Getting better

I think I can honestly say that I see a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel with this lung infection.  The clindamycin is working and along with my puffer I am bringing up lots of gunk.  No other word to describe it except gunk...  I have my energy coming back, I'm coughing less violently and my joints are feeling better.

Most people don't realize that when a person with Lupus catches even just a simple cold virus it reeks havoc on our bodies.  The average person will feel horrible, fever, body aches, cough.  Now imagine your last cold... got it in your mind how you felt.. multiply that by 1000!  When your body aches, I get swollen joints that don't want to bend.  The virus is making my body attack itself. Yeah, not a good picture right?

A cold virus goes to my chest because my lungs are compromised and tends to just hang around and wear out its welcome.  I have to then go to my dr. and beg for an antibiotic.  I have so many allergies to medication that at this time I have only one antibiotic that I can take without having a reaction. If I use that too much in the run of a year, then my body will become immune to it and it won't work on me any longer.  Then I will have to try different antibiotics and see what kind of reactions I have to those... see the dilemma?  People with Lupus have a lot of allergies to medications etc because you are putting a foreign substance into a body that is out of whack.  It sees the medication as being something it should attack and try to kill where a healthy body would recognize that the medication is there to help it.  In short, getting sick is a really big deal.

I try my darnedest to wash my hands often, use hand sanitizer when I'm out and about and can't wash.  I use my coat sleeve to open pull type doors or my shoulder to push them open so I don't have to touch them.  I carry wipes with me to use on shopping cart handles, and I do the cough into my arm trick they are pushing people to do now a days.  I am vigilant but not obsessive.. I still have to live.. Next time you get sick, take notice of how your coughing, what your touching, and if your washing your hands as often as you really should be.  My body will really appreciate it.