Thursday, July 20, 2017

IT'S NO FUN BEING SICK


A little over five weeks ago my California daughter, Mary, a nurse called me and panicked when she heard me answer the phone. I was rambling saying things that didn’t make sense and was giggling, too. She hung up and called my daughter who lives close to me and told her to take me to the hospital immediately. Well, I had a temperature well over 103 degrees, and they insisted on admitting me immediately even though I didn’t want to be admitted. It turned out I had pneumonia. It was the only time I’ve been in a hospital except when I delivered my four babies.
Mary at work at Kaiser Hospital in CA.

Mary immediately took a flight home and my three children were there much of the time when they could be as well as two of my granddaughters.  My two sisters who live close came to visit, too. They were worried sick because I was either sleeping or mumbling things that didn’t make sense. My primary doctor, Doctor Pipes, checked on me every morning between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and I had a Chinese woman Doctor Quinn, who was good at trying to figure out problems. I had pneumonia. She were trying to figure out why. Lyme disease and everything else was ruled out. I was poked and stabbed and wore a little plastic tube with a needle sticking into my arm the whole time. I had fluid taken from my spine which had both of my legs hurting for several weeks. A large lamp post type thing with a window at the top was posted just beyond the foot of my bed to keep an eye on my so I didn’t try to get out of my bed. They are expensive and they only had one so apparently they thought I needed to be watched carefully. Much of my stay I’ve forgotten. I don’t even remember some of the people who came. I know the nurses and aides were very nice, and I know the meals and coffee I ordered didn’t taste good so I ate almost nothing. My daughter and sometimes a physical therapist took me for walks down the hall and once he asked me if I could go up a flight of steps which I could do.

Mary brought me home a week later and I was so glad to get into normal clothes instead of a hospital gown, but I was very tired and settled into my nesting chair with a cup of water and books and newspapers to read or doze. Meanwhile, Mary went on a cleaning frenzy. She cleaned all my kitchen cupboards and washed the floors and ran the sweeper and dusted down cobwebs that my nearsighted eyes don’t always see. She cleaned the whole upstairs, and she fixed meals for me which I could barely eat because I had no appetite. I still don’t have much of one but gradually it’s returning. She bought me bottles of strawberry Ensure which I do like, but have limited myself to only one a day.
We went for a walk in the woods. I rested a lot.

Every morning and evening I followed her to the barn to help (minimal help) with the barn chores. She hauled the water buckets to the barn for the ponies and chickens.  My son mowed my lawn at least the sections he could mow that he could get his large riding mower into. She mowed the sections using my mower where he couldn’t get. My sisters came to visit, my son and my local daughter and a granddaughter and friends came to visit, too. Mary flew back to California two weeks after arriving. She had a job to return to. Several days before I suggested I drive to the Mall to a pet store to make sure I could still drive, and I proved to her I could. So on the day she had to leave we headed for the Cleveland Airport at 5:00 a.m. with her driving there and me driving home with no problems. 

The day she left I had to go to the hospital for a chest X-ray. It showed my lungs were clean. Mary and I had visited Dr. Pipe the week before when he gave me the paperwork for the X-ray. He said I was a complete mystery.

Last week I delivered Mobile Meals for the first time in over a month. My California daughter and my son were not happy about that. My local daughter, Susan, came over and carried three buckets of water to the barn so I wouldn’t have to do that to water the ponies or chickens. My writer friend brought me a Chinese meal of Chicken cashew from a Chinese restaurant next to the doctor she goes to. It was one of few things that tasted okay, but I could only eat about two
tablespoons of it so I have enough for a week.

So why am I complaining when I have so many people caring for me? It’s because I lack any energy. Everything I do except sitting in my nesting chair reading and drinking water tires me out. I have minimal appetite and have already lost weight the last time I was weighed a few weeks ago at the doctor’s office. I guess I want to be able to take walks in the woods and do other things like mow the sections of the lawn that didn’t get mowed. I want to get out there and weed and plant all the plants I bought before I got sick. I’m tired of being tired even though I am getting a lot of reading done.

It’s been a four or five days since I wrote this and gradually my appetite and energy is coming back. My sister said I should eat lots of small meals to get my energy back and that seems to have helped. I am so grateful for all the help I got, the Get Well cards and phone calls I’ve gotten since I’ve been sick. I feel totally loved by many now.

Have you ever been seriously ill?



15 comments:

  1. Gloria, I hope every day is a new and better day for you! The garden can wait.

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  2. Gloria - I'm so glad your appetite and energy are returning. Thank goodness for your family and friends - you have good people around you. Take care of yourself and don't try to do too much too soon!

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  3. Margaret each day does get better. Yesterday I actually weeded a section of one of my gardens near the house and planted two of the potted foxgloves out of six that needed planted. It felt so good to get down on my needs and weed and plant. I took breaks to read the newspaper at the table under my pavilion and went in the house once it started to get too hot.

    Julie, yes I am lucky and it's good that food starts to taste good again, too. My son and daughters lecture me all the time about not doing too much. They got upset with me when I
    went on my Mobile Meals route last week even though driving is not a problem nor is delivering small meals to five on my route.

