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#31
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I'm home!
I'm am so glad to hear that you are home and okay. I was worried about you.
-- Sue mom to three girls Circe wrote in message news:%dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05... Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and well-wishes. First, let me say that I'm utterly humbled and *very* grateful to you all. It is amazing to have such an incredible network of people you've never even met who are caring about you and pulling for you. I really just feel...humbled, maybe even a little embarrassed. I know there've been some questions as to how I got myself into this mess in the first place, and the truth is, it was a bit of complacency on my part and some really bad luck. I've been treating my asthma symptomatically for years, and I knew what I was doing was not THE BEST treatment, but three kids and a full-time job and the thousand other medical events we've had 'round here (big baby heads, broken arms, etc. ad infinitum) just kept pushing that visit with my doctor off. And since I was not symptomatic often--I could go literally days without problems--and since the albuterol and serevent seemed to work well when I WAS having trouble, it didn't seem like a pressing matter. Things obviously changed Monday morning. Honestly, we don't really know what triggered this event, but I went from a very mild asthma attack to feeling like someone had literally shut the door between my upper airways and my lungs in under 10 minutes. It was LIGHTNING fast. I had my albuterol and my nebulizer, but because I couldn't get ANY air into my lungs at all, they weren't helping. The plan at this point is to get me on Advair as a 2x daily preventive, with plenty of albuterol as needed if I'm having trouble. I'm also scaling down on oral steroids and taking an antibiotic prophylactically for a few more days. In addition, the pulmonologist who saved my life (bless him) gave me a prescription for an epi-pen. If I had had one of those on hand when this event started, I might have been in a bit better shape when I got to the hospital, since it might have opened my airways enough to allow the albuterol to get in and do some good. As it was, the only way to get air into me was to intubate me and force it in there--and believe you me, my lungs *know* they were forced to breathe against their will! As we've been discussing this whole event, it has occurred to us that my father's asthma worsened significantly when he was my age. He thought it was due to having his nasal passages "roto-rootered", but given that he was 39-40 and I'm 39, it seems entirely possible that our asthma triggers are just designed to get worse at around this age. I am much more fortunate than he in that there are much better medications available these days to treat asthma preventively, though! All things considered, I'm amazed. Monday, I was at death's door and today I'm home with my family. I am so incredibly blessed. And grateful to have a second opportunity to be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend. Thank you so much for caring. -- Be well, Barbara (Julian [7/22/97], Aurora [7/19/99], and Vernon's [3/2/02] mom) See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop: "Loose weight, feel great!" -- fair booth sign What does it all mean? I have *no* idea. But it's my life and I like it. |
#32
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I'm home!
"Circe" wrote in message news:%dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05... Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and well-wishes. First, let me say that I'm utterly humbled and *very* grateful to you all. It is amazing to have such an incredible network of people you've never even met who are caring about you and pulling for you. I really just feel...humbled, maybe even a little embarrassed. I know there've been some questions as to how I got myself into this mess in the first place, and the truth is, it was a bit of complacency on my part and some really bad luck. I've been treating my asthma symptomatically for years, and I knew what I was doing was not THE BEST treatment, but three kids and a full-time job and the thousand other medical events we've had 'round here (big baby heads, broken arms, etc. ad infinitum) just kept pushing that visit with my doctor off. And since I was not symptomatic often--I could go literally days without problems--and since the albuterol and serevent seemed to work well when I WAS having trouble, it didn't seem like a pressing matter. Things obviously changed Monday morning. sigh If it helps, since I found out about your attack I've been VERY good about taking my meds. I have mild-to-moderate asthma which is EXTRAORDINARILY well controlled with 250/50 advair, singulair and zyrtec. It is okay with just the