Heavy Chested

Well, what started as a cold turned into a classic bronchial situation where the universe calls up a 300lb man and sent him over to stand on my chest, oh, right about on my lungs.

Being an asthmatic, this is not an uncommon occurrence for me, but still sucks ass in a major way. Up until February, it had actually been some years since I’d had a bad chest infection (it’s just AMAZING how quitting smoking 6.5 years ago helped!). And now it’s May, and again with the 300lb man on the boobs.

Last time, I just went ahead and sweated it out, and was sick for nearly two weeks. But this time, I conveniently had a doctor’s appointment scheduled (I was shocked to realize that it had been over a year since I’d been to my GP, and they weren’t willing to continue refilling my asthma prescriptions until they saw that I still existed), so I was able to get drugs.

The drugs I got are steroids. No, not that kind, silly, but Prednisone, a standard anti-inflammatory. I usually avoid taking them because they cause serious bloat, hunger and thirst cravings, and when used for over five days, some serious and wacky mood swings. I usually have a burst of euphoria after the first 24 hours, and then become itchy and cranky after 48 hours.

As I was leaving the doctor’s office, I told my husband (who was kind enough to drive me there—thank god he’s a freelancer) that I probably wouldn’t even notice the side effects of the steroids, cause frankly, they ain’t got SHIT on fertility drugs. And I’m only taking them for five days.

Since it’s still within the first 24 hours, I haven’t had the euphoria yet, but they did make me jittery enough to have trouble sleeping. Maybe tonight I’ll get a burst of good mood syndrome (gee, what’s that like?). At least it gave me enough energy to vacuum before I came to work this morning, so that I don’t have to return to a sticky (from humidity) and furry house (thanks to five shedding cats and a big dog and a lack of time to vacuum).

So far, I think the 300lb man is maybe down to 200lbs. I can take a deep breath without coughing, but it doesn’t feel good. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. The only visible evidence that I’ve taken anti-inflammatories is that the was-gonna-be-a-zit-but-then-became-a-large-and-creepy-boil-on-my-chin is much smaller. Whew.

I can’t stay sick too much longer, cause I’m going camping this weekend for the first time all year and OH MY GOD DO I NEED TO BE CAMPING AND COOKING OVER THE FIRE AND RELAXING OH MY GOD. Then I’m home for two days before going back out camping again for another five days. So, no sickness permitted.

Of course, the only bugger in the basket (is that even a phrase? where did that come from?) is that I have no idea if the steroids will fuck up the arrival of my period (and I'm scared to call the RE and ask). Still having some lovely spotting, been doing that for about a week, but no blood yet. I need it to start by tomorrow; I really do, so I can get my cycle day two bloodwork/dildocam session out of the way before the camping. Cause ain’t nothing coming between my camping and me. Nope. Really. To quote South Park, “Don’t care, don’t care, don’t care.” A-camping I must go. Even if it means waiting another cycle. I think.

Comments

[Julia]

I hope you finally get your period in time to salvage a worry-free camping trip - which sounds wonderful, by the way.

[Danae]

Cecily, I hope the 200 lb man on your chest continues to shrink until he disappears altogether before your camping trip. I have allergy-induced asthma, and can totally relate to the steroids, the chest pressure, and the wheezing. It's horrible.

Looks like I'll be doing a frozen transfer next month, too. I can't wait until you get started. Seems like you've been waiting forever!

[Moxie]

So how's the camping going? I envy you. I haven't been camping in at least a decade.