Tardy Tuesday?

Breathing is such a valuable thing, and something you really take for granted until such a time when you no longer have that luxury. Last week I developed a cough that got pretty violent. And it became so hard that it actually made me throw up, multiple times. And between the coughing and the throwing up like that, I blew some blood vessels around my eyes. Petechia. Lovely, right?

I went to the doctor and she told me to take a couple days off and hydrate and rest etc etc etc. She basically told me that it was too early to tell what was wrong with me. She told me what to look out for, to see what it was developing into. And which of those symptoms were more serious than others. 

I took my two days and then I went to work and tried to do my best but the coughing was pretty terrible. My pharmacist suggested that I call my doctor and get some benzonatate for the cough. At first that was amazing. It started helping in 20 minutes. It was awesome. Until it wasn’t. 

They make me feel worse in general and only keep the coughing at bay for about 2 hours. And I can’t take more for 8. 

It’s been over a week since that visit. I’m not getting better. I’m exhausted, but I can’t sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time. I throw up a couple of times per day and between that and my sore muscles, eating isn’t high on my list of priorities. On top of all of that, whenever I take a deep breath or cough really hard, I can feel stuff …move…in my chest. And then Sunday night I started wheezing when I lay down. 

So I went back to the doctor yesterday, but saw someone different who took a listen to my chest and got very concerned. She sent me to the hospital for a chest x-ray and blood work. She gave me an inhaler and an antibiotic and told me to take another couple of days off. It was not a suggestion. She said pertussis or pnemonia. The chest x-ray came back "mostly clear" which means walking pnemonia, which is apparently easier to treat.

She’s not giving me a 100% answer until the blood work comes back. But this unplanned vacation is going to get expensive. 

On the plus side, I’ve watched all three seasons of Downton Abby now. I wasn’t sure why I really started the show but once you’re bitten it’s too late to go back. I’ve cried and laughed and cried…and cried some more. I dont know exactly why I love it so much when all I seem to do is cry and curse Thomas. And season 3 ends so terribly. I’m completely devastated. Over a TV show. 

Completely. 

Even knowing that I’m not feeling well, I had these great expectations of productivity. I’m behind on work and I can’t ever seem to find the time to catch up. Having days off should let me get caught up. Except for one major flaw: I’m actually sick. I’m not taking these days off for the fun of it. Which leaves me truly exhausted and hacking up lungs when I’m awake. So I’m getting lots of nothing done except crying and becoming completely devastated over Downton Abby.

And dealing with my money being stolen from a fraudulent paypal transaction that I caught just in time. Hopefully. I wont know until a couple more days from now if it’s all sorted out. But my bigger concern is that it hits right before pay day, and I don’t want them to tie up my pay check while sorting this out. I have bills to pay, and most of those companies don’t really care about excuses. No matter how true they are.

So anyway, music time. 

This week, being sick and laying around a lot, I decided to give Pandora a go. I started a station with a Grace Potter and The Nocturnals song. And I wrote down all the songs I liked. And then I picked 10 to pass on to you. So it’s really and truly new music for all of us.

1. Longer I Run by Peter Bradley Adams
2. Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight by Amos Lee
3. Nothing Ever Hurt Like You by James Morrison
4. This Years Love by David Gray
5. Learning to Love Again by Mat Kearney
6. What it is by Mark Knopfler
7. 222 by Grace Potter and The Nocturnals
8. Hey Lover by Keri Noble
9. Revolutionize Your Soul by Susan Tedeschi 
10. Home by ZZ Ward

No link to it, but I’ll maybe try to put one up soon.