zyrtec and advair or just the advair and singulair, and I can often fudge and take the medicines less often if necessary, which is tempting, because they cost $100 per month in copays. But I haven't been fudging since I heard about your attack The fact of the matter is that with a cat around, and pollen, and the ubiquitous molds and dust that surround me, I flat out MUST take my medication. Funny thing, too--since I've been taking it regularly, I actually feel better. When I take it consistently, I don't get that sort of sticky feeling in my chest at the end of the day. Honestly, we don't really know what triggered this event, but I went from a very mild asthma attack to feeling like someone had literally shut the door between my upper airways and my lungs in under 10 minutes. It was LIGHTNING fast. I had my albuterol and my nebulizer, but because I couldn't get ANY air into my lungs at all, they weren't helping. Icky. I had a pulmonary embolism once, and that "can't breathe" feeling is about the scariest I can imagine. Even a minor asthma attack (which is all I usually get) is scary, and even with the embolism, the air would get into my lungs, my lungs just wouldn't *do* anything with it once it was there. The plan at this point is to get me on Advair as a 2x daily preventive, with plenty of albuterol as needed if I'm having trouble. I'm also scaling down on oral steroids and taking an antibiotic prophylactically for a few more days. In addition, the pulmonologist who saved my life (bless him) gave me a prescription for an epi-pen. If I had had one of those on hand when this event started, I might have been in a bit better shape when I got to the hospital, since it might have opened my airways enough to allow the albuterol to get in and do some good. As it was, the only way to get air into me was to intubate me and force it in there--and believe you me, my lungs *know* they were forced to breathe against their will! As we've been discussing this whole event, it has occurred to us that my father's asthma worsened significantly when he was my age. He thought it was due to having his nasal passages "roto-rootered", but given that he was 39-40 and I'm 39, it seems entirely possible that our asthma triggers are just designed to get worse at around this age. I am much more fortunate than he in that there are much better medications available these days to treat asthma preventively, though! Age does seem to be a factor--one of my aunts got worse right around the age I did, 30 in our case. And the meds are SO much better now--I used to be sick all the time. I mean, I'd get a cold every 3 weeks. From babyhood through the time I was about 28. Then I went on Zyrtec, which helps immensely. When I hit age 30 and everything went to hell in a handbasket, singulair and advair just picked up and solved the rest of it. I haven't had a sinus infection (flonase whenever I feel stuffy) in close to a year, and aside from a brief almost-bronchitis which went away when my advair dose was upped, I've felt remarkably well for quite a while. I used to only be able to work about 70-80 hours per month, because I'd get sick so often--once I had to miss 3 weeks of work straight--very hard for a single mother! Now I consistently work 30 hours per week by choice, and have had maybe one or two sick days in the past year. All things considered, I'm amazed. Monday, I was at death's door and today I'm home with my family. I am so incredibly blessed. And grateful to have a second opportunity to be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend. Thank you so much for caring. We're glad to have you back! Jenrose |
#33
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I'm home!
"Circe" wrote in message news:%dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05... All things considered, I'm amazed. Monday, I was at death's door and today I'm home with my family. I am so incredibly blessed. And grateful to have a second opportunity to be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend. Thank you so much for caring. I'm glad to see you back and posting again. Thank goodness all turned out well. You are such a wonderful part of all of these groups and we need you Rhiannon |
#34
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I'm home!
Barbara,
so glad to hear that you are home and feeling better. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, and take it easy around the house! And don't ever scare us like that again ; ) Christina, lurker and infrequent poster to mk, mkb, mkp Mom to DS, 20 months |
#35
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I'm home!
Circe wrote:
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and well-wishes. Welcome back! Hope you never have to go through anything remotely resembling that again! Lots of well wishes! Edith |
#36
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I'm home!
