So a little more than two weeks ago, I came down with a fever. It was nasty – I spent an entire weekend alternating between freezing cold and boiling hot, and I had no energy at all. I also had a cough, couldn’t breathe deeply, and had no appetite. On Monday, exactly two weeks ago, I saw my doctor, who said there wasn’t much to be done about the fever except to ride it out, and who gave me prescriptions for prednisone and codeine cough medicine for the respiratory issues. Later that day, the fever broke and my energy came back, which made me feel much better. I was still coughing and not breathing optimally, but I figured that would get fixed as I took the meds.
Except that it didn’t. By later in the week, I was coughing more than before. I still functioned normally through the week, but by the weekend things had taken a definite turn for the worse. I should have called my doctor on Saturday, but for reasons unclear to me, I didn’t. After one of the worst nights of my life on Saturday, where I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t lie down – it felt like there was a weight on my chest when I tried – I called my doctor on Sunday morning. He listened to my labored breathing on the phone for maybe thirty seconds, then ordered me to the emergency room.
After my in-laws arrived to watch the kids, Tiffany and I headed to St. Joseph’s Hospital downtown. I didn’t have to wait long before a nurse saw me – I guess “difficulty breathing” as a symptom moves you up the triage list. They gave me oxygen and albuterol to help me breathe, and took a chest x-ray, which showed pneumonia in my right lung. They admitted me shortly thereafter.
I stayed on an oxygen mask till Tuesday morning, while they gave me more albuterol and started me on antibiotics – vancomycin and levaquin, to be exact. This was my first IV, as well as my first overnight stay in a hospital. I was basically out of it all day Monday, but by Tuesday was starting to feel a little better. I switched from the oxygen mask to the little oxygen tube that hooks into your nose, which at least gave me a little more mobility in bed. By Wednesday, my doctor had me get up and move around some, checking my oxygen levels afterwards to ensure they stayed above 90%. (Normal is about 95%, though anything above 90 is okay – I was at about 85 when I first checked in.) I had a followup chest x-ray on Tuesday night, which confirmed that I was doing better, and which allowed me to be discharged on Thursday. I was sent home with scrips for levaquin, a twice-a-day inhaler, and more codeine, plus orders to rest.
Since Thursday, I’ve steadily gotten better. I can walk up the stairs in my house now, and yesterday for the first time in over a week I took my dog around the block. I’ll be working from home this week, and I’ll have a followup appointment with my doctor on Thursday. I’m still taking it easy – I really really really don’t want to have a relapse – but after over two weeks of feeling bad, I’m finally starting to feel good. I can’t tell you how nice that is.
I don’t know what brought on the pneumonia. Maybe I tried to do too much too quickly after my fever broke. Maybe I was always going to come down with it. Whatever the case, I have been maintaining a pretty busy pace here on the blog, and whether that had anything to do with my recent health woes or not, I’m going to try to cut back a bit. There’s no point in taking any chances. I’ve been very pleased with the guest blogging efforts of Martha, Alex, and Greg, and I’ve asked them to consider staying on as regular contributors for the long term. We’ll see how that goes.
So that’s my story. They took good care of me at St. Joe’s, but it’s really not an experience that I’d recommend to anybody. If nothing else, I’ve learned how much my presence at home means to Olivia, who’s clearly a lot happier that I’m back and her usual routine is returning to normal. Though she did apparently enjoy visiting me at the hospital – my bed had buttons to push, after all, and that was a huge attraction for her. But we’re all glad I’m not there any more.
My doctor ALWAYS gives me a chest xray whenever I come in with a chest cold. The doctor I had before did not. If your doctor had given you a chest xray, he would have seen the pneumonia or it might have have been stopped before it turned in pneumonia. His desire to milk more money off of your insurance company ended up costing the insurance company and you money. I would find a new doctor.
Been offline for a few days and missed this.
Sorry to hear that you were sick but happy to hear that you’re on the mend.
Rest up.
Really, really glad to hear you’re doing better.
Glad that you’re on the mend. Hope you will take it easy this week with work and the blog.
I know several folks who’ve developed pneumonia in Houston this summer, and it seems unusual to me. Your case is the worst I’ve heard of, but I know another guy who’s been hospitalized and a couple of others who’ve been diagnosed with pneumonia. And another co-worker has been told she may be close to developing it.
I wonder what’s happening.
Good to have you back.
I don’t like second-guessing, but the Monday visit brings up questions. Sounds like the symptoms got masked by the pred/codiene and the symptoms backlashed after the prednisone stopped (5 day course?).
When otherwise healthy adults have an 85% oxygen sat, something heavy is up.
Be careful… I am always available for off-the-kuff nursing advice.
St. Joe’s is very good for emergencies.
Insurance companies frown on doctors who give X-rays to everyone with a respiratory problem. I am somewhat shocked that you weren’t given an anti-biotic with your fever but simply told to ride it out. Everyone I know is usually given an anti-biotic prescription when they go in with chest congestion with or without a fever. That leads to our other problem of growing anti-biotic resistence but would have worked for you in this case.
When I had pneumonia years ago the first thing they did was wrap me in alcohol soaked sheets and give me cold compresses to bring my very high fever down. I believe my temperature was over 106 degrees. I feel my lungs have been somewhat weaker all my life and it might be due to the pnuemonia as a kid.
Glad you are better, we have been losing too many progressives lately. I blame Bush and Cheney.
Respiratory problems are one thing, slight cough, sniffles, sore throat, but if a person seems to have a fever and chest congestion or serious problems breathing, the insurance company should be willing (at least mine is – unless, I guess if the doctor doesn’t have one in his office). I had a friend (30 something years old) die because he saw a doctor several times for trouble breathing and what seemed like flu like symptoms. The doctor saw him at least twice and never did a chest x-ray. The guy had an enlarged heart and hardening of the arteries. The chest x-ray would have showed the doctor the enlarged heart. I don’t know if they could have saved him but they would have at least been able to try.
Yikes.
Well, at least you got to keep the blackberry 😉
feel better