Allergies- ugh!

I just heard on the tv that this year will be the worst allergy year on record. That is NOT good news for we who have allergy/asthma problems. I'll be indoors more than usual when it gets going. So far this year, I've only had to use that nebulizer twice.

The up side is that we decided that for health reasons, we will be getting central air conditioning for our new home. It's pricey, but will be worth it in the long run. I don't sleep well in a warm room, and then start wheezing.

Wendell will do better with his breathing problems too with air that is filtered into the house. We think it's a wise move. Our trailer has fabulous insulation and the ductwork is there for it. It should be in by next week. Amen.

We discovered that if we open all the windows in the house we get a tremendous cross breeze. It's soooo cool! However, yesterday I noticed that we had about 20 houseflies inside.. one of the screens fell out. Glad it wasn't wasps that came in. And... the air brings pollens with it.. lots and lots of aggravating pollens.

I've been thinking about hanging clothes out to dry, but again, pollens stick all over anything that is in the wind.. the dryer works fine.

It's been a month since I had an asthma attack. I'm glad the time has passed and I'm doing better. I had a doctor appointment today for a checkup- she says she hears a wheeze in only one area- good sign- last time he heard air exchange in only one area! So I got a couple samples of nasal sprays to try- most of my congestion is from post nasal drip anyway. She thinks this may help the problem.. and I was also advised to use the nebulizer more often than I have been doing since the goal is control of asthma without the use of steroids. Ah.. steroids.. they cause some nasty side effects for me. I took them anyway because the inflammation had been so great.

Tonite we are having Chinese Take out.. Yay!!!!!! Love it! General Tso's chicken.. garlic chicken, chicken lo mein and rice. Yummy.

It's Monday. I again slept poorly last night, but have had a better day. I was awake a lot likely from the coughing, but also because I slept most of yesterday too. I got up feeling exhausted, but Amanda wanted me to go with them to the glass blowing place north of here, and as long as I didn't have to drive or walk far, I figured I'd give it a shot. I had them stop for breakfast at McD's so I could take my steroid tablet.. and then I had my rescue MDI as well as my nebulizer with me the whole time. I was a little wheezy, but no major attacks today.
I took a nap this afternoon and I've been trying to walk around a bit too. I just feel wiped out.
Tomorrow is office day and I wonder what will happen.. Pray I'm able to do my job without respiratory distress.. and that my patients will be infused without event.
Peak flow is hanging in there at 250 today.. mid way.. caution.. it can drop like a rock if I'm not super careful. Unfortunately, it won't zoom right up if I am... go figure.
Saturday is the Imm reunion. I'm hoping to be able to go.. and then Sabbath afternoon we have been invited to a 70th birthday celebration for my cousin Ken.

Missed church today..sigh..

Despite the fact that I was up much of last night coughing and then fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion, I plan to have a decent day. I thank the Lord that things aren't any worse, and He's teaching me patience. I can't get over this in a day or two.. it takes time and it's a slow recoup.
It's really a lovely day outside.. in the 70s and a bit cloudy. I may take a walk out to see what I can find. I have to remember to move very slowly or I'll end up wheezing and coughing.
It's all part of that 'patience'.
This is definitely not what we had in mind when we retired. We were going to set the world on fire traveling around visiting our family. God has a way of showing us He doesn't want us going that direction.. at least not yet.
Perhaps pray over our health situation here. Wendell is sore and looking at surgery in the coming months. He needs help with following his diet NOW so that he'll be compliant when the time comes. I need to be able to carry a patient load on Tuesday at the office without having to stop to catch my breath.

