So on May 23rd, just days after eagerly declaring how I had managed to keep my asthma under control and stay out of the hospital for a full 5 months, my good luck streak came crashing down and I ended up back in the hospital sicker than Ive been in a long time . (Below […]
Didn’t I just blog about my 133rd hospitalization for asthma? Well make that 134 now. This is getting F’ing ridiculous. This latest flare wasn’t triggered by some massive chest infection or the flu, but by a simple cold….aka Rhinovirus. Id been feeling pretty decent in recent weeks, but just like millions of other people during […]
My 133rd hospitalization occurred on 10-9-2017. The trigger wasn’t the usual environmental allergies or resp infection, this time it was smoke from wildfires that have been devastating portions of northern California the past couple weeks. I woke that morning (4am) to a house full of smoke . It was so bad, we had to put […]
Things get lost or disappear in a busy hospital,so I totally understand the need to properly identify a patients personal belongs. On plastic bags, documents, even on clothing is fine. But seriously, don’t put them on my phone or favorite leather wallet that you’ve now ruined and will have to pay for. If it hasn’t […]
So my asthma is acting up again and I feel like I have the proverbial elephant sitting on my chest. I say my asthma is acting up, but in actuality it’s always acting up. So I guess what I really mean is that my symptoms are ramping up from my norm, getting more intense by […]
Need proof of just how expensive asthma can be? These are my hospital bills for the last two years, coming in at just over 2.1 million and change. 2016 2015 Related Posts:A common cold with not so common asthma104th trip to the slammer for AsthmaThe Recovery phases of a severe asthma exacerbationNumber 96 Number 95My […]
And despite all the medical appointments, I still managed to learn a dozen new tunes. Related Posts:104th trip to the slammer for AsthmaNumber 94….a Bad OneMy 133rd hospitalization for asthma23rd time’s a charmNumber 96 Nice try asthma, but I’m still here.
Not sure what’s going on. Since 2003 when my asthma started to get really bad, it was for the most part, relatively stable and the symptoms tolerable for several months at a time. Even the exacerbations, while still very severe on occasion, were somewhat predictable. Likewise, my lung function, specifically my FEV1 and FVC, though […]
No..not as in hospitalizations ( I’ve lost count of those,) I’m talking about my 23rd endotracheal intubation with mechanical ventilation for respiratory failure. You heard that right, Ive been intubated 23 times now! (as of 5-23-2018, make that 42 times). That’s gotta be some kind of weird worlds record or something. How is this even […]
For those of you who thought I was kidding…No, it’s not a hotel, it’s my hospital. But the poshness doesn’t end there. The information counter at the front entrance looks more like the registration desk at a 5 star Hotel, and occasionally you’ll find a chamber orchestra playing in one of many the sitting areas […]
The idea for this post came to me during the middle a recent severe exacerbation. Actually, it was the same exacerbation that put me in the hospital for 12 days, for which I am still recovering. Foremost on my mind during an asthma excerbation is the question….how bad will it get? Is this flare going […]
Greetings from the 14th floor isolation room a top the Moffitt building at UCSF medical center in San Francisco. Your guest host for tonight’s show is..well, me of course. I’ll be discussing how much fun it is being a patient in the hospital with severe asthma. Just happy to be alive, I was hoping to […]
Wait a minute…….. what the heck happened to weeks 1-7? Well, weeks 1 and 2, (January 1st-8th) I was in the hospital(on a ventilator). Week 3, I was too wiped out from said hospitalization to do any exercise. Week 4, I actually managed to pull off a 10 mile walk. Weeks 5&6 , (January 27th- […]
