We have had rains for 2 days solid of Biblical dimensions. Although the temps were in the 50's, it felt a fair bit colder. It had an impact on how I am feeling, physically.
I had to postpone my job interview because I thought I was coming down with the flu that's barreling through this area. ( Tragically, a local young girl passed away 2 days ago from this particular, aggressive strain. ) I got an email back saying they were running into this with others, feel better, and we'll reschedule you soon.
As the morning wore on I was feeling a bit more energy, thus decided to go to my Breathing Test and get that over with. I should note that my feeling sick had more to do with being feverish, having the chills, and didn't change much for me, respiratory wise.
(Just now ABC Radio News' lead story is about how nasty and wide spread this flu is. Boston has all but declared a state of emergency.)
Getting to the clinic was a major task in itself. The roads a mess...traffic slow....high winds...and getting lost twice. I was a little late, but forgiven and proceeded to the test.
I am taken into a room with a small booth that looked like it used to do work as an Isolation Booth for some game show. The guy who administered the test was great. He and I had the same sense of humor and I could use my A-Material with him.
The test was a series of different breathing patterns into a tube, with a clothes pin type of thing applied to my nose. Breathe deep...hold breath....pant fast...breathe normal.....etc. All in all took about 45 minutes. The one test they did with the booth's door shut made my ears pop. The pressure changed to make breathing harder....with resistance...for some aspect of the exam.
When it was over, I went to the flat screen to see the results. It wasn't that hard to decipher, given that the Red Flags gave me a clue as to what to looking for and at. It measured in percentages what is average, showing what they expect based on my age, dimensions, and what the results were.
My lungs did not respect the "expected" results. In the section where they look for capacity outbound, I did not go over 60% at best, 4 out of the 6 test I was well under 50%. (Spirometry)
In how much should NOT be retained in my lungs after exhaling, well, I was an over achiever there! Of the 7 results gleaned, 4 were WELL over what is to be expected, meaning I don't rid myself of enough air. 3 were below normal. (Lung Volumes (N2 Washout) )
There are some more numbers to post but none were normal. Suffice to say.....it's not good. This whole thing does explain some stuff I have been feeling over the last few years. It makes sense now.
I have been prescribed Symbicort as a prophylactic breathable surface steroid that is supposed to help breathing. I must say it is NO Prednisone. It helps...kinda. And I have found that I give a LOT of oral to my new best friend, Al Butenol. That seems to give me instant, but fleeting, relief.
Bottom line, it all hovers around severe. There are steps I can take to make things easier and somewhat manageable, but it will never get cured. Much like the overall character of the Obama Administration, progressive diseases never do get better. They ultimately just kill.
So...as time goes on I will hope for a passing via some other happenstance, because this is one horrible way to go. While I wait for that to happen......
I go about things as best I can. Seems I will spend tonight trying to dig up some funds for my my room ($70.00 as of now) and the cell phone ($35.00) before I lose the number completely. All the applications and resumes I have sent use that number to call me. I have a Google number that I make calls outbound with when at the laptop to save cell minutes, but to get calls back isn't really efficient.
That's my project for tonight....
And eat at some point. Bon Appetite for moi!
Until next time.....
EDITED TO ADD: Tomorrow is my first appointment at the Habitrail Clinical Research Center as a C.O.P.D. lab rat. Let's hope I past the test..it's a PAID study!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment