The smoke seemed to have cleared up a couple of weeks ago, but the asthma has remained. There is still a haze over the city to the point that it's often hard to see the mountains, so I think we're still getting smoke from out of town. The smoke just isn't settling into the valley like it had been awhile back, but I don't think the air quality is what it should be just yet. Maybe by the end of summer, if we don't get any more fires around here. Maybe.
The fires have had my asthma more out of control than it's been in years. At the height of my breathing issues this summer, I'd been doing 7 breathing treatments a day for a couple of weeks. That's a lot. Too many. But at least doing the treatments kept me out of the hospital. The treatments combined with the massive amounts of steroids I'm on, anyway. It's taken forever to see any major improvement in my breathing, but I am finally down to only 5 treatments a day again. Considering I started the breathing treatments at the end of May, I'm a little bit frustrated. I'm trying not to be, but it's hard not being able to do much of anything around the house.
I've been a lethargic slug for weeks now. I can't seem to do much of anything without needing another breathing treatment, and it's sort of getting old. The house is a complete and utter mess, and I'm doing my best to not let it get to me. Needless to say, I'm not getting a lick of dehoarding done. I know it will come in time, and that I will be successful, but I want so badly to get to work on it. It's just that I can't right now.
I did go into the doctor this week. She changed up my inhaled steroid to a different one, hoping it will help. I was at the highest allowable dosage on the one I'd been using for years. Unfortunately, when a person is at the highest possible dose, and they go into a major asthma attack, it tends to be much worse than it would be at a smaller dose. So here's to hoping that the new steroid will kick in and make a difference, because this is the worst attack I've had since I was in respiratory failure almost 20 years ago. Not good. Not good at all.
We sprung for a new filter for our portable air cleaner and got it installed the same day I went to the doctor. Several years ago, someone gave us a really, really good air purifier. An Austin. They're super expensive. Over $500 expensive. And the filters are over $200. But, from the reviews, they're worth it. The filters can last up to 5 years, which is amazing in and of itself. If the filter doesn't last that long, you can get a discount of up to 40% on the replacement, so we felt it was worth it.
The person who gave us this filter several years ago used it in her aviary. When we got it, there were feathers sticking out everywhere, and it was in bad shape. But I donned a mask and vacuumed it out where I could. Then I took the air compressor and sprayed the dust out of the HEPA air filter. It literally took a couple of hours to get it clean, but I felt I got it fairly clean. Clean enough that we used it off and on for several years. It's just that it's been putting off a nasty smell since we turned it on after the fires started up this year. It was just plain time to replace the thing. No ifs, ands or buts. So considering that we've used it for probably 8 years, and the only cost we put into it was the $214 for the filter this week, it's been a good thing.
Now I'm hoping for greatness from it.
I feel better this morning that I have in quite awhile. I'm hoping I can decrease the number of treatments I have today, but we'll see. I had to go out for doctors' appointments 3 times this week, and that means I was exposed to anyone and everyone who had coughed or sneezed in the doctors' offices. I am just praying I don't end up getting sick with anything I may have been exposed to. Steroids greatly lower the body's immunity, so if I do get something, it could be serious.
I really need to get some vitamins going again. Anything that can strengthen my immunity. In fact, I think I'm going to go order some now...
The sooner I get started on them the sooner I get well...
Showing posts with label nebulizer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nebulizer. Show all posts
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The back of my eyelids are so pretty about now.
I didn't get around to taking pictures today for my next posts. We were busy with other things and little people.
Hopper is sick. Hacking and coughing up lungs kind of sick. She is miserable. The coughing subsided a better with a nebulizer treatment than with medicines, so her asthma is definitely acting up. We will likely take her in tomorrow, if she's not better. I looked in her ears, and it appears as though she's getting an ear infection on top of everything else.
She's the only one who is really all that sick. I have slight sniffles, but nothing major. And I'm still hoping the zinc supplements kick it into overdrive and help me get over this as quickly as possible. My fear is that they won't let me have surgery on Wednesday like planned. I would really like to get the surgery and the cold out of the way.
Today we were able to get the fans blown out with the air hose and put in the attic. Got our other 2 space heaters down and the dust blown off. Normally I keep them in their original boxes, but the heaters were just sitting up there. My only thought is that I either couldn't find the boxes because they were in the attic when they were put away last, or someone put them up there to get them out of the way and didn't realize they had boxes to go with them. Doesn't matter. They're down now and look like they've been scrubbed, because the air hose was so effective. I love those things. They're the ones that look like little radiators and have oil in them. They work so well at helping keep the house warm. We'll have on downstairs and the other 2 will be upstairs, in case we need them
We worked on a window in the basement today. Last year we had some lumber that wouldn't fit through the door and around the corner to go to the basement. So it wen through the window downstairs. The window had to be taken off it's track, and when it was taken apart the little piece of rubber spline between the window and the screen was thrown away. The windows are original to the house, so we couldn't go down and buy more spline to replace it. So today, we figured out a way to put some weather stripping in place of the spline, and it worked. The basement is so much warmer already.
