-
Getting better
It’s been weeks and weeks now and I am still coughing. But it’s much better than it’s been and it’s been awhile since I woke up coughing in the night. I am still unsure where I had a viral thing or not. Turns out I was in contact with someone who became ill just a couple days before I started coughing. Another mutual friend also has been ill for weeks with a chest infection and was also coughing a lot. It seems terribly coincidental. I don’t know if a couple days is long enough to incubate a virus of that sort or not. I was coughing up a lot of thick sputum early on but it’s not like that at all now. So maybe this has been an infection of some sort, possibly viral.
I did see a doctor a week and a half ago and my lungs were clear, so if there had been something, that part was gone. Maybe by this time it was more of a post-viral cough that was being affected by reflux? Who knows? That was a strange doctor visit. I made an appointment rather late so didn’t get to see my regular doctor. The one I saw was new to me and I found her a bit strange in her manner. It was one of those cases where I felt like I was expected to do all the work of figuring things out. In the end she gave me a prescription for paracetamol with codeine (Tylenol 3, in essence) to help me sleep. That turned out badly and my reflux got really bad the one night I tried that. It was painful and while I did sleep eventually it was very broken due to the reflux. I stopped that immediately. I have more to say about this doctor in a separate post.
I went out on a bike ride a couple days ago and I was exhausted by the time I got home . To be fair I kind of overdid things by taking too long a ride. But I was desperate to get out and I don’t regret going out…just doing too much.
Today I am going back to my swimming lessons. I’m still coughing but I think it will be okay and hopefully the exercise will be just enough to make me feel better. And to get back to learning the butterfly stroke.
-
Testing
I am way behind on posts and now can’t recall things I wanted to post about. So I will start with recent stuff and work backwards, if I can remember.
On Sunday I started getting a croaky voice and a bit of a cough. This just continued over the next couple of days. I suspected it might be allergy related but wasn’t sure. I was at an event on Friday and two others there were also sick on Tuesday so I worried there might be a connection. Anyway, the public health notices say to get a covid-19 test if you have fever or cough or flu like symptoms. Yesterday I was still coughing a lot so I went down to the hospital clinic and got tested. The process was pretty quick overall. My only complaint was there was nobody at the table next to the entry when I got there. I had walked well into the area before I was noticed. I assume this is not the norm for the clinic. The guy who greeted me gave me a mask to wear (the first I’ve worn!) and then another person came up and asked questions before leading me into the waiting area. There were only a couple people there when I arrived. I waited for ten or fifteen minutes after filling out a questionnaire and then was seen by one of the staff. Soon afterwards I had the dreaded swabs of which the nostrils were really uncomfortable. The throat swab didn’t bother me at all. I was given instructions to go straight home and self isolate.
And that’s what I did. I ended up missing work and a luncheon I was supposed to attend but I didn’t want to take risks. I was pretty sure this is allergy and/or reflux-related so I had major doubts about being contagious. Self isolating from the rest of the family went okay, I guess. I still did a few things in the house but mostly stayed in the bedroom the rest of the day and night. This morning I got a text from the health department saying I tested negative. Phew! I was almost totally sure this wasn’t covid-19 but now I have proof. It was a relief getting my results less than a day later. But it’s a shame I had to change my mammogram appointment that was today. There’s no way I could have been sure to have my results so soon though. My mammogram is now on November 17th.
-
Just like that…
It’s already been two months since I posted. Sigh. In this time, I learned my new gp that I liked is leaving the practice in a month. :( I suspect she may be a registrar and is required to do stints at various practices along the way since she seems reasonably young. Well, anyway, I will have to seek another doctor to see on a regular basis.
It seems like I’m in to the doctor all the time at the moment. Lots of little things happening. I saw my gp for a regular visit and she was going to do my flu shot but then we both forgot. It may have been as well since I had cycled there and might not have felt comfortable riding afterwards…although I probably would have been fine. So I went in later in the week and did the vaccine. Then over the weekend I developed significant numbness in my left hand. I have had issues off and on for a while but it wasn’t constant. Anyway, by Monday it was enough I made an appointment again and saw a different gp as mine was off the next day.