not a happy camper

I suppose I should mention that we did not get to go to our picnic today. I'd gone to have pictures made to share with the folks there, and then this morning woke up with thrush. The doctor on call called in a script for Mycelex lozenges to treat it. I went to the pharmacy and was glad to know that my copay was all that was needed. Next on the agenda was grocery shopping for a veggie tray for the picnic. I coughed the entire way around the grocery store, and was short of breath by the time I got to the check out line. This asthma is sensitive to any kind of exercise.. I was in a hurry and thus coughed the entire time. It was embarrassing to have people staring at me like I had the 'plague'.. I wanted to scream at them "I'M NOT CONTAGIOUS!!" Fortunately I didn't have enough breath, so I just checked out as fast as possible.
I called our friend to tell her about my problem and to say that there was a good possibility that we wouldn't be there for the picnic. She was understanding. I figure there is a fellowship dinner at our church tomorrow and my cupcakes at least will get taken in for that... provided I can get myself ready for church without having a major breathing problem. I can't be sure of anything with this asthma.
I again remind myself that I always hated taking care of asthmatics and diabetics.. and to be the asthmatic now and have my hubby as the diabetic seems just so unfair..don't you think?
Neither of these kinds of patients can be trusted to be stable for any length of time. They tend to be fine one moment and either gasping or in shock the next.. just not my favorite patient assignment.
I had to lay down this afternoon and when I awoke it was supper time and raining. We decided not to try to go to the picnic.. I was wheezing and coughing pretty hard anyway.

my nebulizer

This is a picture of my nebulizer.. my mouth piece and the medicine cup are a little different, but it gives you the idea. It's tiny and portable.. it even runs on the car battery and I was able to give myself a treatment in the KMart parking lot on my way home from the pharmacy. The treatments last about 3-5 minutes.

20June09 peak flow 400

I have to admit, this is not one of my better days. I noted yesterday that I was coughing a bit, but today, asthma has raised it's ugly head. The good news is that my peak flow was in the good range at 400. So far so good. I've taken all my meds and even some Xopenex inhaler to open me up a bit more. I'm ok.
It's a peculiar kind of day.. muggy is a good description. The sun shines warmly for about 3 minutes,and then storm clouds move in. UGH. 5 minutes after that, fluffy white clouds appear and rain starts to fall for another 5 minutes till the sun shines again.. really strange. It's 72*.. it should get higher today.

Whew! After all my work sweeping the leaves off the porch and walkway, they are back again.. and wet.. Rats! It's a never ending job when you live among all the trees. Our usually gorgeous colored maple by the house just turned brown and dumped it's leaves all over.. it's sad to see the semi bare branches now.. and a sure sign of impending winter.. oh, the "W" word.

Friday I finally went in for this week's allergy shots. I've had a welt on my arm since last Friday when I had the last shot. I've been getting reddened areas, but this one was raised up like a huge hive, about the size of a half dollar, and intensely itchy. Cortizone cream worked well to keep the itching controlled. I had called in on Monday, and they have adjusted the dosages of the shots to about half the dose, and now have the pollen in the right arm, and the molds in the left. When I left, the nurse said "I'd bet the right arm will be your problem".. I disagreed, and I was right. Before I even got to my car parked outside the office building, the left one started to react and itch.. and before I got home with my Benadryl Cream, it was intense. The Benadryl helps a lot.

UPS came yesterday with a book I'd ordered on Wednesday from Barnes and Noble. I'd ordered one for Wendell from Amazon, and though they are normally super fast, it hasn't arrived yet. The book I ordered is called Heaven by Randy Alcorn and so far it's been hard to put down. I do highly recommend it to anyone who has any question about what Heaven will be like. I'm learning that I really had some misconceptions, and I am not alone. It's given me a new view of the place I want to be for eternity, and all scripturally based.. it's there in the Bible, but I just didn't put it all together like Mr Alcorn does.

It's after midnight, and I'm needing to go back to bed. I've been sleeping for several hours, but woke up .. awake. Today I have to get the basic laundry to the laundromat. It's getting out of hand. I've put it off because of my back.. since early Thursday it's been giving me fits. The SI joint is out and makes even lying down nearly impossible. I've been missing a lot of restful sleep the past few nights. I layed down today with my book, put the CPAP mask on because I was drowsy too, and fell asleep before supper, and then early tonite. There is definitely improvement.

