I have to suffer through it.
I'm on Day 6 now. I don't know how much longer I can cope. Slept on the couch last night because I had an almighty coughing fit that lasted upwards of an hour and sent my system into shutdown so I literally couldn't move without wanting to stab myself in the neck with the nearest blunt instrument. Housework is NON-EXISTENT. The kids are eating every convenience item known to man for their school lunches - with the heatwave then this, nearly two weeks into the school year and I haven't baked at all, and that really annoys me.
And these antibiotics? GOOD GRIEF. I told the doctor I'd prefer capsules rather than tablets or liquid, because I have a particular issue with swallowing pills, and he obliged - but the capsules I ended up with are like horse pills and taking my first dose last night was pretty brutal. Especially for someone whose throat is already swollen. The first one actually got stuck and I panicked. Choked down the second one marginally better. Point is, I have to battle this three times a day for a week and the prospect doesn't exactly fill me with joy.
I'm being whiny again, aren't I? Sigh. Update coming...
8 comments:
i hate taking pills. tablets, capsules, whatever. but i find its easier if i put the liquid in my mouth first, then the pills - they get stuck less easily.
my mother takes like 8 horsepills IN ONE SWALLOW. i dont know how she does it. i have to take each one seperately, even just small panadol.
DH is like that - he swallows a couple of large tablets at a time WITHOUT WATER. Me, I have to quarter them, making 8 pcs, and swallow them one by one and even then I gag if a sharp edge catches in my throat.
This sounds really gross but I'm finding if I, uh, 'make' a big gloop of saliva and use that to help the capsule slide down (along with a large swig of water of course) then that helps. I also have something on hand, food-wise, that is yummy and strongly flavoured to immediately chow down on if I feel 'gaggy'.
Sigh. It's definitely a process...
Firstly - yay! you've finally given me a link to your blog on one of your comments - I could never click on your blog-name.
Secondly - try taking a tablet with a piece of bread (it can sometimes help because you trick your body into thinking it's just eating something normal)
Thirdly - I hope it is treatable by anti-bioticis
Fouthly - Heatwave?!?!? That sounds so bizarre to me when I'm sitting looking at about 3 inches of snow!
Take care
Jelly -
Yup, HEATWAVE. As in, above 35 degrees (95ºF) for most of the last two weeks, including one record breaking day when it hit 45.7 (114ºF). I would swap with you in a heartbeat!
In the middle of all that, I develop what I thought was a twinge from going in and out of airconditioning all the time and then suddenly, here I am a week later, dying.
I will DEFINITELY be trying that bread thing. Throat's pretty swollen at the moment but I am willing to try anything. 24 hours of antibiotics so far and no relief yet - this should be about when he said it would kick in, if it was bacterial (and therefore treatable with the pills). Had a chest x-ray done today, results in tomorrow, so reserving panic until then.
But DAGGUMIT I hurt.
Jelly - duh, I just realised where you were (I default to 'every other blogger is from America' most of the time - easier!) I saw a news segment about your snowstorm. Lots of annoyed looking Brits waiting for public transport that never came. I do believe the word I (lovingly) uttered at the time began with a 'b' and ended with an 's', LOL....
Oh - well don't look at my blog post today then!
something else that works other than bread is some sort of spread - nutella or jam or peanut butter or something. put the pill in the middle of a spoonful and just suck it down.
Took this morning's dose on the heels of a mouthful of slushie, LOL. I've done the Nutella thing too though :P
Post a Comment