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  4. Glad you shared your experience with everyone. Maybe they'll have good tips on raising energy levels. You know me, I'm low energy all the time! Glad the Chinese food tasted good to you. Keep feeding that peacock, tell your family it's part of your therapy. LOL

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  5. Gloria, I'm so glad to hear that you are home and gradually building up your strength. I had pneumonia a few years ago. It took a long time to come back from being sick. You keep enjoying people pampering you! Get plenty of rest and read all your favorites. Much love as you continue to recover!

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  6. Getting sick sucks. I hope your energy levels are getting better every day.

    ~ Jim

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  7. I've had pneumonia. It was not pleasant. I was warned so I'll warn you. Don't push yourself too hard or it may return. I lost all sense of taste. I was quite happy when it returned.

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  8. Laura, I appreciated the Chinese food.

    Paula, it's always good to hear from someone else who had it, too. The positive aspect of it is I'm getting a lot of reading done without feeling guilty.

    Jim, my energy levels were getting much better until this heat wave with muggy weather came in. I don't do well in hot and humid weather even when I'm in good shape. Oh well, it gives me an excuse to relax and read.

    Warren, I lost all sense of taste, too, but that's back and I'm enjoying food again. I don't
    plan to do anything that's too strenuous.

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  9. Hello Dearie, ewwww, "poor baby!" NOT a Fun Thing, pneumonia! Glad you're doing better. Had bronchial pneumonia myself years ago, pretty damned nasty, yep.

    If you enjoy nuts, eat as much as you can tolerate - they are filed with not only tons of very good-for-you protein (helps energy) but healthy oils as well, and easy to nibble at. Eat all the fruits you can manage, and juices too. Do NOT skimp on water consumption - tea/coffee ok too but plain H2O really helps flush the blankety-blank germs out of your system. Take some probiotic too, antibiotics can screw up your gut which means your body can't access energy as well as it might have done previously.

    Be *forgiving* of yourself - it takes TIME for your body to repair/replace itself! It sounds as though you had a particularly nasty go-round with the bugs. Remember: your body has been *invaded* by those nasty viruses or bacteria (depending upon your particular flavor of pneumo), and it's needing to rest so it can continue to fight The Good Fight. Let it do its job.

    And (and you ain't gonna like this:) the older we get, the slower and more imperfectly it tends to do so. You aren't 20 anymore, my dear. Neither am I, and patience was never my long-suit! -grin- So I truly understand. HANG IN THERE, it's tortoise-time, slow'n'steady won that race, remember? and you CAN do this.

    ps. and if chocolate cake is all you can *tolerate* just now (example only, yummy stuff is very personal-specific) then GO FOR IT!

    you deserve treats. And nourishment is nourishment. period. And if it makes you smile, well, that's a bonus! Smiles and laughter are very therapeutic!

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  10. Abbey, I love all your advice. It brought smiles to my face and smiles are very therapeutic, too. I love nuts and chocolate. I'm drinking gallons of water. Apparently I was dehydrated when I went into the hospital. Now I have a full cup of water beside my nesting chair all day every day and fill it up regularly. I'm guessing you're my niece, and you're still a youngster compared to me. :-)

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  11. weeeelll, youngster, not bloody likely! I'm a nearly-70-yo Sagittarian, although you *might* be old enough to be an Auntie to me - I do have nephews in their early 60s myself, so you *could* be a bit older than me.

    and, yes. "Child-like" is what friends consider me; "childish" is generally the Family's view.
    (very old-fashioned, extremely "tight a**ed" Old Yankee family -sigh-)

    they're soooo "easy", tho... -grin- hey, gotta find amusement where you will!

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  12. I've always admired your energy & enthusiasm, Gloria. Glad to hear you're well on the mend.

    I have chronic, congenital heart problems, and I'm afraid it saps my energy at times.

    One thing I've learned the hard way, when people (including doctors!) say, "You need more exercise; you've just got to push yourself!" use whatever energy you have to slink quickly away and take a nap. When your body says, "That's enough; take a rest" do it.

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  13. Abbey, I'm older than you. I'll be 79 in less than a month. I think people who can enjoy being child like get more pleasure out of life. I know one of the things I loved about teaching 3rd grade was that I could have as much fun as my students did. I still like to do things that would be considered child like.

    Kathleen, I know about your heart problems and of course it would sap your energy at times. I
    like your idea of slinking away and taking a nap. Although I haven't been napping much, I have spent a lot of time in my nesting chair reading and drinking water or Ensure. People who say you just have to push yourself have never suffered with what you've suffered.

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  14. Gloria,
    Glad to hear you are feeling better and already are frustrated at being a step slower than your energizer bunny self. Telling you it will take a number of weeks to regain your energy, strength, and appetite while true, will only be frustrating to you, so I won't say it (been there, done that). Take care... Debra

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  15. Debra, I take it you know what it's like. Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone.

    Thanks Grace. I am taking care of myself as much as possible.

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