We were also able to get a new sliding shower bar put up in the upstairs bathroom as well as a shower caddy thing. It's one of those poles that goes in the corner of the shower that has the baskets and shelves to hold shampoos and soaps. We've been meaning to get to both of these things for several months. They're finally done. In the other bathroom, we finally got a soap dispenser hung on the wall. It has 4 compartments to use for shampoo, conditioner, soap, whatever you need or want, really. We've had it forever with the intention of getting it hung up to use, too, but at least we can say it's up now. It should save us a small fortune in shampoo. Hopper loves to attempt to wash her own hair, and she uses a lot of shampoo. This should keep it in better check.
Hubster also got the banister put back up. We took it down when the basement flooded, because we had so much that needed brought up or taken downstairs. The banister was just in the way. However, with Mom coming to help out when I have surgery, it was time to get it back up. Actually, it was probably past time to get it back up, but it's up now, and that's all that really matters.
When we were finished with the things we were able to get done on the list, my back was hurting. And with the surgery coming up, I'm not allowed to take ibuprofen or other things that can thin my blood. So I went to get the prescription pain killer I have to get me through until I can take NSAIDS again, and I couldn't find it. I looked high and low, but it was nowhere to be found. We looked under couches and couch cushions, night stands and even the trash. It was so exasperating. We looked for a couple of hours before my husband found it just inches from where it was supposed to be. We think Hopper moved it to take care of something else and just missed it when putting things back. I am so glad it showed up.
It's been a long but productive day. I'm glad it's come to an end, though. I'm ready to get some sleep in my bed instead of the head bobbing kind that I get when I fall asleep writing my blog.
Hopper is sick. Hacking and coughing up lungs kind of sick. She is miserable. The coughing subsided a better with a nebulizer treatment than with medicines, so her asthma is definitely acting up. We will likely take her in tomorrow, if she's not better. I looked in her ears, and it appears as though she's getting an ear infection on top of everything else.
She's the only one who is really all that sick. I have slight sniffles, but nothing major. And I'm still hoping the zinc supplements kick it into overdrive and help me get over this as quickly as possible. My fear is that they won't let me have surgery on Wednesday like planned. I would really like to get the surgery and the cold out of the way.
Today we were able to get the fans blown out with the air hose and put in the attic. Got our other 2 space heaters down and the dust blown off. Normally I keep them in their original boxes, but the heaters were just sitting up there. My only thought is that I either couldn't find the boxes because they were in the attic when they were put away last, or someone put them up there to get them out of the way and didn't realize they had boxes to go with them. Doesn't matter. They're down now and look like they've been scrubbed, because the air hose was so effective. I love those things. They're the ones that look like little radiators and have oil in them. They work so well at helping keep the house warm. We'll have on downstairs and the other 2 will be upstairs, in case we need them
We worked on a window in the basement today. Last year we had some lumber that wouldn't fit through the door and around the corner to go to the basement. So it wen through the window downstairs. The window had to be taken off it's track, and when it was taken apart the little piece of rubber spline between the window and the screen was thrown away. The windows are original to the house, so we couldn't go down and buy more spline to replace it. So today, we figured out a way to put some weather stripping in place of the spline, and it worked. The basement is so much warmer already.
We were also able to get a new sliding shower bar put up in the upstairs bathroom as well as a shower caddy thing. It's one of those poles that goes in the corner of the shower that has the baskets and shelves to hold shampoos and soaps. We've been meaning to get to both of these things for several months. They're finally done. In the other bathroom, we finally got a soap dispenser hung on the wall. It has 4 compartments to use for shampoo, conditioner, soap, whatever you need or want, really. We've had it forever with the intention of getting it hung up to use, too, but at least we can say it's up now. It should save us a small fortune in shampoo. Hopper loves to attempt to wash her own hair, and she uses a lot of shampoo. This should keep it in better check.
Hubster also got the banister put back up. We took it down when the basement flooded, because we had so much that needed brought up or taken downstairs. The banister was just in the way. However, with Mom coming to help out when I have surgery, it was time to get it back up. Actually, it was probably past time to get it back up, but it's up now, and that's all that really matters.
