Six Word Saturday (6/1/13)

So I End Up Having Bronchitis

Even though I was scared, I decided to call the doctor's Tuesday and see if I could get an appointment.  I waited till 10 a.m. so that all the sick people from Memorial Day weekend would gobble up the appointment slots before I called.  They said there was an appointment available at 11!  Drat!  No time to worry about anything - just get in the shower, bribe my daughter with Burger King afterwards if she could go with me, and go!  When we got to the office, the waiting room was packed with people.  I signed in, coughing my head off, and then we sat down.  My daughter said she would run out to the car and get a water bottle to fill up at the drinking fountain for me.  She stood up and just then a nurse walked into the middle of the room and yelled, "Richard and Debbie!"  We asked for the last name and it was mine!  So I didn't even have time to be nervous in the waiting room!  I got weighed and my blood pressure checked and then oxygen level (which was very low - 90).  The nurse put us in an exam room.  I asked my daughter what time it was and she pulled out her phone and right then the doctor walked in the room.  After listening to my lungs, he said he didn't hear any pneumonia (I was worried about that) but that I definitely had bronchitis.  He called in a prescription for me and said that my oxygen level would improve when I felt better.  So now I've been on Azithromycin for four days, and I'd say after the first day the congestion in my chest went way down.  I'm still coughing but I'm not having long fits of it.  I'm not doing much better on the housework but I did manage to read a book (see below).

In counseling we discussed how urgent and dire I felt the need was to make sure everyone knew I loved them (when I was at the worst of my sickness and thought I was going to die).  I think people/doctors did me a horrible disservice when I was little by insinuating I wasn't going to live very long because every time I'm even the slightest bit sick, I think IS THIS THE END?  It makes me panic.  At any rate, I mentioned a few friends who have died who I didn't get to say goodbye the way I would've liked (and my counselor pointed out Claudia as well), so he thinks it's perfectly understandable why I would feel so desperate about making sure people knew I loved them if I thought I was dying.  When I told him my experience at the doctor's office the day before, my counselor (who has an ailing wife) was surprised at how quickly everything happened, as if an answer to prayers and God was helping me.  He was completely amazed at how short of wait time I had in the waiting room and exam room, and he mused, "That just doesn't happen."  Thank you, God!

Joni and Ken:  An Untold Love Story

This book was a fast read.  Joni Eareckson Tada is a quadriplegic due to a diving accident in 1967 and she married Ken Tada in the early '80s.  This book told third-person vignettes about their married life together and I just thought it came across as so sweet.  Joni has had some health issues (chronic pain and also cancer) on top of her quadriplegia, yet Ken is still faithfully by her side.  They both lean on Jesus an awful lot, and I must say I'm jealous for them because I wish I had a marriage like that.