I went to the doctor's last Friday. I had a chest infection in late July and I hadn't been feeling all that well ever since. I saw the Respitory Nurse at the hospital a few weeks ago and she suggested I see the GP. She also took a sputum sample from me (I know, it's horrid, forget I said it, OK?).
Anyway, I digress. I saw one of the young doctors who replaced my old, now retired GP. He's a very nice boy (about Nik's age, he's a boy to me) and has a very sympathetic manner but doesn't treat me like a decrepit old fart just because I'm on the wrong side of 65. He hadn't been notified about the sample results so he rang the Path Lab, while I was there, and was told no cultures grew so there was no infection still lurking. He had a listen to my chest and said it sounded pretty good so he decided a course of steroids might help; give the shot-at lungs a bit of a boost.
Nik went to the chemist with my prescription. I thought our new doctors were young but she said the "little boy" in the pharmacy (she swears he was doing Chemistry GCSE Work Experience - and she's only 33 herself) had a word with her about how I was to take the pills - 6 at a time, once a day. I knew that was right because I had steroids when I came out of hospital after the pneumonia.
Well, I took my first lot on Saturday, then Sunday of course. This morning I got up at 8 o clock and, for the first time for many months, I didn't feel as though a heavy weight was pressing on my shoulders. I saw Laura off to school (on her bike today, they are doing bike training every Monday for the next few weeks), jumped in the shower, was downstairs and making a bacon barm by the time Jeremy Kyle came on the telly. Later, as it was so lovely, I did some tidying in the garden, sweeping up and shifting things, then, after lunch, I vacuumed the ground floor of the house - nothing spectacular there, you may say, but I haven't had the strength to do it for quite some time, particularly as it involves moving some heavy furniture around. I was tired by tea time but not excessively and I haven't had a doze on the sofa either.
I've got 2 more days to take the steroids and I'm pretty sure they're what's given me this surge of energy. I can see why athletes take them and why they're banned. I'm just worried that I may go back to jelly-legs again, when the course is finished, though I am fully aware of the side effects of long-term treatment and I have no desire to end up looking like Geoff Capes.
Anyway, I digress. I saw one of the young doctors who replaced my old, now retired GP. He's a very nice boy (about Nik's age, he's a boy to me) and has a very sympathetic manner but doesn't treat me like a decrepit old fart just because I'm on the wrong side of 65. He hadn't been notified about the sample results so he rang the Path Lab, while I was there, and was told no cultures grew so there was no infection still lurking. He had a listen to my chest and said it sounded pretty good so he decided a course of steroids might help; give the shot-at lungs a bit of a boost.
Nik went to the chemist with my prescription. I thought our new doctors were young but she said the "little boy" in the pharmacy (she swears he was doing Chemistry GCSE Work Experience - and she's only 33 herself) had a word with her about how I was to take the pills - 6 at a time, once a day. I knew that was right because I had steroids when I came out of hospital after the pneumonia.
Well, I took my first lot on Saturday, then Sunday of course. This morning I got up at 8 o clock and, for the first time for many months, I didn't feel as though a heavy weight was pressing on my shoulders. I saw Laura off to school (on her bike today, they are doing bike training every Monday for the next few weeks), jumped in the shower, was downstairs and making a bacon barm by the time Jeremy Kyle came on the telly. Later, as it was so lovely, I did some tidying in the garden, sweeping up and shifting things, then, after lunch, I vacuumed the ground floor of the house - nothing spectacular there, you may say, but I haven't had the strength to do it for quite some time, particularly as it involves moving some heavy furniture around. I was tired by tea time but not excessively and I haven't had a doze on the sofa either.
I've got 2 more days to take the steroids and I'm pretty sure they're what's given me this surge of energy. I can see why athletes take them and why they're banned. I'm just worried that I may go back to jelly-legs again, when the course is finished, though I am fully aware of the side effects of long-term treatment and I have no desire to end up looking like Geoff Capes.
)