Monday, November 21, 2011

On the Mend

I returned to work today, after being out for almost 2 weeks. I was sooooo happy to be back and the kids in both of my classes were happy to see me. I was a little worried, they had so many subs in the rooms while I was out, that my being back would just be one too many transitions for them but they all did beautifully.

Over the weekend, my energy level varied greatly, going up and down in no apparent rhythm, and I had doubts at times about my ability to resume work, and then last night my chest tightened up. Eeep. I tried to find a balance between resting and accomplishing things. Apparently I was successful as I worked a full day and I'm not nearly as tired as I expected to be nor did I have any significant breathing problems. Still, I'll take it easy tonight. After I leave the library, I'll pick up a few things at the grocery store, maybe treat myself to take out pizza, and then rest on the couch with my cat. One good thing about returning to work this week is the shortness of the work week. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, my school will be closed both Thursday and Friday, meaning I'm only working three days. :)

I saw my specialist on Friday and that was interesting. First, he was furious with my primary care doctor's medical practice. In order to see a specialist, I have to get permission, called a referral. My primary's referral review committee had denied my referral, a few weeks before I got sick (I had put in for it because I needed to schedule a check up with my specialist). So, when I got sick, I had to go to my primary care office and the doctor who saw me the first time, was in and out in five minutes, and the treatment didn't meet my unique medical needs. When I crashed and burned on Friday, Nov. 11th, I went to the primary care again, and saw the nurse practitioner. She spent more time with me and made better decisions, including sending me to the ER by ambulance. (I told the kids the story about my ambulance trip, made it sound like a grand adventure, and they loved it. They were disappointed when I said there was no fire truck or police car, just the ambulance.) At the ER, when further treatment failed to produce results, I was admitted.

My specialist is also frustrated because I'm in a holding pattern. My asthma is NOT well controlled (though back in the spring things looked good, that state didn't last). We have tried every currently available treatment, I take 5 different meds in an attempt to control my asthma, I have made changes to my living environment and still, asthma rules my life. A few years ago, it was so bad I nearly had to quit work and go on disability. Things aren't that bad now, but clearly, things are not OK. Until some new treatment becomes available, I'm stuck, just trying to get by one day at a time. 

Despite that, I'm feeling pretty optimistic at the moment. I am feeling better, both physically and emotionally and I can see an end to this flare. Granted, that end will probably not be for another two-three weeks (mind you, that's how long it will be until I'm 100% again), but nevertheless, after today, I am quite hopeful.

Over the weekend, one of my accomplishments was to make headway on my review reading and writing, and revising reviews that I had started before being hospitalized. I also read just for fun. Now that I've made some progress on catching up, I'm feeling less stressed about the blog.

Thank you all for your support the past few weeks. It made a difference. :)

4 comments:

  1. You've been missed, hun! Definitely keeping my fingers crossed that the doctor can find a treatment or something for you that will be long-lasting.


    Smiles!
    Lori

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  2. I'm very glad you're feeling better. It would be great if they could find a treatment plan that would keep you from having further attacks. Maybe a new drug will appear soon.

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  3. Hi Diane,

    it's definitely frustrating. We've tried all of the big guns and they either didn't work or I had an allergic reaction to them. We're not giving up, just temporarily stalled.

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