spidergrrl
01-12-07, 21:29
I posted my intro a while ago detailing my chest pressure, difficulty breathing, etc. I went to three clinics (I have poor insurance, but I'm lucky to have any at all, frankly) and they all said things like "bronchitis" or "I think you have GERD".
They were WRONG. I finally found a GP who took my insurance and he did a CXR, an EKG, and blood and urine tests.
Turns out I have a completely fine heart, no GERD (yay!), and pneumonia. He took one look at my throat and said the reason I felt like I was swallowing something was because my adenoids were huge and my tonsils were swollen. Apparently I had viral AND bacterial pneumonia. They were complicated by a big sinus infection that was draining down the back of my throat and making it worse.
I'm on antibiotics and antihistamines to kill the infections completely, but rest and lots of liquids are what's going to do the real business according to the doc.
I still have tired lungs and a tired body. Doc said it would be three or four weeks before I feel close to "normal" again.
Of course, there's a new complication. :blush:
Now I'm getting back to normal, I tried a little treadmill walking (about 10 minutes) and my thigh got sore. I have two little blue bruises by my knee and I'm convinced they're blood clots and I'm going to have a Pulmonary Embolism. At least I'm not having full-on anxiety with it, mostly because I've looked at the pictures of DVT and a) my legs are the same size, b) the bruised area is the same temp as the rest of my leg (if my legs are warm, the area is, if my legs are cool, the area is cool also), and c) it's getting more bruise-y looking by the hour and not spreading. Looks like I probably hit it on something and forgot. I mean, I was pretty down and out for about two weeks as I recovered from pneumonia, so my legs are kind of weak. I imagine I will probably need to build the muscles back up again in my legs. I'm also taking prednisone to shrink my adenoids, so that apparently causes easy bruising, too.
I think I need a cure for my own thinking. :)
They were WRONG. I finally found a GP who took my insurance and he did a CXR, an EKG, and blood and urine tests.
Turns out I have a completely fine heart, no GERD (yay!), and pneumonia. He took one look at my throat and said the reason I felt like I was swallowing something was because my adenoids were huge and my tonsils were swollen. Apparently I had viral AND bacterial pneumonia. They were complicated by a big sinus infection that was draining down the back of my throat and making it worse.
I'm on antibiotics and antihistamines to kill the infections completely, but rest and lots of liquids are what's going to do the real business according to the doc.
I still have tired lungs and a tired body. Doc said it would be three or four weeks before I feel close to "normal" again.
Of course, there's a new complication. :blush:
Now I'm getting back to normal, I tried a little treadmill walking (about 10 minutes) and my thigh got sore. I have two little blue bruises by my knee and I'm convinced they're blood clots and I'm going to have a Pulmonary Embolism. At least I'm not having full-on anxiety with it, mostly because I've looked at the pictures of DVT and a) my legs are the same size, b) the bruised area is the same temp as the rest of my leg (if my legs are warm, the area is, if my legs are cool, the area is cool also), and c) it's getting more bruise-y looking by the hour and not spreading. Looks like I probably hit it on something and forgot. I mean, I was pretty down and out for about two weeks as I recovered from pneumonia, so my legs are kind of weak. I imagine I will probably need to build the muscles back up again in my legs. I'm also taking prednisone to shrink my adenoids, so that apparently causes easy bruising, too.
I think I need a cure for my own thinking. :)