I picked up particulate respirator masks so that I can go outdoors again. I’ve apparently developed asthma due to the pollution in Salt Lake Valley and the California forest fires. It’s why I’ve been so horribly sick since September. I’ve been a near complete shut-in.
Alas, I overdid things yesterday. I looked like a dork in my mask, but I happily ran errands all over town. I also worked out on my treadmill, exercise bike, and did twenty minutes of aerobic activity. Unfortunately, I forgot to use both my inhaler & nebulizer. My lungs are burning again, and the cough has returned. 🙄 I feel so feeble. I kinda hate this.
I don’t regret my busy day, especially going to the library for a writing session. That felt great. I’ll just have to make sure I use my inhaler and nebulizer faithfully. No skipping days!
My coping strategy for today is to:
- Use my nebulizer. I’m huffing on the contraption as I type this.
- Add my nebulizer to my medications app. I forgot to do this. I can only assume ADHD boredom settled in after three months of taking a basketful of meds every day.
- Get in the habit of using that app again. I haven’t been updating the app faithfully since I started to feel better. This was a mistake. I’ve been forgetting to take my blood pressure medicine, too, as well as my sleep medication, my antacid, etc. My whole regimen has gone out the window.
- Stay indoors today. My body needs a chance to heal.
- Keep pushing forward. Just because I had a setback doesn’t mean I allow depression to get a foothold again. It’s mentally exhausting to follow my new daily regimen of medicine paced throughout the day, plus an inhaler and nebulizer twice daily, but the alternative is to be so sickly I become bedridden again as my body tries to fight off the pollutants.
Between coming home with con crud after FanX in September, dealing with a severe allergy season due to the unusually rainy Summer, and then the California fires mingled with the good ole Salt Lake Valley inversion, I felt like I had stepped out in front of a speeding truck. I can now say I’ve never been so sick in my life. My depression this Fall has been worse than it has been in a long while, too. Being bedridden will do that to you.
The upside is that the con crud is gone, allergy season has passed, and we now know what I’m dealing with: asthma. The air quality has become my kryptonite. It drops me to my knees and leaves me feeble. What is strange to me is that inversions have never troubled me like this before, and I’ve lived here non-stop since 1988. However, I refuse to be discouraged any further.
I’m off to take my medicines, and maybe work on a book or two. How many have I begun on this blog? I’ve lost track. I sat down to work on an old project the other day and discovered I had already written the first chapter. Then I just wandered off, apparently.
I’ve got a follow-up article about Goo Hara I want to write, then I’d like to continue working on my middle grade novel and get back on track with my ADHD ToDo list book. Now I’ve told you, so I’m committed. Being a shut-in will work to my advantage today.
