I Have Pneumonia

I cannot believe I have been away for this long. On Friday I started feeling really unwell. What this means is that every part of my body was hurting. I just knew that something was going down. I decided to sleep it off hoping by the time I woke up I would be feeling at least better. On Saturday, I woke up feeling much better and even went shopping for fruits and vegetables with Tapfuma. As soon as I got home, I started feeling so ill I did not even want to speak - I just needed some peace and quiet. I rested and again felt better by Sunday morning. However, this was not to last for long because despite ignoring the sharp nagging aches and pains by evening I was shaking with chills and yet the house was pretty warm. At first I did not associate the chills with the possibility that I could be having a fever. But, I decided to take my temperature anyway because I was really feeling sick and my chest was hurting so bad. My temperature kept fluctuating between 38° and 38.2°Celsius. I immediately decided to seek medical attention. I had been warned by my Oncologist that if I felt a rise in my temperature I had to go immediately to the hospital emergency room.

I hate going to the emergency but in this instance, I am glad I did because once the triage nurse took my temperature and vitals. She immediately told me it was good that I came in given I am undergoing chemotherapy. She immediately did blood work to check my white blood count (Nutropenia) as that is procedure for someone undergoing chemotherapy. Nutropenia is most often caused by cancer therapies including radiation. Just for information, Neutrophil is one type of White Blood Count which make up the majority of White Blood Cell. For a better definition, they are one part of our body's immune system working to protect us against infection. They are the first responders and quickly appear at the site of infection. Given that neutropenia is caused by cancer treatment, there is really not much one can do to prevent it from occuring. I was bumped and seen by the doctor before other people who had been there before me. Yeah they were upset but hey, I am glad I was given priority treatment. The doctor saw me immediately and I was given a painkiller. He ordered a chest Xray which revealed that I had developed pneumonia which is an inflammation of my lungs following chemotherapy. Ouch! Thank God it was not so bad to warrant admission.

One friend of mine said something very ignorant to me yesterday and I really felt offended. My friend said to me, pneumonia is contagious. Really? Why are people so ignorant? Pneumonia is not contagious. What is pneumonia anyway? It is an infection or inflammation of the lungs. Often, pneumonia begins after some kind of respiratory tract infection such as flu or cold. Often when a person has pneumonia they may have some other illness such as flu or throat infection which may be contagious. So the risk is one catching this other illness and not pneumonia. If you have poor health or your immune system is weak, then there is a risk that one may develop pneumonia later on. If that happens it is because you have a weak immune system which made you develop pneumonia on your own not because you caught pneumonia from someone.

Anyway, I was immediately given antibiotics and a prescription to take home the following morning. We spent the night in emergency. Sucks but, it was necessary. So, my friends I am once again in the confines of my bed re-coupering from this annoying speed bump. On that note, be kind to one another.......