When we were finished with the things we were able to get done on the list, my back was hurting. And with the surgery coming up, I'm not allowed to take ibuprofen or other things that can thin my blood. So I went to get the prescription pain killer I have to get me through until I can take NSAIDS again, and I couldn't find it. I looked high and low, but it was nowhere to be found. We looked under couches and couch cushions, night stands and even the trash. It was so exasperating. We looked for a couple of hours before my husband found it just inches from where it was supposed to be. We think Hopper moved it to take care of something else and just missed it when putting things back. I am so glad it showed up.
It's been a long but productive day. I'm glad it's come to an end, though. I'm ready to get some sleep in my bed instead of the head bobbing kind that I get when I fall asleep writing my blog.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Around and around we go. Where we stop, nobody knows.
Not sure how much I'll be getting done over the next couple of days. I tweaked my right knee. It hurts toward the top of my knee cap when I touch it, and it aches all the time. So I will be avoiding the stairs at all cost over the next couple of days, and I'll be doing my best to ice the knee and keep it elevated as much as possible. I am really hoping it just stops hurting on it's own, if I rest and ice it frequently.
Our youngest is still not feeling that hot, but she's taking it well. We've always marveled at what good senses of humor the girls have. They love to laugh and play jokes and tease. Earlier this evening was no exception. Our youngest daughter was doing a nebulizer treatment before she went to bed. The part of a nebulizer that holds the medicine can vary from machine to machine. Some just have a mouthpiece, and others have a mouthpiece attached to a T-shaped tube with a long accordion-looking tube attached to the other side of the T. (Look at the top picture here, if you don't know what I'm talking about). That's the style the youngin was using for her treatment earlier.
She likes to chew on the somewhat soft plastic of the accordion tube when she does her treatments, but we do try to get her to turn it around and use the mouthpiece. So when I noticed toward the beginning of the treatment that she was goofing around and chewing on the tube, I told her to turn it around. She did, and she put the mouthpiece in her mouth and breathed the medicine in.
A few minutes into the treatment, I went into the other room, and when I came back, the nebulizer was backwards, and she was waiting for my reaction. We find it funny that she can communicate so much with her eyes, in spite of being nonverbal. Tonight was no exception. I asked her to turn the nebulizer around. So, with a twinkle in her eye and a slight smirk on her face, she did. And then she did again. And again. I couldn't help but laugh.
She finished her breathing treatment, but she did it her own way. With the wrong end in her mouth, a twinkle in her eye, and a smirk on her face. That's okay. It wasn't an important battle to win. The medicine was getting to her lungs anyway. It's just that a tube that's been bitten isn't quite as effective at getting the medicine to her as one that doesn't look like a bent straw. They still work. They just take a little more effort. And if I feel she's not getting enough medicine, I'll pull out the nebulizer that only has the mouthpiece for her to use tomorrow.
Tonight, I'm just going to savor the fact that she can tease.
And I'll laugh at her jokes. :)
Our youngest is still not feeling that hot, but she's taking it well. We've always marveled at what good senses of humor the girls have. They love to laugh and play jokes and tease. Earlier this evening was no exception. Our youngest daughter was doing a nebulizer treatment before she went to bed. The part of a nebulizer that holds the medicine can vary from machine to machine. Some just have a mouthpiece, and others have a mouthpiece attached to a T-shaped tube with a long accordion-looking tube attached to the other side of the T. (Look at the top picture here, if you don't know what I'm talking about). That's the style the youngin was using for her treatment earlier.
She likes to chew on the somewhat soft plastic of the accordion tube when she does her treatments, but we do try to get her to turn it around and use the mouthpiece. So when I noticed toward the beginning of the treatment that she was goofing around and chewing on the tube, I told her to turn it around. She did, and she put the mouthpiece in her mouth and breathed the medicine in.
A few minutes into the treatment, I went into the other room, and when I came back, the nebulizer was backwards, and she was waiting for my reaction. We find it funny that she can communicate so much with her eyes, in spite of being nonverbal. Tonight was no exception. I asked her to turn the nebulizer around. So, with a twinkle in her eye and a slight smirk on her face, she did. And then she did again. And again. I couldn't help but laugh.
She finished her breathing treatment, but she did it her own way. With the wrong end in her mouth, a twinkle in her eye, and a smirk on her face. That's okay. It wasn't an important battle to win. The medicine was getting to her lungs anyway. It's just that a tube that's been bitten isn't quite as effective at getting the medicine to her as one that doesn't look like a bent straw. They still work. They just take a little more effort. And if I feel she's not getting enough medicine, I'll pull out the nebulizer that only has the mouthpiece for her to use tomorrow.
Tonight, I'm just going to savor the fact that she can tease.
And I'll laugh at her jokes. :)
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