What was wrong with me...'cuz I think ya'll may care

Most of you know from: A) being around me this past weekend or B) being my facebook friend - that I've been a little under the weather. Now I know what the heck was going on, so I thought I'd share.

I started getting a cold last Thursday. I had drainage (yuck) & was kinda stuffy & then Friday I got a sore throat. I had lots going on Saturday so I knew I had to suck it up & deal with it. Saturday afternoon, I walked down to the field to drop off Brad & his happy helper's lunch. When I walked back to the house, I couldn't breath. Like serious tightness in my chest, a red face & broke out in a sweat. And I was like, "Whaaaaa?!" I just blew it off to having congestion in my chest & that was it. I walk 2 miles almost everyday with no problem. I KNEW walking behind the house shouldn't have put me in such distress.

So I went to Jake's b-day par-tay without incident. I did notice I couldn't seem to get enough to drink. Then I went to my jewelry show. I couldn't get enough to drink there, either. On the drive home, my chest felt so tight & breathing was difficult. It hurt to just...be. Well, I'm ever the optimist, so I was like, "Geez, this cold is really gettin' me down."

Here's a little history lesson for ya. I have allergies & asthma. Like-my whole.entire.life. When Jeremy & I were little, we used to get allergy shots on a regular basis. Mom would take us to my aunts house (she's a registered nurse) & we'd get our shots & go on our merry ways. Then, of course, we got to the point where we were done with our shot regimen. But in the last 6-9 years, I was always getting sick - no matter what. I would get a little cold & BOOM, it would turn into bronchitis. Then my doctor suggested I get allergy tested again because he thought it was my allergies flairing up & then my weakened immune system couldn't fight off anything else.

About 5 years ago, I went & had that test done. Mom went with me (don't all girls in their late 20's need their mommies to go with them?!) & she said she remembered me getting that test done when I was 6 months old. She held me while I cried when they pricked me with all their potions to find out what I was allergic too (can I get a collective "Ahhhhh"?) So fast forward 20 some years & there I was again being pricked by 80 different types of substances to find out which ones I was allergic too now. Well....I'm allergic to practically everything. No lie. Molds, mildew, dust, grass, trees, plants... Unfortunately, the only thing I'm not allergic to is food.

So I started again with the allergy shots. The first year was one shot in each arm (because I'm allergic to so much stuff, they have to split the serum up because they "fight" with each other...go figure...) twice a week. That's right. Every Tuesday & Thursday I'd go get stuck in each arm. For one year I had to do that. The second year was one shot in each arm once a week. Third year, each arm every other week & so on & so on. So happy days - I'm on my once a month regimen & if all goes well, I should be able to quit this year... But I will say that since I've been doing this mid-evil form of torture, my sickness rate has gone way, way down.

So back to my story. I decided to go to the doctor Monday because I was not getting better & the tightness in my chest was still there. I had a dry cough so I thought possibly the congestion was going to turn into pneumonia & maybe I had the swine flu 'cuz the news people were freakin' out about it. So I sat at the doctors office for 2 freakin' hours before they called me back. And I sat in the "sick" section, so God only knows how many cooties are on me now...

The doctor listened to my chest, looked in my ears, ya know, all the routine stuff. She just kept looking at me funny. I was like, "Hey-I think I have the swine flu." But she didn't even flinch when I said it. I told her I didn't FEEL too bad & she said I didn't look bad (aahhh, how nice?!). She said "I think it's your asthma." And I'm like "Whaaaa?! I just have mild asthma." And she told me (very sternly, I might add...), "Mild or extreme - asthma is asthma. The death rate is the same. An asthma attack is an asthma attack." So apparently my little "episodes" Saturday were asthma attacks? Cool. Never had one before. Now I know what to expect! (I did mention that I live in the middle of a corn field that was being combined over the weekend & there was dust... & she just nodded her head at me... See, I KNEW Brad was trying to kill me. :) )

So she gave me a rescue inhaler ('cuz I have a prescription for one, but I don't ever get it filled 'cuz I'm cheap & I don't ever need it...and she wasn't happy about that, either) & now I have to do this breathing treatment thingie where I inhale this steroid dust crap into my lungs every morning & every night. Then I have to immediately brush my teeth & rinse my mouth 'cuz if I don't, I could develop - are you ready for this moms of the world?! - thrush. Geez Louise!

So now I'm on the road to recovery. I still have a little congestion in my head & my chest. But I'm getting lots better. The extreme tightness in my chest is gone. It doesn't hurt to just...be. And if you read all of this, God Bless You. I heart my bloggin' buddies!!