a delightful cocktail. of sorts.

when you're an asthmatic, no illness runs a normal course. five weeks ago i ran a high fever, which was accompanied by chills and body wrenching aches. it passed. then came six full days of a scorching, raw throat and total laryngitis. when that passed, i thought i was good. then came the cough. and a really nasty rattle. not in my chest. so not a big deal. we watched football in the rain. played soccer in the cold mist. sent mw to hawaii for a week and welcomed my family into our home for two. then the rattle became a wheeze and moved into my chest. i started using the nebulizer. at all hours of the night and day. and it just didn't get better. so my mother took me to the doctor. more than acute bronchitis, more likely, acute bronchitis and pneumonia. so i started a cocktail of meds that should have put the whole thing to rest. cefuroxime 500 mg, twice daily. prednisone 20 mg, two pills, three times daily. cheratussin ac syrup, two teaspoons, every four hours. advair 100/50, one puff, twice daily. ipratropium bromide and albuterol sulfate, one vial per nebulizer, every four hours. i woke up in the middle of the night, unable to breath and sporting a red, puffy face and a fashionable blue ring around my lips. so the dose of prednisone was increased, the meds for the nebulizer changed, and six days later, here i am. still a wheeze in my chest. i have not run for five weeks. i can barely make it up the stairs or lecture mw without becoming winded. i also recently discovered that mw has been sneaking a little cough syrup each night before bed. this has happened before. i am thankful that my kids have stayed well. that mw has stayed well. i am grateful that my mother took care of me and aunt v took care of my kids. it is only after feeling really, horribly terrible that i remember what a luxury it is to feel good every day.