A taper of a differnet kind

Funny how many parallels you can draw between the endurance sports and severe asthma exacerbations. Though I never actually walked one until I was 52 years old, in many respects I’ve been training for marathons my whole life.

These are some of the thoughts that were running through my head while I was suffocating in the hospital last week:

A severe asthma attack is like the “ultimate” ultra endurance event, only this race starts in the Emergency room, you cant quit or stop to rest during the race, and you never know at what point the finish line will come. Could be 20 miles… could be 200. Once you start, you’re in it till it’s over….If you just can’t go anymore, they knock you out and put you on auto-pilot with the help of a ventilator. Regardless, you never cross the finish line until after your lungs finally open up. Sometimes this race can last for several days. Oh..and you’re not allowed to walk this event..You have to run as fast as you can or you’re disqualified…. …PERMANENTLY !

Assuming you finish the race, as most people do, you get a beautiful medal , but it ends up costing you tens of thousands of dollars.

Then there’s the excruciatingly slow recovery period… Speaking of which….

I’ve been out of prison now for 5 days, and I’ve been able to taper down to 40 mg ( prednisone). I also took my first post-prison walk today ( a little over 3 miles) , but boy ….it was difficult! My legs are mush , and my endurance is not existent.
I can see now, that this is going to be one of those long slow recoveries .