"Circe" wrote in message news:%dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05... Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and well-wishes. First, let me say that I'm utterly humbled and *very* grateful to you all. It is amazing to have such an incredible network of people you've never even met who are caring about you and pulling for you. I really just feel...humbled, maybe even a little embarrassed. I know there've been some questions as to how I got myself into this mess in the first place, and the truth is, it was a bit of complacency on my part and some really bad luck. I've been treating my asthma symptomatically for years, and I knew what I was doing was not THE BEST treatment, but three kids and a full-time job and the thousand other medical events we've had 'round here (big baby heads, broken arms, etc. ad infinitum) just kept pushing that visit with my doctor off. And since I was not symptomatic often--I could go literally days without problems--and since the albuterol and serevent seemed to work well when I WAS having trouble, it didn't seem like a pressing matter. Things obviously changed Monday morning. Honestly, we don't really know what triggered this event, but I went from a very mild asthma attack to feeling like someone had literally shut the door between my upper airways and my lungs in under 10 minutes. It was LIGHTNING fast. I had my albuterol and my nebulizer, but because I couldn't get ANY air into my lungs at all, they weren't helping. The plan at this point is to get me on Advair as a 2x daily preventive, with plenty of albuterol as needed if I'm having trouble. I'm also scaling down on oral steroids and taking an antibiotic prophylactically for a few more days. In addition, the pulmonologist who saved my life (bless him) gave me a prescription for an epi-pen. If I had had one of those on hand when this event started, I might have been in a bit better shape when I got to the hospital, since it might have opened my airways enough to allow the albuterol to get in and do some good. As it was, the only way to get air into me was to intubate me and force it in there--and believe you me, my lungs *know* they were forced to breathe against their will! As we've been discussing this whole event, it has occurred to us that my father's asthma worsened significantly when he was my age. He thought it was due to having his nasal passages "roto-rootered", but given that he was 39-40 and I'm 39, it seems entirely possible that our asthma triggers are just designed to get worse at around this age. I am much more fortunate than he in that there are much better medications available these days to treat asthma preventively, though! All things considered, I'm amazed. Monday, I was at death's door and today I'm home with my family. I am so incredibly blessed. And grateful to have a second opportunity to be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend. Thank you so much for caring. I'm so pleased that you have recovered so quickly and are now at home. What happened to you is so scary, I cannot begin to imagine what you were going through. I've had a cough for a few weeks and I woke up the other night gasping for breath twice before being able to fill my lungs, which was pretty frightening, but not enough so that I didn't fall back to sleep straight away. Amanda Mum to Adam Stephen 1 Oct 1992 Lost bubs May 1993 Stephanie Rose 10 Feb 1994 Sam Elliot 22 Dec 1998 Ttc#4 ever since..... --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.500 / Virus Database: 298 - Release Date: 10/07/2003 |
#37
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I'm home!
Glad to hear all is well . Rest up and take extra care of yourself and enjoy
all your kiddies!! wendy "Astromum" wrote in message ... Circe, I am so glad to hear you are doing well! I guess your attack made everybody realize how fragile we are and how small the difference between life and death can actually be. I know I gave DH and DS an extra hug when I heard the news, and I am still reminded of it every time I swap over to am or mk*... Today is truly the beginning of the rest of your life. Enjoy! -- -- Ilse mom to Olaf (07/15/2002) TTC #2 "What's the use of brains if you are a girl?" Aletta Jacobs, first Dutch woman to receive a PhD |
#38
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I'm home!
"Circe" wrote in message news:%gDPa.2608
And to everyone else who mentioned having "mild" asthma--a brief plea: take it seriously. I would have characterized my asthma before this event as moderate rather than mild, but I never thought of it as particularly dangerous or life-threatening. I know better now. It's just not something to be taken lightly. The right trigger and you can be locked up solid like I was, not able to take a breath for love or money. It's just something you should have checked and be sure that your medications are really keeping you under proper control. Don't mess with it! Barbara, glad to see you're back and breathing again. I've been out of touch for days, so this is the first time I've gotten online and I went searching to see how you were doing. You're very very right about not messing with asthma. I don't have mild asthma, I've got a fairly constant problem with it with ~monthly episodes (having one right now, actually) of decreased ability to breathe due to bronchospasms. I've found the people at alt.support.asthma quite helpful when my coping skills are inhibited by a lack of oxygen. Like you, I'm on adviar (love that purple round inhaler) as well as singulair, nebulized albuteral, and I take medications for my allergies and GERD as well. I spend a fortune on monthly copays, but breathing seems to be worth the $ spent. My rescue inhaler isn't used often, but when I need it, I need it! I hope you're checking your peak flows carefully and watching for triggers. I'm glad you're able to carry and use an EPIpen. I wish I were, but I can't because it would be more dangerous to my heart (congenital heart defect) than not using one. You're actually so lucky, although it probably doesn't seem like it now, but you found out that your asthma can turn to a severe problem, and now you know not to fool around with your daily preventative treatment. Lots of people aren't so lucky. There were 4,487 deaths from Asthma in the US last year (2002). Asthma is a life threatening disease. You now know how fast it can strike and how scary it can be. I did note that you said both your father and you developed more symptoms at 39, which I found really interesting. I had childhood asthma that disappeared until I was 39. It came back with such a vengance that I didn't even know what it was, because it was so viralunt. From clear breaths to blocked airways in a matter of seconds. I wonder if getting close to the big 4-0 does something to shock the system? :-) Glad to see you made it back safe and sound. Marjorie |
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