Today is the 4th day of the 5th week, the 1st day of the 2nd month, the 32nd day of 2023

This is all about my personal health, so if that kind of thing bores you, stop here!

Back in August, I wrote a blog post about my allergic reaction to Ozempic, which left me with a horrible nasty, itchy skin rash and an inflmmation of the lungs.  The rash was very stubborn - took three courses of steroids over the next months to defeat it.  I would complete one set of 10 days, and then a month later, the rash would pop back up, but [and I am knocking on wood as I write this] I think we finally have it whipped.  If not, the GP has told me she has reached the end of what she knows how to address it and I need to turn to a dermatologist.  The chest x-ray confirmed the doctor's diagnosis of inflammation of the lungs as it didn't show any other overt signs of pulmonary problems, so in addition to those three courses of oral medication, I was on a steroid inhaler for a month twice.  Unfortuately, that doesn't seem to have resolved the problem as I continue to struggle with shortness of breath and coughing, and both are getting worse.  If I bend over to tie my shoes or pull on boots, I gasp for breath.  If I walk up a flight of stairs, I am gasping for breath at the top.  Walking from the car to the office leaves me limp and breathing like I just ran a mile.  I don't wheeze anymore and I can sing, but the coughing fits are getting longer and more frequent.

Monday the doc had me come in for an echocardiagram to rule out a heart problem, and much to my relief, it does not appear to be a cardiac issue.  My heart isn't perfect - there are a couplel small murmures and my right carotid artery has some plaque buildup, but no evidence of swelling or infection.  So we are back to a pulmonary problem, and I walked up the hall and asked the medical assistant what the next step was.  Next Wednesday I have an appoiment with the nurse practitioner [not the doctor which I find a bit annoying] to find out what more can be done.  Given the recent ariticles about the increase in lung cancer amoungst non-smokers , I am glad the xray I got back in August looked clear, altho I figure the next step will be an MRI.

Meanwhile?  I cope.  Haven't been able to go out much on the weekends - after three days of dragging myself into the office, I come home and pretty much collapse.   The days I work from home are a little bit easier, but not much gets done around the place


Well at least growing up is still optional....