That gp was fine although she seems really young and inexperienced. She seemed to think it might be a problem in my neck although she wasn’t sure. She sent me to the physio who also seemed to feel it was a neck issue but did some work with me and had me doing exercises at home. Then she referred me back to the gp for further examination after three visits where there was no improvement. I made an appointment to see my current gp as the one I’d seen previously had no appointments available until well into next week.
During this time I suddenly developed a hacking cough which got bad really quickly, enough it has been disturbing my sleep for several nights. Not to mention other members of the household. I thought it might be a reflux cough but using my medication for it didn’t make any change. Anyway, I decided I would mention it when I went back about the hand issues.
So today I arrived at the practice and had to wait nearly an hour. It was my luck the gp had a complicated situation with another patient and had to take a lot more time than usual. She did eventually call me back and she found she couldn’t read the notes the physio wrote but did a bunch of checks on my hand and several tests. This has been the case each time I’ve seen the doctor or physio. But almost all different tests. She thinks I may have a carpal tunnel issue and wasn’t keen to send me for CT scans or nerve testing. The latter requires a neurologist so I didn’t figure that would happen. She’s sent me to have an ultrasound of my wrist and we will take it from there.
As to the cough, she could clearly see I was coughing up sputum and she thinks it’s bronchitis and wrote a prescription for antibiotics. But she was in a bit of a hurry (I think I was her last patient) and I wonder about how likely bronchitis could be. There was no illness before the cough started and my lungs sounded clear when she listened. Even so, as I understand it, bronchitis is almost always a viral illness. So I don’t know what to think.
-
Still coughing but…
That’s about all that’s left of the crud going through our house for a while last month. Interesting is that Lego Lover had the shortest version of bug and is probably the most recovered even now. Most of the coughing is currently done by Game Fanatic and me…we seem to be the ones who get the long-lasting cough these days.
My cough comes and goes and is often triggered by cold foods and spicy foods and sometimes warm foods and sometimes cold air…fun. It won’t last forever but it’s aggravating.
Anyway, I am getting more regular exercise again. After my pool exercise last week I took another break and then restarted exercise again. This week when I was at the pool I was fine with the deep breaths so I figure my lungs or something was still healing the week before. I was in the pool twice this week and both times I felt pretty good afterwards. The other days I’ve been walking or using the spin bike. Tomorrow I’m kind of hoping it’s sunny enough to ride my bike. A bonus would be if it’s not too windy also. I didn’t do as much exercise today because my knees were bothering me a bit. Not painful but a bit sore after walking around in Fremantle for while today. So I didn’t end of burning off as many calories but I am going to try to not obsess about doing a minimum each day just yet.
-
Restarting
This week I am back to exercise again and it’s not been all bad but not all good either. I’m trying to meet my daily calorie commitments set on my watch but came up just short on Tuesday. I did get exercise but it wasn’t the sort that easily is recorded on the watch. So this week won’t be a perfect one but I did get some exercise.
Today I did a short walk before going to meet my carer client. That went pretty well. It wasn’t exactly warm today but not really cold either. I walked on a path that has been a regular one of late and it’s mostly in shade. But I didn’t need my jacket so I think it was okay. If I’d been out longer I probably would have needed one since the sun was rapidly setting. It was only a twenty minute walk and I was walking a pretty quick pace and felt okay for it.
The real fun happened when I took G to the pool. I mostly was just walking laps but also did some laps (half laps sometimes) where I was doing kicking my feet and using my hands/arms to propel myself. I wouldn’t call it a swim exactly since I wasn’t doing proper strokes or movements but it wasn’t walking since my feet were off the ground. Anyway it’s 25 metres across and I managed to go to the other end the first time and was exhausted at first. I did more walking and then tried again and managed to go across and back to the start a few times. My arms and legs were fine but the breathing was really painful once I started taking in deep breaths. And then I end up coughing a lot. At one point I accidentally inhaled a tiny amount of pool water and that got me spluttering quite a bit. I decided to stick to just walking across after that since I’d already been in the water for a while.
