One step closer to the edge, I'm about the break
Mom left this morning. I probably would have preferred to have her go a day or two sooner, but overall it was nice having her and I am very thankful for all that she did. Yesterday she did a lot of work in my bathroom and it looks a lot better. She pities us so in our apartment since it is old, and difficult to clean due to poor craftsmanship and neglect. In my bathroom for example, the tub faucet has calcium deposits on the underside that have been growing for probably over 10 years. The finish is completely gone and it's absolutely disgusting. There is nothing I can do about that. For the tile, it's obvious they just put new grout over old dirty grout, and the new grout is low quality. Some of it is coming off and then it looks real dirty underneath, but the dirt has been there so long it will not come off. Mom felt really bad that we had so little in products and supplies to clean with too... I was using an old tooth brush for work in my bathroom and taking sponges from the kitchen that had started to smell terrible to clean everything else. Like I mentioned before, she got us a lot of supplies that will make cleaning a lot easier here. She also cooked a lot which was really nice, but between low activity and eating, I really feel like a lard-ass. I can't wait until I can start working out again.
In regards to my health, I'm noticing improvement. At my doctor's appointment last Monday, I told the doctor how I'd been feeling and that my breathing was still restricted and painful, but that I could breathe a little more than when I originally came in. She was kind of perplexed by the amount of pain I still had and decided to test me with a peak flow meter (a clear plastic thing you blow into as hard as you can, and it takes a measurement). She was anticipating my superiority at it as a wind player, however, I took in a breath as far as I could (which wasn't that far on account of pain) and I blew into the meter. It didn't even register. I tried twice. Concerned, the doctor decided to give me a nebulizer treatment to see if it would help open up my lungs some. Mostly, as it contains stimulants apparently, it left me with a high heart rate and a lot of discomfort in my lungs. However, after the treatment I was able to get a low reading on the peak flow meter. After all of the peak flow readings and deep breathing the doctor had had me to so she could listen to my lungs, I was feeling really lousy and in pain. The doctor decided it would be good to get another chest x-ray to see where I was at exactly. She showed me the x-ray next to the first x-ray. She showed how it was still obvious I had pneumonia, but it was slightly better than the first x-ray. She is still fairly sure that I have valley fever, which is causing improvement to be so slow, but at least I am improving. She decided to give me the same medicine that was in the nebulizer, an inhaler called Advair. I hope it will serve to improve my capacity significantly... unfortunately it was very expensive ($1 70) but my mom thought it was important and covered it for me. If I had been alone I would have turned it down. I had also been having sleep difficulties but they were pain related not cough related, so rather than giving me the codeine cough syrup, she gave me vicodin *grin*
My next appointment is this coming Monday. My breathing is better and my energy level is a little better, but I still can't take a full breath without it hurting. I might try playing this weekend, but every time I try pushing myself to breathe deeply, after a short amount of time, the pain becomes persistent even for more shallow breaths. *sigh* The doctor did tell me it would probably be 3 weeks before I'd feel more-or-less back to normal... 1 more week to go.
At least this week I did go to school some (pretty much just medieval) and I caught up on almost all of my assignments. This weekend I have to complete a stupid research project/pseudo-paper and the take-home final for Medieval. They are due Monday and my final for Mahler class is not until Thursday. Devin and I have already planned to go out to the Golden Nugget after our final. The Golden Nugget is a bar that we've seen but never been to with what we call “happy hour for alcoholics.” Their sign advertises happy hour from 11am-7pm Monday-Thursday or Friday. It looks like a little hole in the wall. We'll have to see. It should work out well going early (our final ends at 12), because then we can get to bed early. My flight is early on Friday and Devin is taking me to the Airport.
I'm starting to make plans with friends from home and I'm getting really excited about being there... weather aside. I think I already have way too much in my head that I want to do compared to how much time I'll actually have. Martin is off 12/22-new years which makes me more disappointed that I'll be working. He's going to want to spend a lot of time with me (and I with him), but I must practice quite a bit, work, visit my family, and visit with some of my other friends... what a balancing act this will have to be. I see 3 weeks of limited sleep in my near future.
In regards to my health, I'm noticing improvement. At my doctor's appointment last Monday, I told the doctor how I'd been feeling and that my breathing was still restricted and painful, but that I could breathe a little more than when I originally came in. She was kind of perplexed by the amount of pain I still had and decided to test me with a peak flow meter (a clear plastic thing you blow into as hard as you can, and it takes a measurement). She was anticipating my superiority at it as a wind player, however, I took in a breath as far as I could (which wasn't that far on account of pain) and I blew into the meter. It didn't even register. I tried twice. Concerned, the doctor decided to give me a nebulizer treatment to see if it would help open up my lungs some. Mostly, as it contains stimulants apparently, it left me with a high heart rate and a lot of discomfort in my lungs. However, after the treatment I was able to get a low reading on the peak flow meter. After all of the peak flow readings and deep breathing the doctor had had me to so she could listen to my lungs, I was feeling really lousy and in pain. The doctor decided it would be good to get another chest x-ray to see where I was at exactly. She showed me the x-ray next to the first x-ray. She showed how it was still obvious I had pneumonia, but it was slightly better than the first x-ray. She is still fairly sure that I have valley fever, which is causing improvement to be so slow, but at least I am improving. She decided to give me the same medicine that was in the nebulizer, an inhaler called Advair. I hope it will serve to improve my capacity significantly... unfortunately it was very expensive ($1 70) but my mom thought it was important and covered it for me. If I had been alone I would have turned it down. I had also been having sleep difficulties but they were pain related not cough related, so rather than giving me the codeine cough syrup, she gave me vicodin *grin*
My next appointment is this coming Monday. My breathing is better and my energy level is a little better, but I still can't take a full breath without it hurting. I might try playing this weekend, but every time I try pushing myself to breathe deeply, after a short amount of time, the pain becomes persistent even for more shallow breaths. *sigh* The doctor did tell me it would probably be 3 weeks before I'd feel more-or-less back to normal... 1 more week to go.
At least this week I did go to school some (pretty much just medieval) and I caught up on almost all of my assignments. This weekend I have to complete a stupid research project/pseudo-paper and the take-home final for Medieval. They are due Monday and my final for Mahler class is not until Thursday. Devin and I have already planned to go out to the Golden Nugget after our final. The Golden Nugget is a bar that we've seen but never been to with what we call “happy hour for alcoholics.” Their sign advertises happy hour from 11am-7pm Monday-Thursday or Friday. It looks like a little hole in the wall. We'll have to see. It should work out well going early (our final ends at 12), because then we can get to bed early. My flight is early on Friday and Devin is taking me to the Airport.
I'm starting to make plans with friends from home and I'm getting really excited about being there... weather aside. I think I already have way too much in my head that I want to do compared to how much time I'll actually have. Martin is off 12/22-new years which makes me more disappointed that I'll be working. He's going to want to spend a lot of time with me (and I with him), but I must practice quite a bit, work, visit my family, and visit with some of my other friends... what a balancing act this will have to be. I see 3 weeks of limited sleep in my near future.