Hiatus: A Recap

Hello friends. I've missed you.

I'll tell you a little about my time off the PCP. Last Monday, I got my pneumonia diagnosis. I stayed home from work Monday and Tuesday. I took some super antibiotics for five days, and they worked in my body for 10 days. I take my inhaler every day, every four to six hours. I didn't eat anything except for three popsicles and two pieces of toast for five days. I lost a few pounds. I slept a lot. I broke my fever. I regained my appetite, but it's much smaller than before. The thought of milk or yogurt disgusts me (and you're supposed to stay away from dairy when you've had a phelgm issue so ....) I worked four hours last Wednesday, six hours last Thursday and a full eight hours last Friday. On Saturday, I flew home to Scranton, Pa., for the first time in seven years and stayed with my high school BFF.

I had a wonderful homecoming with friends. I had my long-awaited second indulgence: a mishmash of local foods such as Sicilian pizza, New York style pizza, a potato pancake, Hershey ice cream, a sweet tea vodka sour. I can't believe I didn't have any Yuengling beer or Tastykakes. What was nice/not nice was that my appetite was still small so I only had a few bites of any bad foods and my coughing kept me from any overeating (coughing + full stomach = total wanna puke feeling).

So I got back into Colorado late last night. I unpacked, showered, and went to bed. Today I went to work for a very full and busy day. I unexpectedly had my daughter tonight, so the only thing I got done after work was grocery shopping since I had no fresh PCP food in the house. The kid got dinner and a bath. I got to write this, as I already feel spent. Sadly, the exercise I had planned is not going to happen tonight. When the kid goes to bed shortly, I plan to as well.

While I feel the best I have yet since before I got sick, I don't have the level of energy I had before. I get tired after a few hours of my normal, hectic life. I am losing hours a day because of it! And that is frustrating. I also had a few people question if the PCP led to me getting so sick! As in: my body was so busy exercising/repairing muscle that it did not have the resources to fight off a germy lung infection.

During my hiatus, I was happy to report that I could see the PCP's influence in action. I had one coffee ~ Dunkin Donuts, baby! ~ every day. I felt like besides the collective indulgence of East Coast noms noms, I made PCP choices (cheese and fruit over a giant greasy salad, grilled chicken, small portion of pasta ~ forgot how much pasta is served with every meal in Italian culture!). All I know is ... is that I miss my jump ropes, even a few times laying in bed pretending to jump with my feet against the footboard. I liked my arm muscle definition as we went out and about and I felt fit and proud. I'm eager to get back, even at a lighter pace. I'm worried about the jump ropes and if it will take my breath away, but it's time to get back. Thanks to you all for the well-wishes. It's been a reflective time for me, and I'm happy with what the PCP has brought me thus far and I'm prepared to see it through with you all.