See….I was right! Just got out of prison last night, after a 5 day stay. This time I avoided any serious complications but, would just as soon have preferred to been put out of my misery with an endotracheal tube rather than endure the nearly 90 hours of monitored suffocation. It takes a lot out of you . I inhaled the equivalent of 700 nebulizer treatments within a 4 day period. Mercifully, they do offer you some nice anti anxiety meds which tends to make the trip a little more humane.
The hardest part of the asthma exacerbation process is just beginning for me. You see, its actually a 2 part process. The easiest part is the hospitalization phase. You’re so out of it , you really don’t care. The post-hospital recovery phase is the toughest part (at least for me) . It consists of several more days of not only extreme shortness of breath and fatigue but also severe drug withdrawals. Its now been 12 hours since I’ve been discharged and I’m already wired out of mind (hence the 6 am post) The dreaded steroid psychosis is now in full swing and will be controlling my life for the next week or two. On top of that,I wont be able to do much of anything, let alone walk.
From finishing a 1/2 marathon and feeling on top of the world…….To gasping for air in a hospital bed , all within a 6 week time period, and unfortunately,….. right on schedule.
Reality sets in again.
