As for me, I had a little scare last Thursday night. At around 9PM I started coughing a little (nothing unusual) and all of a sudden coughed up a little blood. Gross I know, but it happens at times. Since I cough all the time anyway, vessels in my lungs are often weakened and sometime burst causing that to happen. Long story short, I went to the ER in town who took blood and did xrays. Then the doctor came back and said that he saw something "not right" on the xray and that I needed to be ambulanced to Barnes. That's when the really long night started. After being up since 5:30 that morning, my day (and hubby's) ended up going until about 6PM the next day! We both only got about an hour of sleep or so in that period of time. Plus, me being me, as soon as I got home at 2PM Friday I took a shower and headed to work for 2 hours! : ) That was my choice...
After arriving around very early morning on Friday in St. Louis at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, they then started THEIR blood work and xrays. I also did a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) and scored only a few percentage points lower than 3 months ago. So with the data the doctors collected, they ruled out that it was Pneumonia and just called it a slight lung infection. That doesn't really surprise me since I've been coughing since March. I am very grateful for the "easy" fix and pray it continues to work well.
The doctors prescribed 750mg of Ciproflaxin twice a day for 21 days. This stuff is pretty strong, looks like a horse pill, and tastes like poison. I literally want to puke thinking about how bad it tastes when it touches my tongue. It's awful and starts disintegrating immediately when it touches anything wet. I can't have dairy too close to taking it, must drink a lot of water, blah blah...yuck. I am feeling better though with the exception of the side effects of the Cipro.
It's amazing how fast fear can creep into a situation. When the doctor said I needed to be hospitalized you would have thought my head heard "get ready to kick the bucket". I had to remind myself that everything would be ok and that "God has this". When I was laying in the hospital bed it was the weirdest thing, but I kept hearing a full instrumental version of "Amazing Grace" playing. I mean signers and all! I'm very grateful that I was not required to stay the normal 3 day to 3 week hospitalization that many CFers are forced to do in order to continue living. Ten year old Sarah has been in the hospital for over 100 days.
So the lesson today? Don't let fear over take you because it acts like a mudslide or quicksand. Fear can take over very quickly and consume you! Also, realize how important your life is. Mend those broken friendships, pursue your life goals and ask God to change that bad attitude or habit that you struggle with while there is still "time". Appreciate everyday and every breath because you don't know when the last one will be here and gone.
1 Corinthians 16:13
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.