Winter Update 2010

by Jane D.
(Southern Indiana)

Well, I'm making it. I was determined not to have the bronchitis hang on all winter like last, so in addition to 5 days of steroids, then another 5 days at one half dose, I had my husband buy a Vicks vaporizer. I decided to be adult about it and forgo the cute animals they make these days. I went with a warm one, too, because I remembered how my children's cold ones (back many a year) used to cause some pain, as if I had a touch of trigeminal neuralgia. I obviously now get bronchitis from a cold and my asthma.

I MADE myself spend most of two weeks in the downstairs bedroom which had the vaporizer. Thank heavens, it also has the computer! This, plus the medicines seemed to do the trick and I finally cleared up the wheezing and major congestion. I also was diligent using my inhalers---the Advair twice a day and the Pro-air four times a day. It was worth it. Now a few weeks later, I possibly see and hear it coming back:(

My body still has a hard time getting from place to place, but I see in some small ways how I am better. I give the prednisone credit for allowing me to stand up taller. Even though I still don't last at walking too far, I am taller when I do walk. It helps me psychologically not to be all bent over, also. I still need all my aids, from furniture, to walls, to cane, rollinator, and wheelchair, but I feel just a tad stronger and I still go out some, mostly to church and an occasional restaurant.

I'm tutoring an additional grown student from the Near East three days a week for two hours each day, so I'm grateful people still come to my house, so I have outside contact. {Otherwise I'd be buying too much on the Internet:)} My weight is preventing me from getting my blood sugar numbers down far enough, they say, and I continue to work on that. It doesn't seem to have any effect on my walking, but I wouldn't really know since my blood sugar has run high since I began with insulin about a year ago. (After 7 years on oral meds) I finally got the Ok from my primary doctor to experiment around--just to get the numbers down!

I had a visit to my neuro last week. I