Meanwhile at the Lorikeet house, the Scientist is mostly better now and the boys are still feeling pretty rotten. I think Game Fanatic had improved a bit during the day but tonight he’s really coughing a lot.
-
Sick and Tired-The Sequel
It’s been almost two weeks since I started with this nasty bronchitis/sore throat/cough/cough/cough…I turned a corner earlier this week when I stopped coughing up half a lung a few times a day. I thought I was suddenly much better…and while I was, I also wasn’t recovered. I kind of hoped to get more exercise but taking in deep breaths hurts a bit. Not painful, exactly, but definitely not comfortable at the moment. So I will just take it a bit more slowly and accept the lingering cough which may hang around for weeks.
Meanwhile I’ve managed to pass along this lovely beast to everyone in the family now. Lego Lover finally succumbed yesterday when he woke up early with a sore throat. If the course of his illness is anything like mine, it’s going to be awhile before he feels better. Sigh.
-
Sick and tired
That sums up how I’ve been feeling for most of the last week.
Last Thursday evening I had a bit of a scratchy throat which turned it much more a scratchy throat by the next day. By Saturday I was feeling run down and stayed in all day. I think the cough started some time on the weekend and the scratchy throat subsided a bit. By Monday night I had the beginnings of the killer cough and found myself getting an old Ventolin puffer from the car as an emergency measure. I really shouldn’t have used it because it expired in January but it was a horrible hour and I was desperate. It didn’t get rid of the cough but it seemed to clear up some of the congestion and eventually the cough settled enough to get back to sleep.
The sore throat came back by Tuesday. Actually it was less a sore throat as something swelling enough that it was hard to swallow. And the cough continued to get worse. I still worked on Monday and even went into the pool and did some light walking in the water. On Tuesday night I still went to tai chi and mostly did okay but was worn out pretty early. Not to mention many breaks to drink water and go out for another hacking attack.
Funnily enough I woke up yesterday and I felt okay at first but then I got up and stuff shifted and the coughing really ramped up. It was the worst day and night so far. I had trouble settling down enough to go to bed and then once I got to sleep I’d wake up a couple hours later and start up again. I was coughing hard enough that there was blood coming up with the other stuff but that fortunately didn’t carry on after that. Just the cough.
I had a run of about three months of days where I’d done a certain minimum amount of movement and exercise each day and was pretty pleased with myself. Yesterday I had to let that go because I just wasn’t up to the effort of reaching the goals…This all comes from an app on my watch and it’s been steadily increasing the number of calories to burn every couple of weeks. I even went ahead and accepted a higher goal this week even though logically I should have held off until I was well again.
Today I went to the pharmacy and asked for a cough syrup to take at night. I know it’s best to let the body do its work but when your chest hurts and you are short on sleep, it’s time to get some help. I’m not quite sure what exactly I’ve got but I have been spared fever so I suspect it’s some sort of viral thing. Maybe it’s some sort of bronchitis? Anyway, hopefully the worst will be over soon.
Meanwhile I seem to have spread this on to the Scientist. I guess it’s not enough I’ve kept him awake with snoring and coughing for many days. Now he gets to share in the experience…sigh. Here’s hoping this will by-pass Lego Lover.
I forgot to mention that I’ve also been sneezing quite a bit over the past few days. At first I thought it was just a cold but it’s more like hay fever sneezing than anything…Who knew I’d end up with allergies in early winter.
-
Sick house
It’s the season for allergies here but it seems it’s extended a bit further to the viral illnesses here too. The Scientist has been suffering from hay fever/ allergies for a few weeks now. Then Game Fanatic started soon after his birthday. Later in the week I started coughing a bit and it worsened with time. Sunday Lego Lover complained of a stuffed throat. He’s used this terminology since he was small and I presume it means it’s hard to swallow and possibly a sore throat. I found one throat lozenge in the medicine cabinet and gave it to him. I didn’t expect much from it because it’s one of the strong-tasting ones. As it turns out, he was quite pleased with it and felt some relief for a time. I promised to buy more on Monday.
