Lungs

Time Sinks

…Being evidence that my blog can indeed consist of more than just Twitter updates.
It’s November, which is always a month full of time sinks for me.  I mean, everyone’s busy during November what with the holidays and Thanksgiving (well, everyone in America who celebrates Thanksgiving at least).   But for about 100,000 people around the world, [...]

State of the Underpope

The Underpope’s Physical State:  First off, Jennifer and I went and re-upped for Weight Watchers.  Losing weight has always been a challenge for me (as opposed to the cakewalk that it is for everyone else in the world, I’m sure), and I’ve never had much success using rewards to act as incentives for myself; I’d [...]

In, out, in, out…

Today we’re cleaning up the house, getting it ready to show to prospective buyers.  Our office has been purged of about six years’ worth of detritus, and all my cool toys have been packed away as well as about nine linear feet of bookshelf space and eleven or so linear feet of books.
It just doesn’t [...]

Oh, in other news

We made an offer on the house that we fell in love with in Sacramento.  We’ve spoken with our realtor and with a financial guy we know through church, both of whom have outstanding reputations in our community, and we don’t think this is premature.  So, let’s hope that this all gets done quickly.
Also, it [...]

I got a new drug

Today, in the epic battle to bring my asthma under control, I started treatment with Xolair, which I mentioned in my last blog entry.  I had originally thought that the Xolair would kick in immediately and I’d be able to go jogging through a pollen-rich cornfield shouting out, “Come and get me, allergens!” this afternoon, [...]

Worn Out Lungs

Just about every asthmatic I’ve spoken to over the past couple of months agrees that this past year has been one of the worst.  My pulmonologist/immunologist corroborates that, and says that he’s seen far more urgent flareups this year than normal.

In a way, this is reassuring, because it means that I’m not alone in [...]

Carrying On

This cold has pretty much been the ass kicker of me this past week. I’ve been to the doctor twice, and pretty much lived on Albuterol. I was out of work three days last week, and I really wish I could have done that this week as well. Fortunately, though, after a course of antibiotics [...]

Squeaky Floors

This past Sunday, still stuck in Riverside and still feeling kind of sick, I decided to track down the local public library and update my collection of California public library cards (yes, I’m a nerd in some ways… my wife and my mother and all of my co-workers appear to agree). I found myself in [...]

How Far I Fell, and How Fast

Have I mentioned how strangely eerie it is to find yourself alone in an crowded emergency room in a strange city, having been delivered there by an overly chatty taxi driver (”And here is the part of town is where all the PROSTITUTES are!” he announced at one point, with a strong sense of civic [...]

How sick am I?

I am so sick I couldn’t even finish a cup of coffee yesterday! No, it’s true!

For the next three weeks (well, 2.5 at this point — yes, I am counting the minutes, why?) I am here in Riverside County. I got in late Monday night, felt just fine, rented my car and drove [...]

Hot Pink

So the antibiotics that they’ve given me this time are hot pink. And about the size of my head.

I’ve been dealing with this little thing in my lungs for a few months now, something which has settled there and has been aggravating my asthma — kind of like our current President. But in [...]

December Night

The wind crashes outside, slamming up against the south end of our house like a mad thing throwing itself against walls, trying to escape its prison. I look outside, and the brances and leaves of the trees next door writhe; drops of rain hammer incessantly against the window, as if trying to break it down [...]

Still Breathing…

…but only just barely at the moment. Darn asthma.
I haven’t completely forgotten about you, Faithful Reader. I’m still here, and I’m still moving, kicking, and so on. I’ve just been feeling a remarkable lack of inspiration of late, as well as beginning a process of completely rebuilding my website (all on my computer at [...]

The Post-Cyanotic Blues

As far as life-long, high-maintenance medical conditions are concerned, I suppose that asthma isn’t the worst possible one to have. Jennifer and I watched ER last night and we both felt very sorry for the young boy who had had two heart transplants already and was facing a third, and who had been taking so [...]

Showering with One Hand Wrapped in Plastic

My apologies to any of my readers who work in hospitals. Nothing personal, but I hate them. Hospitals, that is, not the people who work in them.
Around 8:00 last night, I wound up having to go to the emergency room again. I was still having trouble breathing… lots of trouble. It had been going [...]