Dina + Pneumonia = Molasses

I am totally on the mend, so I am thankful for that. However, this thing will literally stop you in your tracks. Right when I subconsciously try to walk at my normal pace, I get short of breath and need to stop - catch my breath, and start walking again, slowly. Not really easy when you've got an almost 3 year old running ahead of you. Can you believe my precious little Ginger will be 3 on the 30th of this month? Wow. My little miracle child. She is doing great on the meds, and we are just thankful for each day that goes by seizure-free. That is the simplest way for me to think about it - and the safest way for my mind to digest it. Keep it simple stupid. I am doing better, just slow moving. My onc gave me the go ahead to get back on my chemo pills, so I am thankful for that - but my last CBC gave a slightly low platelet count - which could very well have to do with the massive amounts of Advil I've been taking - so I'll knock that down a bit and we'll see where my labs come in next Fri. I've never had an issue with platelets, so this is new information. We'll see how this plays out. Very happy to get back on my pills though - I was off for 2 weeks. yuk. I was very blessed that my MOPS friends totally showed up for me during this time providing meals for me and my family. I know I mentioned it when they did this for me through my initial chemo treatments, but seriously, is this not the best gift? To not have to worry about feeding your family? I mean, being sick comes with it's own set of 'guilt' anyway - the mom kinda holds the the emotional 'reins' if you will for the entire family, and when she goes down, it's like the whole house falls apart. Like everyone's pissed that I'm sick - as if I'm not pissed enough about it - ya know? PJ even said one evening 'I'm just pissed your sick'. Yea, me too. In any case, it was awesome to have the meals, and then my dad and Nancy came and would help with Ginger when I needed to go pick up Madeline from school. My dad even picked her up himself one day from school - what an awesome treat that was for her! She spoke about it all weekend, so frickin cool. So the pain continues in my right side when I take a super deep breath, and I get winded pretty quickly - other than that, I'm, feeling good. Trying to get lots of sleep and drinking tons of green tea and water. I have to look at this as a lesson to slow down, and a blessing that I caught this now, not when I was going through the heavy chemo. That would have really sucked. I have to say though, to my credit - that it took me a week to really get past the bad part - and I think that is pretty good actually. I'm blessed that I'm a healthy person, and can fight this nasty thing - and get better, quickly. I'm looking forward to working back up to my cardio workouts, I know I have to start all over there. But I didn't get this because I have cancer - I got this cuz I got this. Lots of people get pneumonia - I just have never experienced it before and had no idea what I was in for. Now I know, and now I know how to help others who get this thing. It sucks, worse than any other type of cold or flu - this was my comparison the worst. I will be getting my flu and pneumonia shot at my next dr appt. I don't like the 'looks' I get from people who just don't know about the whole cancer thing who hear I have pneumonia and they have that look like 'oh, she has cancer then she got pneumonia, that is bad!' I really feel like I got sick like anyone else would get sick - it happens and it sucks. End of story. Do we have to watch me a little closer than most, yes. But that's cool. I've got some interesting meds going through me - so yes, I require a specific eye. But I ultimately orchestrate this - and I knew when I wasn't getting better in a way that just logically made sense, to go to the dr. Now that I'm coordinating a local doc with my onc at CTCA - I need to purchase a new patience hat and realize there is a learning curve here - which, I am usually not very good at to be honest. But, this has taught me to be a little more - well - patient. We could all use more of that, right? I guess in the end, people on the outside may see this as 'what else is she supposed to handle Lord!!' but I see it as 'this is life and I'll handle this just fine - because you gave me the tools, the friends, the family, the faith to handle it'. Would I rather be doing other things? Hell ya! However, resting - and I mean truly resting - is what this illness called for from me - and I didn't fight it - I was, blessedly, able to rest. Ironic eh? Maybe we all need an ailment that causes us to literally stop in our tracks - catch our breath - rethink - and start walking again - at a completely different pace. God Bless -