Pneumonia
by Warren Bull
Pneumonia is defined as an infection of the lungs by
bacteria, a virus or fungus. I don’t know which of the three
caught me, but I know it caught me.
I have coughs of Biblical proportions. There is the three-stage hack with each segment getting deeper
in my lung. Then there is the
multiple bark which sounds like a Gatling gun, i.e. repeated rapid sound. And, of course, the long wheeze, which
is much ado about very little.
Sometimes my whooping sounds like a
foreign language. I don’t know
which foreign language, but it might be a variation of German. Sometimes the sounds sound like actual
words in English. There’s no plot
yet. I remain hopeful.
More annoying than the coughing
itself, is the fact that the infection occupies a large part of my lungs. Climbing
stairs leaves me gasping for air while my heart pounds like a trip hammer.
Going shopping is an event that requires planning. Where can I sit at intervals along the way? How many tissues will I need for the
phlegm, mucus and the just plain old crap that will come into my mouth? How
much water should I carry?
My voice is unpredictable. It ranges between as raspy as Bob Dylan
singing to my normal dulcet tones.
When I breathe I can hear a crackling sound. I am certain it is not due to Rice Crispies.
I am not in pain. The major symptom beside those
mentioned above is a lack of energy.
I start to feel better and then it feels like someone pulls the plug,
leaving the energy to drain away.
I’m writing this in the hope that
someday a character with pneumonia will pop out of my mind. I will know how he or she feels. I ought to get something out of this
beyond a sore throat.
What problem in your life is the
raw material of your writing?
I can think of few things more dreadful, Warren. Concentrate on getting better. It's dangerous!
ReplyDeleteThanks, E.B.
ReplyDeleteGet rid of that nasty stuff quickly!
ReplyDeleteIt's a bummer. Hope you recover quickly and fully.
ReplyDelete~ Jim
Get well!
ReplyDeleteOnce had bronchitis with these same symptoms (and they swear it was not pneumonia) for over six months. Got sick for my birthday in November, as I usually am most years, and went through rounds of antibiotics as the damn thing would get a little better and then get way worse. What got me well was the unorthodox trick of sitting on my back porch with my shirt off in the Texas heat of April and cooking it out of me. I would sit outside for an hour and two and cough bark constantly. Along with the sun tan all of that exposure basically cooked it out of me.
My doc told me later that it was what they used to do back in the days before antibiotics when they would send somebody to the country for fresh air.
You'll remember your days with zero energy, and give a character the same deep cough. I remember the endless winter I had pleurisy. Feel better, day by day.
ReplyDeleteWarren, I've never had pneumonia, but I used to suffer at least once a year from bronchitis which could have been originally caused by living with a smoker. After years of teaching, it went away, and I think it was because I built up an immunity dealing with students who came in sick because their parents didn't believe they were sick before they came to school - or didn't know what to do with them if they had to go to work. Nothing like having a student come up to you while you're sitting at your desk and say, "Mrs. Alden, I don't feel good," and then barf in front of you.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I hope you will be feeling better soon and get the whole thing out of your system.
That sounds horrible, Warren. I hope you recover quickly!
ReplyDeleteI sympathize greatly. I'm not going to get into a battle of the who-has-it-worse, but I have also had pneumonia several times and it is exactly as you describe. [although, heads up, when you've recovered from the infection you'll still feel like you've been kicked in the ribs by a horse because I don't think we generally use those cough muscles every day]
ReplyDeleteI don't know which State you're in, but the 'solution' for me was leaving soggy Britain and coming to the twinkling, sunny climes of California. It is a cure I can heartily recommend, even for a couple of days.
Hope you feel better soon, Warren.
ReplyDeleteNot being able to breath is a serious problem. It completely drains all your energy. Just holding your head upright seems like a task.
I've always had short-of-breath problems, but in the last few years they became serious, and the doctors kept treating it as a lung disorder, but I never got better. Finally a pulmonologist suggested I seek a second opinion with a cardiologist (I'd been seeing one, who saw nothing serious.)
Turns out I have a congenital heart defect that diverts some blood away from my lungs, and as I got older and developed an aortic aneurysm, it got worse. They put a patch in my heart & the blood can't skip the lungs. I felt better the next day.
I imagine at some point I will have a character with those symptoms, but right now, it's much too recent and vivid for me to pass it over to a fictional character.
I've had a small pneumonia (caught early...what used to be called walking pneumonia) a few times. The crackling when you breathe is beyond annoying. About the only thing you can do comfortably is lie down and read!
ReplyDeleteFeel better! I've only used my ailments in short stories. Seems once I get over something, I want it in the past!
ReplyDeleteKeep those notes for when a character gets a cold. I had a horrible cold and was visiting our son's family as I was writing the short story that got an Agatha nom. Guess what the cop, my MC had? Not only a horrible cold, but he had a very hard time even buying cough drops, poor guy. When I had shoulder surgery a character wrenched her shoulder. She didn't have surgery, but it hurt like the dickens. Same with a badly stubbed toe, etc.
ReplyDeleteFeel better soon! REST!
Warren,
ReplyDeleteI've had pneumonia in the past and it was horrible. So you have my sympathies.
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What Is Pneumonia