Breathless

Yesterday, I started having trouble breathing.

It wasn't bad, at first. Just a feeling like a deep breath was needed more and more often. But it got worse as the day went on, and started to feel as though ecven a deep breath somehow wasn't getting me any air.

So, I used my "rescue" inhaler, and that helped a bit. And I took a nap, and that seemed to help as well.

And then I started making a cold soup for supper, and things got worse and worse. So, I used the inhaler again (this was most unusual, since I might normally use the thing once every six months, if that). And... no relief.

So, I got out the post-op instructions, and they said to call 911 if I experienced trouble breathing.

Which, after trying to contact the surgeon or her surrogate for forty minutes, to no avail, we eventually did, and I got my first ride in an ambulance! (The oxygen was a big help.)

My sister joined us at the Brigham & Women's emergency room, and blood was drawn (to make sure my kidney functions were OK), and then I had a chest XRAY and a CT scan. Results: No blood clot in the lungs, thank goodness; probably an asthma attack. Plus, I'm a bit low on potassium.

Which made me feel like an ass, and means that we're going to have to pay the whole bill for the ambulance ride.

However, when we walked in the door after five hours(major thanks again to my sister, who joined us in the ER and to her husband who brought us home), I felt my chest tighten again. So the hunt was on for the triggering agent.

Further conclusion: Any of y'all feel inclined to send me flowers, please make sure they do not include lilies. Apparently, even the ones that are nigh-scentless can send me into crisis mode, if enough of them are open.

Today, I'm fine. Doing the grocery shopping kind of wore me out, but only a little more than usual.

Oh, and the new haircut isn't half bad. I look even more as though I bat for the home team, as it were, but people have been making that assumption about me for years now, and I'm starting to consider it an honor.