Late that night, my throat started feeling like a knife was scraping it. Turns out the Scientist had also developed a sore throat. What a merry family we are with all the allergic and viral stuff happening. Yesterday I started sneezing and that could be the viral thing or it could just be a bit of my usual hay fever. Anyway. I’ve been mostly out of action these days, aside from a trip out to get those throat lozenges. I ended up buying the pharmacy brand and got three packs. We’ve already finished one and several out of the other two packs (different flavors). Hopefully the worst of it is or soon will be past for all of us with regard to the viral stuff and we can hope the hay fever doesn’t last too long this season.
-
Cough, cough, cough
Game Fanatic is still coughing badly. I took him to see a doctor for the third time this morning. The appointment started out as mine because my sore throat didn’t seem to be improving after over a week or so. It now seems to be improving and swallowing isn’t as uncomfortable as it was. I didn’t know this for sure when I changed it online last night but I must be getting better. I still have my own cough happening but it’s early days and post-viral coughs do sometimes go on for ages. This is especially true this year.
I didn’t think a 10am appointment would be an issue for Game Fanatic but I had to almost drag him from bed to the doctor. He did get up but it was slow going for quite a while. The doctor is the same one I’ve seen the last few times and she was pretty thorough at checking him out. One of his ears is pretty red and blocked and she couldn’t see the other eardrum due to wax. It’s hard to tell about his lungs because he didn’t breathe in deeply enough for her to hear properly. I think he was worried it would start off a coughing fit. He probably wasn’t wrong. I suspect his lungs were okay since that was the case the first time he was in to see a doctor. So we have a script for another antibiotic but she thinks (and I agree) that it’s most likely viral and will be useless. But it’s there should he get worse and need it. I assume that’s more about the ear than the cough since the cough is already pretty awful. Also, he’s supposed to take Vitamin D supplements as his was low when tested earlier in the year. I don’t recall mention of this before but maybe I have forgotten…that does seem to happen to me sometimes these days. Sigh. Ideally more sun would be most beneficial.
I happened to mention my cough which started from a sore throat and she said that the coughs she’s been seeing haven’t been connected with sore throats this year. I guess I get to be different. :D
Lego Lover seems to have missed out on any cough or cold this year. At least that’s the case so far. He seems to have gotten the breathing difficulties out of the way earlier in life and hasn’t had any asthma issues in years. In fact, that boy has been pretty healthy for several years despite his poor diet and exercise.
Funny that the first of the month is considered the first day of spring here and it’s been pretty chilly. Tuesday night the temperature dipped almost to freezing in the night and the day time temperatures didn’t get that high either. This is all after a somewhat mild winder overall. We’ve had quite a bit of rain lately so I imagine the spring allergies are going to be loads of fun this season.
-
Winter ills
We are nearing the end of winter here in Perth and it seems our household has finally succumbed to full on illness. A week ago, Game Fanatic came down with a nasty sore throat and cough. The sore throat was gone within a couple days but he’s still got the cough. The good news is that it’s mostly a night time cough only. Not that that’s particularly nice but it’s good he gets some break in there. Lego Lover got the sore throat next and seems to be mostly clear of that now but has some mild laryngitis. He’s had the cough, too, but it’s not so bad as his brother’s cough. There was a time when he’d be on asthma medication at this point but he hasn’t required it. The same cannot be said for older brother though.
While the boys have been passing their germs around, I’ve been under constant threat of acquiring the sore throat but haven’t actually gotten worse than a scratchy throat and some fairly usual ear/nasal/sinus problems. I figure it’s just waiting for me to let my guard down to strike. The Scientist has been been in a similar situation. The two of us have, however, been hit with some sort of stomach bug(s) over the past few days. It got me today and while not incapacitating, it has been rather unpleasant.
We are rather fortunate at this point to have not acquired the lovely H1N1 flu thus far. According to news I heard on the radio last night, 92% of the flu cases in Western Australia are the H1N1 virus and only 6% are H3N?. I just went searching for any news source online for these figures but can’t find anything to substantiate what I heard. Very frustrating! I did wonder how they were sure of the percentages because only a small number of cases are actually tested. I can only presume they took these figures from those who were tested. Regardless of the figures, we have managed to avoid it thus far and hopefully will stay clear of it until flu season is over.