Trip to the emergency room

Well, this is slightly depressing after my last post, but L. had to take me to the emergency room early this morning. I was coughing almost non stop, had trouble breathing, and not even my albuterol and new prescriptions were helping. So, I called the on-call nurse again, and she said we should get to the ER and get it taken care of.

I must say that the people at the Overlake ER were really nice, and they got me into a room right away. We waited a little bit for the nurse and doctor to come in, and they gave me some pretty hefty duty meds for pain (to help ease the inflamation, keep the coughing down, and help me sleep), as well as some for breathing. We got home, and I was finally able to sleep for several hours in a row without coughing. What a luxury.

Today, we went and filled my prescriptions for prednesone and percoset, and so far that has helped a lot. Now when I cough it's actually productive (because of my cold) instead of just irritated. And my lungs don't feel like they're on fire. I talked to my mom for awhile, because she's had asthma for years and always has good advice. She said that the prednesone will really start kicking in tomorrow and the next day, so I should be getting back on track soon. I just have to take it a bit easy right now. And I have to avoid being around a lot of people, because apparently the prednesone is not so helpful to the immune system (oddly enough). So, I do need to be careful about that for the next week or so.

Anyway, I'm hopeful that my next post will actually be good news rather than cold and asthma updates. I'm just so thankful to have a wonderful fiance like L., who takes good care of me when I'm sick.

On the way to recovery

Well, some of the wedding planning and excitement got waylaid this week by yet another cold. I started getting sick on Monday, but tried to push through it until Wednesday when I finally had to admit that I was sick, sick, sick. This was compounded by one of the worst migraines I've ever had in my life on Wednesday night to the extreme that I couldn't even keep down my medication until mid-day on Thursday. Thankfully, L. came to my rescue late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning when I called for help. After he talked to the on-call nurse, he got me setup well enough to get a little sleep. And by Thursday afternoon, the headache had died down enough that I didn't feel like my head was going to explode. Of course, I was still dealing with the runny nose, irritated throat, and coughing from the cold.

Unfortunately, since this cold came on so closely to the last cold and sinus infection that I had, my lungs didn't really have time to recover fully, so my asthma got a lot worse. I went to the doctor today to get on some more advanced medications to try and get things under control. My doctor also prescribed Robitussin with codine in it to help with the extreme coughing at night. This is supposed to help me sleep better at night, but so far it's not doing much. I guess it has helped the coughing a little bit, but I'm still coughing enough that it's keeping me up. I'm hoping that after a few days of the new medications, things will calm down a bit and I'll be well enough to get around a bit more. Nothing reminds you of how important your health is until something takes it away for awhile.

I was worried about being sick twice so closely, but my doctor said that something really bad is going around right now. She said the last couple of weeks have been nothing but sick people in her office, and that it's like December around there. So, while it's out of the ordinary, and she's following up on it with some tests, it's likely just unlucky that I got this second cold. I sure hope so.

The ring

So many people want to see the ring, so I thought I would post a couple of pictures up here. A friend designed it, and it's so beautiful in person. He made it with white gold and palladium (a metal related to platinum), and the diamond is a radiant cut.

Goin' to the chapel

...and we're gonna get married. That's right, folks. L. proposed to me on Friday night!!! No plans or details yet, just a beautiful ring and a future full of adventures to share.

Disgusting habit

Smoking is one of the most disgusting habits. I can't figure out how people get addicted to it in the first place, but that's kind of beside the point. People do get addicted, and unfortunately they're not affecting only themselves.

Today, I went to Endfest 16 in the Qwest Field parking lot with L. and my cousins. There were some really great shows, and we had a good time all around. But, after getting used to the smoking ban in Seattle, it was such an assault on my nose and lungs to be around so much smoke. It's still in my nose hours later and I'll probably wake up feeling like the bottom of an ash tray. I just took a couple of puffs of my asthma medication because the smoke has stirred up my coughing.

Ugh. The woman in the condo two stories down from me smokes. Somehow, the smoke drifts up to my place on occasion, and L. and I both comment on how it seems like she is smoking right in the same room as us. I think it's worse during the summer, since everyone has windows open, and I had an air conditioner going. So, I'm hoping that lessens during winter because it's pretty hard on me.

