Asthma
Blech. I hate having asthma. I ended up getting a mega asthma attack yesterday morning at work. I was supposed to have been mandated to do a day shift, which I'm never happy about but at least I was prepared for it. One of my coworkers had been nice enough to tip me off about it the day before. We had even joked that I should fake an asthma attack to get out of it since I was the one who would end up getting stuck. Well! I swear I will never even so much as consider faking any sort of illness where work is concerned! This has been a bad week for my asthma in any case, but I didn't expect to get an actual attack yesterday morning at the end of my own shift. And it was really bad. I used my inhaler but it didn't help at all so by the time the next shift started I was wheezing horribly and just couldn't catch my breath. I was promptly sent down to the emergency room. Since I was having trouble breathing, they saw me immediately and gave me a breathing treatment on a nebulizer. That only helped a little bit. I still couldn't breathe right so they gave me an injection of a steroid (the good kind) and another treatment. That helped a little more but I was still breathing badly. Then the doctor dropped an unexpected bombshell on me as he informed me that he would try one more nebulizer treatment and if that didn't stop the wheezing I would be admitted!! I so wasn't expecting that. I would be late with three papers that were due like yesterday, I'd miss my Wednesday night class, and my final exam. So I ended up having a third nebulizer treatment, during which my nurse manager decided to come down and see me. One really should not talk while trying to inhale medication on a nebulizer. Needless to say, between talking to Dawn (the nurse manager) and just being anxious about the possibility of being admitted, the third treatment was only mildly effective. Luckily I was able to talk the doctor into one more option and he gave me a megadose of prednisone (an oral steroid, the good kind again). Between that, and a promise to follow up with my own doctor and take the entirety of the prednisone perscription he gave me, Dr. Harris ended up discharging me to home. The nurse who was taking care of me told me she was suprised that he had even considered admitting me since this doctor apparently rarely admits anyone. Should I feel honoured or horrified at that?
I spent almost 6 hours in the ER and that was after having done my own 8 hour shift and having been awake since 3 pm the day before. By the time I got home, I attempted to sleep because I was exhausted. That was a useless endeavor. Every time I attempted to sleep I'd cough myself awake. So I walked around or watched TV looking and feeling like a zombie. Robert, who was off Monday night, kept steering me back to bed. When I finally DID manage to just collapse, I was literally sitting up on my bed so I could breathe and managed not to get any of my assignments for school done. I'll email my instructor later. I'll probably spend the rest of today attempting to finish all three papers and then go to class at 9pm (on line). Thank goodness the prednisone makes me somewhat manic, so I should be able to accomplish that. *Sighs and coughs* You know, it's been 7 entire years since I've had an asthma attack this bad. Hopefully it'll be another 7 or longer when it happens again.
I spent almost 6 hours in the ER and that was after having done my own 8 hour shift and having been awake since 3 pm the day before. By the time I got home, I attempted to sleep because I was exhausted. That was a useless endeavor. Every time I attempted to sleep I'd cough myself awake. So I walked around or watched TV looking and feeling like a zombie. Robert, who was off Monday night, kept steering me back to bed. When I finally DID manage to just collapse, I was literally sitting up on my bed so I could breathe and managed not to get any of my assignments for school done. I'll email my instructor later. I'll probably spend the rest of today attempting to finish all three papers and then go to class at 9pm (on line). Thank goodness the prednisone makes me somewhat manic, so I should be able to accomplish that. *Sighs and coughs* You know, it's been 7 entire years since I've had an asthma attack this bad. Hopefully it'll be another 7 or longer when it happens again.