Good afternoon. The Unleashed One here. I pray that all are safe and taking the Coronavirus seriously. For some, it is probably difficult to stay cooped up, especially if it's impacting your pay or if you are a very social butterfly in general. However, it's better to be alive to fly another day than to let cabin fever get the better of you and have you make a foolish decision. If you don't need to be out, then don't.
For those of you curious about my journey featuring The 5 Love Languages, I didn't forget. I plan on writing the remaining entries but what got me sidetracked was the vast amount of doctors' visits I have had in 2020.
The visit that impacted me the most was the ongoing investigation of Clingy the Cough. The ones who know me personally and have been following this blog are aware that it showed up after my run-in with the Super Flu in 2018 and has not gone away. Since one of the tests revealed I had an acute case of asthma, then a couple of specialists tried different inhalers on me. None of which were effective. I was even prescribed a round of prednisone, which I stopped after a week, since I didn't want it to eliminate the gains I'd made with my diabetes.
Then, I shopped around for a new specialist to go to. I do like this specialist because she really seems invested in trying to find a solution to the cough. I did have a lung biopsy done on me, but whatever was causing the inflammation back then was gone. Yet the cough was still hanging on.
I have tried natural remedies (from tea to pills) but they only quiet Clingy the Cough from time to time.
When I went to the pulmonologist in January, that's when she suggested we try a nebulizer and inhalation treatments.
So ... how is Clingy the Cough doing?
I have days when it doesn't or rarely shows up at all. The downside of it is that the treatment robs me of the natural energy I used to have. It became more of a struggle to make that ride to the gym. It was somewhat of a challenge to have focus going into my work day. I would have to do the treatment in the morning and at night but there were moments when my brain was in a perpetual fog.
Since I don't like being in zombie mode or muted, I was making my own adjustments to the treatment, either doing half doses, or if I was having a good cough free day, skipping the treatment altogether.
On my follow-up appointment recently, I did explain to her that the inhalation treatments seemed to help but that I hated constantly feeling drained. She did recommend a half-dose, along with some new lab work and testing I will have to do, although the latter may be on hold due to COVID-19.
Although I am getting my energy back, I did lose a bit of time as well as progressing battling the side effects. I was able to start going back to the gym before the arrival of the Coronavirus shut the gyms down. I am finding different types of workouts to do via Amazon Prime and YouTube to keep me busy, along with finding innovative ways to add challenges to tasks I do everyday.
I am hopeful for a day when Clingy the Cough will be no more. Until then, I'm thankful for when he gives little to no grief, which has been more days than not.
Deeper speak to come tomorrow.
Peace.
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