(Arterial Line) Thanks everyone for your support and especially to Dr Wensel for staying in close contact during my 98th hospitalization. Thanks also to ALL the wonderful nurses who took care of me..You guys are awesome! Most of all, thank you to my dear Douglas who goes through hell every time I get sick. I’m [...]
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Ever since I got out of the hospital for this last flare-up, Ive been noticing that when I take deep breaths in, I can hear (and feel) a slight inspiratory wheeze or airy sound coming from somewhere in my throat. More bothersome than the sound, I can actually feel some resistance as well. It feels [...]
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Whatever IT is, I must still have it, because today I walked 10 miles. And I couldn’t be happier about IT! I think this tune kinda captures the mood for the day. I’m Alive (by ELO) Now, I’m not going to say it was easy, cuz it wasn’t. In fact, it was one of the [...]
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Battle scars: 4 failed arterial line attempts and 12 failed IV attempts. I have no veins left and my radial arteries are so scarred up from previous insertions, that it’s virtually impossible to get access unless they put a central line in. Very frustrating for the doctors and very painful for me. I’d been having [...]
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Ever notice the time stamp on many of my blog entries? I usually compose and publish them in the early morning hours…sometimes way before dawn. You know why? Because I’m usually awake at 3 or 4 in the morning. And why am I up that early? Because Ive usually had a bad night of breathing [...]
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Had a great time and a stronger than expected finish at yesterday race. My final race results aren’t in yet due to a technical glitch, but I think I finished in about 3:07 , which is much faster than I anticipated and probably why I’m having problems today. I felt fine immediately after the race, [...]
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I was going to blog about a nicer topic this evening, but my breathing kinda put a damper on that. Ive been flaring mildly on and off all week, but on Monday afternoon, my peak flows took a nose dive. In a matter of minutes my chest got really tight and my peak flows dropped [...]
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…………..As in my 94th hospital admission for asthma. I had been feeling really crumby most of that weekend prior. My dyspnea was increasing and my peak flows were gradually trending downward. By Sunday evening it was pretty evident that this flare-up was getting worse , not better. I bolused myself with 60mg prednisone and decided [...]
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Seems to be the new theme around here. Do a long training walk……get sick. ( by sick I mean an asthma exacerbation) Thursday I did the second to the last of my really long training walks for the Boston and Rome marathons (18.1 miles to be exact), and now, a day later, I’m having a [...]
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Since no one seems to know why Ive been getting so sick, so frequently lately , and since there’s a tendency to blame walking as a trigger, I decided to do a little experimenting to see if I could find a link between taking long walks, and my breathing flare-ups. Last Saturday just 4 days [...]
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After a record number of admissions to the intensive care unit this year, (5 so far), it was pretty evident that my current asthma action wasn’t working anymore. So, at last weeks pulmonary clinic follow-up visit, we (they) came up with a new asthma action plan that will hopefully reduce that high number of ICU [...]
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Felt pretty good for a few days , even racewalked during a research follow up visit ( more about that later), but now I’m starting to slide back . I don’t know if it’s the steroid taper ( I’m still at 40mg) , or if I’m rebounding, or if I starting exercising too soon, but [...]
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On Saturday I was supposed to do a 10 mile walk along the SF waterfront (one that I’ve done countless times before) , but was I was too short of breath , and was only able to complete 7.5 miles. I probably shouldn’t have even attempted the walk in the first place , as I’d [...]
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