I dunno. I know that addiction is hard, but most addictions are not things that you can do around other people and affect them. I love the smoking ban because it has finally made it possible to go out to a club, or bar, or restaurant without feeling like an ashtray. It's only when you get into areas, like the outdoor festival today, where you have to put up with people smoking anymore. I just wish that those people would realize how difficult it is for people, like me with lung problems, to be around stuff like that.

It's fall again

It's officially becoming fall in western Washington. Today it was that interesting mix of freezing cold and then nice in the afternoon. I went for a walk on the Burke Gilman trail this afternoon, and saw sockeye salmon coming up the Sammamish slough as I stood on the bridge between Leary Way and West Lake Sammamish Parkway NE. And many of the trees are starting to turn beautiful autumn shades. I love this time of year. There's always a small time period between the nice summers and the nasty fall/winter around here. It's one of my favorite things.


Update
I thought I'd post a picture of the salmon from the bridge. They're so beautiful and I love standing there watching them. It's not a fabulous picture, because it's kind of dark considering the bridge and plants on the banks, but you get the idea.

And not a moment too soon

My cell phone has begun to cut out during conversations, and I find it very annoying. Last week, I started looking into getting a new phone and found a good smartphone. So, I ordered it this week and it should arrive tomorrow (I hope!).

Tonight when talking to L. on the phone, it just gave out completely. I couldn't even get a successful call through after it dropped. And even after I took out the battery for a bit, it still acted funny. So, I'll be quite happy to get my new phone tomorrow. It's especially important considering I don't have a home phone.

Oh Britney

I feel badly for Britney Spears. She really seems lost and in need of serious help. I have to admit that after she filed for divorce from Kevin Federline, I was really pulling for her to come back. I gave her some slack about her behavior at first because I've been through a divorce, too, and it's not easy. And I certainly didn't have to do it in front of adoring fans and scathing critics. But then I couldn't help but shake my head at the pictures from the stalkarazzi - no underwear, irresponsible behavior, and then the head shaving. She kind of went from clueless-but-magnetic-bumpkin-gone-hollywood to...well...bedraggled and pathetic.

And then she was one hot mess at the MTV Video Music Awards last night. I heard her new single, Gimme More, earlier in the week and thought it was pretty catchy. So, I was kind of hoping that her comeback performance would be a glance at someone with renewed commitment and enthusiasm for her craft. But, it certainly wasn't.

Now, I don't really care about her weight gain. I know that a lot of people are pointing to her "paunch" or "beer belly". But honestly, the woman has had two children, gone through a divorce, and has clearly made some poor choices in recent months and years; I'm not sure that her diet and exercise routine are first and foremost on her mind. Frankly, I find it odd when Hollywood starlets are photographed one day very pregnant and then suddenly they're able to wash laundry on their abs a week later. And, I don't think that Spears looked that bad; you just can't compare her to her pre-baby years at this point. The problem was with the costume and the misguided soul who decided that it would be a good idea to present Spears that way. If she had come out wearing something with a little more coverage, I'm sure that most people wouldn't have noticed. I realize that covering her up would have been breaking her image, but I think the people around her need to realize that she isn't the same girl she once was. Her image needs to change.

No, what disappointed me about the VMA was her performance. I've never credited her as a good singer, but I do think that she was a great performer and turned out some really catchy hits. She used to be a great dancer. Her VMA performance looked like a choreography session in preparation for the actual performance - like she was still learning her moves and where she was supposed to stand. It was weird to see all of the other dancers so professional and convincing, and Spears looking like it was her first time on stage. She may as well have been singing instead of lipsynching, because she hardly did any of the dancing other than the kind of stand-in-place dancing you see at a dance club with regular, everyday people. Definitely not VMA-opening calibur. It was simply going through the moves without any actual follow through.

I wonder whether she really wants to be part of this industry any longer. It seems like she has lost her drive, which is what made her successful in the first place. Without that, she can come out with the best album in November, and people will still eat it up but without the performances behind her music, it won't be the same. I kind of want to see her fade into obscurity for awhile. Take her children, and move to a small town where she stops relying on all of the toxic people around her and grows up a bit on her own. Gets some help for the depression and other problems derailing her life, and gets away from the paparazzi for goodness sake. Takes some community college classes or something to finally get the education that she's lacking. Then comes back five or ten years from now with a newfound energy and spirit - an older, wiser Britney Spears.