OH.. did you hear that McCain is going to reduce Medicare coverage? Yeah.. not really, just a liberal scare tactic. Actually, I expect the next thing will be an announcement that SS will be cut or eliminated too.. another scare tactic. Actually, I read that SS will be increased substantially in 2009. There are some of the elderly, however, who will believe the tactics and I don't believe it's fair to them to try to frighten them... that's cruel.. consider the source.

PEAK-FLOW

Peak-flow is a method of monitoring an asthma patient. It involves using a small plastic meter. Mine looks like the one on the far left. One of the respiratory therapists gave me this meter last fall, and though I haven't been good about keeping a record of my PF, I could likely have seen this latest asthma exacerbation had I been doing so.

The PF rate is based on a person's age, height, sex, and race. My personal target is 430 lpm. I run substantially lower. Based on the PF readings, one can manage asthma before it becomes a more serious problem , and address that problem quickly. There is a color coded marker on my gauge that tells me at a glance if I'm in the red, green or yellow zone.


The green zone is the 'all clear' area. It indicates reasonably good control of asthma.

The yellow zone signals 'caution'. Airways are narrowing and a bit of extra treatment might be needed. Symptoms can improve or worsen depending on what you do now.


The red zone indicates a medical alert- severe airway narrowing may be occurring. It's time to notify the doctor or seek help.

It's important to know the readings, but even more important to have a plan of what to do when the time comes.

To chart a PF , a special grid is used. I use a very simple one that shows my ups and downs twice a day. I also write in the actual reading from my meter.

The meter itself is simple to use. Take a really deep breath and then give a burst of air emptying the lungs. The procedure is done 3 times, and the best reading is used to mark on the grid. You cant breathe out too much, but you can breathe out too little.

asthma attack

from the webMD:

What Is an Asthma Attack?

An asthma attack is a sudden worsening of asthma symptoms caused by the tightening of muscles around your airways (bronchospasm). During the asthma attack, the lining of the airways also becomes swollen or inflamed and thicker mucus -- more than normal -- is produced. All of these factors -- bronchospasm, inflammation, and mucus production -- cause symptoms of an asthma attack such as difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and difficulty performing normal daily activities. Other symptoms of an asthma attack include:

• Severe wheezing when breathing both in and out
• Coughing with asthma that won't stop
• Very rapid breathing
• Chest pain or pressure
• Tightened neck and chest muscles, called retractions
• Difficulty talking
• Feelings of anxiety or panic
• Pale, sweaty face
• Blue lips or fingernails
• Or worsening symptoms despite use of your medications

Some people with asthma may go for extended periods without having an asthma attack or other symptoms, interrupted by periodic worsening of their symptoms, due to exposure to asthma triggers or perhaps from overdoing it during exercise-induced asthma.

Mild asthma attacks are generally more common. Usually, the airways open up within a few minutes to a few hours after treatment. Severe asthma attacks are less common but last longer and require immediate medical help. It is important to recognize and treat even mild symptoms of an asthma attack to help you prevent severe episodes and keep asthma under control.

GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS

Today we have good news and bad news. I choose to deliver the good news first.. It takes my mind off the bad news. I got results of Wendell's echocardiogram today and it's not bad. I was concerned about his ejection fraction, but though he's low, he's within the normal range. Amen. His heart is enlarged, but not excessively that would cause failure at this point.

Well, now.. that brings us to the bad news.. I THOUGHT I had bronchitis and eye strain. Right.
Well it seems I have some major wheezes all over my lungs, and that eyestrain..? well it seems the asthma is back full force and I have some rather nasty allergies going on which makes my eyes run and burn like eye strain. No bronchitis requiring an antibiotic for a few days.. Asthma is back with a vengeance and I'm back on the steroids to combat it. This makes me very unhappy, but I will say that at least there is treatment for it and I can live a semi normal life while on the inhalers. I don't require an oxygen tank either.. There are some things I need to settle in my mind and get over the unhappiness of the diagnosis already.
Sorry to be so gloomy.. there are so many worse things that could be afflicting me.. I'll be fine later tonite.