Down for the Count

I’m sorry for missing last week’s update. I was down for the count with pneumonia, and let me tell you, it was not fun. For those of you who have not had the experience, please take my advice. Do whatever you can to avoid getting pneumonia. There’s a reason why young children and old people die when they get it. For a while there, I though I was going to die too.

Even as I’m writing this week’s update, a full week after my diagnosis, I’m still not back to 100%, and I’m still coughing up nasty bits out of my lungs.

This all started two weeks ago with a sore throat and fairly mild flu symptoms (elevate temperature, body aches, etc.). The week before my younger daughter had strep throat so I figured she coughed on me enough times to get what she had, and after a couple of days of not getting better I went to the doctor. At that time he prescribed a mild antibiotic to nip it in the bud.

Over the next three days my flu symptoms became far worse. I had a fever that just wouldn’t quit. Every four hours I would take another dose of medicine, go through the cycle of sweating it out, and then repeat. With the added benefit of diarrhea and vomiting, and I wasn’t getting any nourishment, and despite going through a case of bottled water I was still getting dehydrated. It was awful.

So last Saturday I went back to the doctor. He reviewed my vitals, listened to my chest, and said he was glad I came back. He said he thought I had pneumonia, and while he could send me for blood work and a chest x-ray, he was going to prescribe a super-duper antibiotic either way. I decided to forgo the tests and start the new treatment as quickly as possible.

Despite feeling a little better right after taking that first pill, I wasn’t out of the woods. The next few days were still tough. The good news, according to the doctor, was that the Advil and Nyquil were managing the fever. And over the next few days those symptoms started to get better. All the while I had started a nasty, but productive cough that was pushing all kinds of fluid out of my lungs. For at least one night it felt like a truck was parked on my chest.

By the end of last week I was feeling well enough to do a little work. I attended one meeting on Thursday, and two of Friday, but my energy runs out quickly, and I need to rest. I have yet another follow-up visit with the doctor on Tuesday. Hopefully I’ll be back to my old self before too much longer.

Until next week,

Matthew Anderson, President
Milestone Marketing Associates, Inc.