Barry’s Daily Web News

Busy Days

I have a training course down at the airport today and tomorrow, which means a long day with the extra commute added. Wednesday, I have to go in at 6:00 AM to teach a remote class in England. I won’t have much free time in the next few days.

Swimming

I took Princess swimming this afternoon. I keep the leash on Princess to have her swim around the pool while I walk on the outside. This teaches Princess not to swim to the sides, but to swim to the stairs so she can get out easily. It’s also good exercise for her as well.

I decided to get some yard work done while Princess was drying. It was warm enough that a was starting to work up a sweat, when I toyed with the idea of going in myself. Sean and Ethan were happy to put on bathing suits, so the came in as well.

The water was cold enough that the kids and I just jumped in a couple of times, and that was it. Princess put in another couple of laps as well.

Princess was so tired this evening that she put herself to “bed” at 7:30 PM, and left us alone the rest of the evening.

11th Anniversary

My mom came over this evening to watch Sean and Ethan while Cortney and I went out to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary. Cortney and I went out for dinner, then a movie, then out for a glass of wine to end the evening.

History of an Illness

9/25: I drive to Tucson for an afternoon meeting. I am snacking on baby-cut carrots, when I choke on a sliver of carrot. I have a coughing fit for the next half hour. After that, I was a bit hoarse, but otherwise fine.

10/1: Free flu shots at work. So I get one.

10/3: I am definitely not feeling well. Typical sinus irritation plus sore throat. I get this 4-5 times a year, so it’s not a big deal at this point. I do have some chest congestion, which is a bit unusual to get so early after being sick.

10/8: After toughing out the weekend, and feeling worse, I break down and make a doctor’s appointment. The doctor determines I have an “upper respiratory infection”. I was prescribed antibiotic a cough suppressant, and an inhaler (albuterol).

10/9-12: The antibiotic (Zithromax) is really tiring me out. I took off Tuesday, and worked short days for the rest of the week.

10/17: I feel the best that I have since 10/3, but I still have a tightness in my chest.

10/19: My chest is feeling worse. In addition to the tightness, I have distinct pain on the left side of my chest. Coughing fits are driving me crazy. I go in to see the doctor again. The doctor is a bit more concerned this time. I get a blood test, and go to the lab to get an x-ray. I get two more inhalers, one steroidal, the other is an albuterol derivative. I get an appointment with a pulmonary doctor on Monday.

10/20: The inhalers aren’t working. My doctor calls to tell me they did not get the x-ray results. When I tell them I feel worse, they recommend going to the emergency room. I grab my computer bag and a couple of books and go to the hospital. The hospital was empty when I arrived, but it still took three hours to get an x-ray and for the emergency-room doctor to tell me the x-ray is clear. He decides whatever I have can wait until Monday. I did get a breathing treatment at the hospital which made me feel better. I went almost two hours before the coughing fits resumed. I get a prescription for yet another inhaler, and cough suppressant with codeine.

10/21: The cough suppressant with codeine definitely helps get me through the night. I took a dose at 5:30 PM the previous evening, and did not wake up until 8:00 AM. It was a windy night and day, and we discovered a 10 inch branch had broken off from our largest mesquite tree. After blowing $150 dollars on an x-ray the day before, I decide I don’t want to spend money cleaning up the mess. I discover being out of breath doesn’t make me feel any worse, so I am able to complete the clean up.

10/22: I see the pulmonary doctor who tells me the x-ray isn’t likely to show anything unless the problem is near the outside edges, so I am schedule for a bronchoscopy the next morning. The cough suppressant with codeine helps get me through the rest of the day.

10/23: After enduring a not so pleasant preparation to have a tube inserted in my nose, I wake up from the bronchoscopy feeling much better. The nurse tells me the doctor found some congestion, and he took a sample for a lab test, and washed away as much as he could. No report of any carrot slivers. I am prescribed a much stronger anti-biotic and prednisone. I take Cortney out to lunch, wolfing down my meal and then finishing the rest of her meal. At least the procedure did not affect my appetite.

10/24: I go to work, finishing a full day. I schedule a follow-up visit to the pulmonary doctor on 11/5. I find out that my initial blood work from 10/19 is negative for valley fever and white blood cell count. The prednisone seems to be offsetting the antibiotic, so I am left with a normal energy level.

10/25: For the first time in over three weeks, I come home from work still having energy left. I still have some minor non-descript pains in my chest, and minor phlegm clearing, but no coughing fits.

Am I cured? And what exactly was it that was making me ill? Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Ethan is five years old today.

I know I haven’t written much lately, but I’ve been busy, and sick, and busy and sick, so I hope to return tantalizing prose real soon now.

Weekend News

I was fairly lazy yesterday. I think I needed a day just to relax.

Sean and I played a few games of Pokemon this weekend. The card game is definitely challenging, and I wasn’t surprised to see that the recommend age for the game is 10 and up. I don’t think Sean could learn the game with another player his age. It’s interesting that the cartoon show is aimed at younger children, and that so many kids are walking around with cards even though they don’t know how to play the game.

I did got a few odds and ends done today, so the weekend wasn’t a total loss.

Pokemon

Sean and Ethan are now into Pokemon. Some of Sean and Ethan’s friends have cards. The other day at the library, someone gave Sean 2 cards and Ethan three cards. I don’t think any of the friends now how to play the card game; they just trade and give out cards to each other.

I plan to remedy that. We bought two starter decks this evening, and I plan to teach Sean how to play tomorrow.

Library Night

I took Sean and Ethan to the library this evening. I had Sean pick out a book to read. He picked out a Curious George book, and I have to say he did a good job of reading it. Sean picked out another Curious George book to checkout, and he and Ethan both picked out a video to check out as well.

Busy Times

My parents completed the final walk through today, and they close tomorrow. Wednesday, their furniture arrives.

The weekend was busy, but fun. I’ll probably start writing more substantial posts after things settle down in the next few days.

News Nibbles

My parents are adjusting to Mountain Savings Time. They went early to the motor vehicle department to get new driver’s licenses, but they left when they found they needed birth certificates.

Sean received a 100% grade on his spelling test.

We all went out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes this evening.

Company

My parents and grandmother arrived today from Houston. They will be staying with us until they move into their new house next week.

McChuggets

Our internet connection was down last night. It was up in time to post, but I decided to catch up on my online game instead.

Cortney and I took Sean and Ethan to the gym this evening. We stopped going over the summer, but we want to continue with the classes. We tried Ethan in the same class as Sean, but the instructor said Ethan needed to much individual help to stay in the class. That’s not too surprising, since as a 4 year old, Ethan was noticeably smaller than the other students.

We stopped by McDonald’s afterwards, and I asked Sean what he wanted. Sean stated “McChuggets”. When Cortney and I told him that was funny, he quickly corrected himself to McNuggets.

Labor Day, 2007

I spent the day working in the yard and cleaning. The kids were a bit wound up during the day, but the kids and I relaxed in the pool after dinner.

Another Hot Day

We had yet one more day hit 110 degrees. I was going to take the kids into the pool after dinner, but we were threatened with a storm. Unfortunately, it was just dark clouds for a couple of hours, finished by a lackluster 1 or 2 minutes of rain.

I have to say I did not do much today. My goal was to relax anyway, and I certainly accomplished that goal.

A Busy Week

This past week has been quite busy. On top of that, I have been fighting off a cold, leaving me quite tired.

I’m looking forward to the three day weekend. And I got a head start. I took the day off from work. I did not relax all day, as I spent the morning on the walk-through for my parent’s new house. I hope to relax tomorrow, then spend the next two days on yard work and cleaning the house.